Janina Skowronska

Janina Skowronska (February 8, 1920 – 1992)[1] was a Polish composer[2][3] who is best remembered for her arrangements of folk songs, and for creating Little Chopin, a children’s musical based on the life and works of Frederic Chopin.[4]

Skowronska was born to a Polish family in Germakowka (then in the USSR, now in Ukraine). She studied music at the State Music College  in Wroclaw, Poland, and with Tadeusz Szeligowski. She received a diploma in 1961.[5]

Skowronska’s compositions included:

Chamber

  • Theme and Variations (string quartet)[5]

Orchestra

Piano

Theatre

  • Little Chopin (for children)[4]

Vocal

  • Children’s Songs[6]
  • Drugi Brzeg (soprano, oboe, two clarinets and horn)[5]
  • “Golden Rain”[7]
  • Moda Pani Czepca Nie Ma (mixed chorus)[5]
  • O Wy Corne Kawki (folk song; mixed chorus)[5]
  • Od Krakowa do Wroclawia (folk dance suite; chorus and orchestra)[5]
  • Parodie (text by W. Marianowicz; baritone, soprano, bassoon and string orchestra)[5]
  • Pokoju Czas (text by R. Heniszowa; mixed chorus)[5]
  • Samotne Drzewa (text by L. Turkowski; mixed chorus)[5]
  • Suite of Folk Dances (text by Andrzej Waligórski; orchestra and chorus)[5]
  • “Tu Bedziemy” (text by A. Burcia; voice and piano)[5]
  • Two Folksongs (soprano and piano)[5]
  • U.F.O. (for soprano and eight instruments: clarinet, cello, six percussion)[8]
  • Ziemio Moja (mixed chorus)[5]

References

  1. ^ Pijarowska, Alexsandra (2021). "Music: The Cultural Bridge" (PDF). dbc.wroc.pl. Karol Lipinski Academy of Music. p. 12. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  2. ^ Hixon, Donald L. (1993). Women in music : an encyclopedic biobibliography. Don A. Hennessee (2nd ed.). Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-2769-7. OCLC 28889156.
  3. ^ Stewart-Green, Miriam (1980). Women composers : a checklist of works for the solo voice. Boston, Mass.: G.K. Hall. ISBN 0-8161-8498-4. OCLC 6815939.
  4. ^ a b "Chopin on Barricades: About the 100th Anniversary of Chopin's Birth (1949) and Socialist Realism Doctrine in Poland". Kwartalnik Młodych Muzykologów UJ. 36 (1): 20, 96. 2018. doi:10.4467/23537094KMMUJ.18.017.9020.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Cohen, Aaron I. (1987). International Encyclopedia of Women Composers. Books & Music (USA). ISBN 978-0-9617485-2-4.
  6. ^ Polish Music. Authors Agency. 1981.
  7. ^ Office, Library of Congress Copyright (1974). Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third series.
  8. ^ Polish Music. Authors Agency. 1976.