Regina Coeli - Romauld Twardowsky

One of the works that we will eventually do this year is "Regina Coeli" by Romauld Twardowsky. A little about him, found at the Polish Music Center in the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California.

Romuald Twardowski (b. 17 June 1930) studied at the State Conservatory of the Lithuanian Republic in Soviet Union in Vilnius (1952-1957). Since 1957 he continued his compositional studies at the State Higher School of Music in Warsaw (with Bolesław Woytowicz). After graduating in 1960, he studied for one year in 1963 with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. Twardowski He withdrew most of his early pieces. In the 1950s his music went through a phase characterized by dissonance and thick textures; in subsequent years his style became more melodic. His stage music reveals a gift for theatrical timing and a sense of drama. The fluency and lightness of musical narration finds its reflection in the variety of genres and forms ranging from instrumental miniatures to concert forms (with orchestra), from vocal solo and choral cycles to operas and ballets. A didactic element plays an essential part in the composer's music, especially for youth and children.

Twardowski received many awards for his music, including the Prince Rainier Prize for the ballet Sorcerer' Sculptures, and a Prize at the Prague Spring Festival for Sonetti di Petrarca. In 2000 he donated a number of his manuscripts to the PMC collection. The photograph features a moment at the Polish Composers' Union after the donation ceremony (23 September 2000).