Composer. Kisielewski was also a music critic and
journalist (under the pen names Kisiel, Teodor Klon, Julia Hołyńska
and Tomasz Staliński). He was also involved in political activities.
Stefan was the nephew of the satirist Jan August Kisielewski,
co-founder of the Kraków literary cabaret Zielony
Balonik
[The Green Balloon], which performed at the Jama
Michalika [Michalik’s Cave] café.
From 1929 to 1931, Kisielewski studied Polish literature and
philosophy at the University of Warszawa [Warsaw], and from 1934 to
1937 at the WarszawaConservatory (from which he graduated in music
theory, composition and piano). The period 1938-39 he spent in Paris,
where he continued his studies in composition under the direction of
Nadia Boulanger, patron of the arts and promoter of neo-classical
music (besides Kisielewski, her pupils included Grażyna Bacewicz,
Wojciech Kilar, Michał Spisak, Kazimierz Serocki, Zygmunt Krauze and
Wawrzyniec Żuławski). During the time of the occupation,
Kisielewski led underground musical activities in Poland, and during
the Warsaw Uprising, he worked in radio.
He was a founder of Ruch
Muzyczny
[Musical Movement], one of Poland’s most popular music
periodicals, and its Editor-in-Chief from 1945 to 1948.
Kisielewski’s
works belong to the Polish neo-classical trend, and are distinguished
by strict form, motility and musical humour, in which can be seen the
influence of the works of Igor Stravinsky.
author’s orchestral materials
list of authors
