Ensemble Warsztat Muzyczny

It could be said that Warsztat Muzyczny was born twice. The first time was in 1963, when a group of friends studying at the State School of Music in Warsaw began to organise concerts under this name. The group included novice composers, Zygmunt Krauze and Tomasz Sikorski, and the British pianist John Tilbury, who was studying in Warsaw. He provided the group with access to scores of contemporary avant-gardists: John Cage, Terry Riley, Cornelius Cardew or Morton Feldman. As the scores were not available in Poland, again and again the musicians would premiere great works of these composers.

Tilbury provided access to scores and Józef Patkowski, founder of the famous Polish Radio Experimental Studio, provided them with access to rehearsal and concert venues. Despite the fact that the concerts were not promoted outside the radio, they were very popular. “When it comes to attendance, I do realise it was simply fashionable. Like everything that came from the West or was bought with foreign currency,” reminisced John Tilbury years later in Gazeta Magnetofonowa. In 1964 the pianist returned to the UK and Zygmunt Krauze emerged as the group’s leader. It was his initiative that began Warsztat Muzyczny’s second life. This time not as a concert cycle, but as an ensemble.

In addition to Krauze on the piano, it featured Edward Borowiak on the trombone, Witold Gałązka on the cello and Czesław Pałkowski on the clarinet. Warsztat Muzyczny specialised in performances of avant-garde music. It commissioned over one hundred pieces written not only by the greatest Polish composers (including Krzysztof Penderecki, Henryk Mikołaj Górecki and Wojciech Kilar), but also stars of the international avant-garde (including Louis Andriessen, Morton Feldman and Michael Nyman). The most popular works performed by the ensemble certainly include Swinging Music (1970) composed by Kazimierz Serocki especially for the quartet.

Warsztat Muzyczny continued to perform with its line-up unchanged until 1988, giving concerts in many European countries, in the United States and in Canada.