Piotr Moss,
composer; b. 13th May 1949 in Bydgoszcz. He studied composition with Piotr Perkowski at the State Higher School of Music in Warsaw, graduating with honours in 1972. In 1976-77 he continued his studies with Nadia Boulanger in Paris, where he received the Friends of Lili Boulanger Society Award for his entire oeuvre.He has also been awarded in national and international competitions for composers: in 1972 - 1st prize in the Competition for Composers in Cracow for Tre istanti per arpa sola (1972); in 1973 - 2nd prize in the Young Composers' Competition of the Polish Composers' Union for his Symphony "Charon" (1973); in 1978 - 1st prize in the International K. M. Weber Competition for Composers in Dresden for Quartetto per quattro violoncelli (1978) and the main award in the competition of the Associazione Musicale Valentino Bucchi in Rome for Trois pensées... for clarinet and chamber ensemble (1978); in 1979 - 1st prize in the Artur Malawski Competition for Garść liści wierzbowych [A Handful of Willow Leaves] for baritone, 3 cellos and 3 double-basses to poems by Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (1978); in 1982 - 3rd prize in the International Competition for Composers in Stroud for Chants d’antan for flute and piano (1982) and 1st prize in the International Competition for Composers in Barcelona for Salve Regina for boys' choir and organ (1981); in 1983 - 2nd prize in the International "Berliner Liedertofel" Competition in West Berlin for Gloria for men's choir, 3 trumpets and 3 trombones (1982); in 1984 - 1st prize in the Competition for Composers in Fresnes for Musique concertante for piano and four instruments (1983), 2nd prize in the Composers' Competition in Bernach for Der du bist drei in Einigkeit for mixed choir and string quintet (1984) and 3rd prize in the Competition for Composers in Brazil for the trio Stances for clarinet, cello and piano (1984-85); in 1988 – 2nd prize in the Karol Szymanowski Competition in Warsaw for Veillée for oboe and string orchestra (1988).
Moss's works have been performed in many countries in Europe, as well as the United States, Singapore, Columbia and South Africa. Since 1993, he has collaborated with the writer Jean-Luis Bauer, with whom he has jointly produced the following works: the melodrama Ugui for reciting voice and orchestra (1993), the oratorio Gédéon (1996), two chamber operas: Karla (1996) and Les Ailes de Jean-Pierre (1997) and a song cycle for tenor and orchestra De l’amour... (1994).
Piotr Moss has lived in Paris since 1981.
works
Piotr Moss’s oeuvre is extremely vast and varied. It comprises all kinds of musical forms and genres, including numerous works for the film and theatre, which dominated in his early art, and which he still continues to write, though they are no longer in the centre of his interest. The breakthrough point in his artistic development came during his Parisian studies in 1976-77, when he made contact with Nadia Boulanger. “It was a real shock to me,” Piotr Moss recalled; “I was 27 years old and was enjoying much professional success in Poland. I received numerous commissions for music for the theatre and the radio. Still, the contact with Nadia Boulanger completely changed my way of thinking, and influenced my artistic ethics. Thanks to Nadia Boulanger, who at that time was already a living legend of the world’s music, I became aware of the artist’s responsibility for his talent, which belongs not only to the author. The artist’s responsibility consists, among others, in practising his profession in the strictest possible way, so as not to squander the gift – not to squander what does not belong to us.”Nadia Boulanger was a true guardian spirit for many a Polish composer, and contact with her usually resulted in a radical re-evaluation of artistic attitudes. In Piotr Moss, his studies with Nadia Boulanger kindled an interest in autonomous music. His works are characterised by a great freedom in applying various composition techniques, drawing upon tradition and the use of a modern musical language. He frequently includes quotations from his own and other works.
Piotr Moss’s music, its emotionality, is romantic in spirit. The composer himself stresses the link between his music and Romanticism as well as neo-Romanticism. He also discusses the “man-centred” aspect of his compositions, which probably refers to the accessibility of his music and his avoidance of hermetic writing of the kind that is common among contemporary composers.
literatura wybrana
Lindstedt Iwona Moss Piotr In: Encyklopedia Muzyczna PWM (część biograficzna pod red. Elżbiety Dziębowskiej), t. „m” [PWM Music Encyclopaedia, biographical part ed. by Elżbieta Dziębowska], vol. “M”, t. „m”, PWM, Kraków 2000
Lisiecka Anna Laureat światowych nagród [Winner of International Awards], "Twoja Muza" 2003 nr 1, s.25-26.
