Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński i Zygmunt Mycielski – o artystycznej przyjaźni w cieniu socrealizmu

Abstract

Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński and Zygmunt Mycielski met in the 1930s in Vilnius, where they both worked for the Polish Radio. After the war, they found themselves in Kraków, and it was there that their friendship grew closer. The two works of Mycielski composed to Gałczyński’s words remain the testimony of their artistic relationship: Portrait of a Muse for narrator, choir and instrumental ensemble (1947) and Flowers for track for choir a cappella (1948). The composer’s creative collaboration with the poet occurred at a time when the ideology of socialist realism was being pushed ever harder, and usually both works he composed to Gałczyński’s words are classified as socialist realist. Meanwhile, a closer look into the scores, as well as the story of the relationship between the two artists, makes one reflect on the nature of both compositions and the choices of the artists made in times so strongly marked by politics. The article discusses the artistic friendship of Konstanty Ildefons Galczynski and Zygmunt Mycielski in the context of the cultural policy of the early years of the Polish People’s Republic, trying to what extend it influenced both their thinking and their own work.