If one were to search for the distinguishing feature in Wojciech Kilar’s music among the achievements of other eminent 20th-century Polish musicians, one could point to its diversity. For Kilar was not only the author of numerous, well-known and appreciated musical film illustrations – through the prism of which he is mostly remembered today –…
This beautiful carol was composed in the 18th century, a few years before the partition of Poland, and its lyrics are based on an unusual combination of oxymorons. It is set to the melody of the coronation polonaise of Polish kings. Can you imagine a more potent combination? by Piotr Bejrowski Polish carols stand…
Artur Rubinstein is counted among the most outstanding pianists of the 20th century. Apart from the sheer scale of his talent, there were many reasons behind this artist’s exceptional position in past century world culture. First and foremost is his exceptionally long – almost eight-decade – intensive career as a pianist, measured by thousands of…
Unexpected high price rises announced by the communist authorities of the Polish People’s Republic in December 1970 led to an outbreak of social discontent and street protests. The authorities did not enter into talks and proceeded to brutally suppress the strike. by Piotr Abryszeński Rails are growing cheaper! For Władysław Gomułka, the final month…
Forty two years ago, on the night of 12 to 13 December 1981, martial law was imposed in Poland. General Wojciech Jaruzelski – simultaneously Chairman of the Communist party, Prime Minister and Minister of Defence – established a military dictatorship and entered the final confrontation with the ten-million-strong trade union, ‘Solidarity’. by Tomasz Kozłowski …
One of the several classic ‘Polish insurgences’: armed, bloody and lost. Apart from the romantic legend around it, it is distinguished by the fact that the episode lasting a year was unusually effective in unsettling things as they were. After the lost uprising, two paths of development, possible before, were not available to the Poles…
