Zygmunt Mycielski and Andrzej Panufnik – a Friendship beyond the Iron Curtain

Beata Bolesławska-Lewandowska

Abstract

Zygmunt Mycielski and Andrzej Panufnik are two important figures in Poland’s music life of the second half of the twentieth century. Both started their careers before the Second World War, and in the postwar period they actively participated in the rebuilding of music life in the country. In 1954, Panufnik decided to emigrate from communist Poland and to settle in Great Britain, where he spent the rest of his life. Despite that fact, he remained in touch with Zygmunt Mycielski. Evidence for the close friendship between the two composers is found in the surviving correspondence, including more than 450 letters written in the period from 1949 to 1987. The letters, currently prepared for publication by the author of the article, are an amazing testimony to the music interests of both composers, their ideas and response to the ongoing developments in music and politics, in addition to being a record of their private lives. The letters prove that despite living on the opposite sides of the Iron Curtain they managed to keep alive their friendship, based on a similar understanding of the role of music and music-related matters. The subjects touched upon in the letters reveal valuable information about the life and work of each composer, and about the music life, history and politics of Poland and the world in the second half of the twentieth century. The article brings us closer to Zygmunt Mycielski and Andrzej Panufnik, using the context of their long-lasting friendship, the record of which is found in the correspondence between the two composers.