Krzysztof Meyer (b. 1943)
String Quartets Nos. 5, 6 and 8
Krzysztof Meyer was born on 11 August 1943 in
Kraków. From the age of five he studied the piano and,
from 1954, theory and composition with Stanisław
Wiechowicz. After graduating from the Chopin State
Secondary School of Music in Kraków Meyer continued
his studies at the College of Music there, graduating
with distinction in composition in 1965, in the class of
Krzysztof Penderecki and in theory a year later. In 1964,
1966, and 1968 he was a student of Nadia Boulanger in
France. During the years 1965–1967 Meyer appeared as
pianist with the group MW2 Ensemble, giving concerts
of contemporary music both at home and in most
European countries. He also played his solo and chamber music compositions. From 1966 to 1987 he
taught at the State College of Music (now Academy of
Music) in Kraków, holding the chair of the Department
of Music Theory from 1975 to 1987. Since 1987 he has
been professor of composition at the Hochschule für
Musik in Cologne and is a frequent lecturer on the
subject of contemporary music in many countries,
including Russia, Germany, Austria, Brazil and Japan.
Between the years 1985 and 1989 he held the office of
President of the Polish Composers’ Union.
Krzysztof Meyer is a winner of numerous awards,
including First Prize in a Young Composers’
Competition in France (1966), the Aaron Copland
Scholarship (1966), the First Prize for Symphony No. 3
in the Fitelberg Competition (1968), and Grand Prix in
the Prince Pierre de Monaco International Composers’
Competition for his opera Cyberiada (1970). He was
twice the recipient of the Special Mention at the Tribune
Internationale des Compositeurs UNESCO in Paris for
his String Quartet No. 2 and String Quartet No. 3 (1970
and 1976). He is also a laureate of the Ministry of
Culture Award (1973 and 1975), the First Prize winner
of the Karol Szymanowski Competition in Warsaw for
Symphony No. 4 (1974), and the recipient of a Special
Medal bestowed by the Government of Brazil for his
String Quartet No. 4 and Concerto retro (1975 and
1977). Among other distinguished prizes that Krzysztof
Meyer has received are the Johann Gottfried von Herder
Prize (Vienna, 1984), the annual Award of the Polish
Composers’ Union (Warsaw, 1992), the A. Jurzykowski
Award (New York, 1993) and the Johann Stamitz Prize
(Mannheim, 1996). Krzysztof Meyer is a member of the
Freie Akademie der Künste in Mannheim.
Meyer’s compositions have been performed all over
the world at international festivals of contemporary
music, including the Warsaw Autumn, Musicki
Biennale Zagreb, Holland Festival, Musikprotokoll-Graz, Aldeburgh Festival, Schleswig-Holstein, and the
Lucerne Festival. Some of his works were commissioned by or composed for the most eminent
soloists (Lyric Triptych for Peter Pears, the Flute
Concerto for Aurèle Nicolet, the Concerto da camera
per oboe for Lothar Faber, the Pezzo capriccioso for
Heinz Holliger, the First Cello Sonata for David
Geringas, Canti Amadei for Ivan Monighetti, and his
Second Violin Concerto for Dmitri Sitkovetsky).
In the newest edition of the Die Musik in Geschichte
und Gegenwart dictionary of music Ludwig Finscher
categorizes Krzysztof Meyer as being in the first place
among living string quartet ‘specialists’. Indeed, the
twelve quartets which Meyer composed between the
years 1963 and 2005 are a panorama of possibilities in
this genre. In every case there is a different concept of
form, a privileged type of sound colours and
relationships between instruments.
The earliest quartets are full of unconventional
sound colours and are excellent examples of the
techniques that were typical of Polish music in the
1960s. Among the later quartets a turning-point is String
Quartet No. 5, in which the narrative plays a primary
rôle, as is traditional in central European style,
consisting of harmonic tension, motivic resemblances
and expressive and transparent rhythms. The character
of this music clearly illustrates the composer’s words:
“I would like my works to be meaningful sound-stories
told with musical elements that the listener would care
about, and not just a stream of acoustic stimuli that
involuntarily fly past their ears…”. The selection of
pieces on this recording is a good example of this.
String Quartet No. 5 (1977) deserves to be called a
chamber sinfonia concertante, with the cello in the
foreground. This impression is created by the impetus of
this piece, in which the five movements combine into
two extended arches, the first and second movements
and the fourth and fifth separated by the third
movement, an intermezzo.
After that epic work, String Quartet No. 6 (1981)
might itself seem restrained, particularly as the music
moves away from a clearly outlined beginning. The
piece requires perceptiveness and a good memory from
the listener, but this concentration is rewarded with a
satisfaction that flows from recognizing motives and
rhythms that recur in a diversity of shapes, for the
composer treats music like a game in which the main
idea is to make from a few elements as many various
sound shapes as possible. It is no wonder that the finale
abounds in quasi-quotations and reminiscences of
previous movements.
In String Quartet No. 8 (1985) the instruments are
exclusively playing arco and pizzicato. The tonal centre
C repeats itself almost obsessively, and is emphatically
exposed so that it occasionally suggests tonality,
although any relationship with a major-minor system is
obviously deceptive in this piece. With its simplicity of
rhythm and preponderance of motoric motion, one could
have the impression while looking at the score that the
quartet is neoclassical in character. The dramatic
expression of this “story told with musical elements” is,
however, far from the playfulness of neoclassicism.
Where does Krzysztof Meyer’s fascination with
string quartets come from? “When I was a little boy, I
had a chance to listen to chamber music concerts that
were regularly organized at my home. Probably these
first impressions fundamentally shaped my interests and
principles…My musical homeland is the chamber
music of the Viennese Classic, extended by the most
splendid of twentieth-century musical worlds—Bartók’s”.
Thomas Weselmann
Translated by Magdalena and Yati Durant
