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The subject for analysis were works for voice and piano by selected Polish composers of the 20th and 21st centuries, e.g. Grażyna Bacewicz, Tadeusz Baird, Henryk Czyż, Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, Henryk Hubertus Jabłoński, Wojciech Kilar, Zygmunt Krauze, Szymon Laks, Witold Lutosławski, Juliusz Mieczysław Łuciuk, Wojciech Łukaszewski, Paweł Łukaszewski, Maciej Małecki, Paweł Mykietyn, Edward Pałłasz, Konrad Pałubicki, Krzysztof Penderecki, Witold Rudziński, Marian Sawa, Kazimierz Serocki, Tadeusz Szeligowski and Romuald Twardowski. An important matter for the author was to determine whether there are common features for this creative genre. She also attempted to find an answer to the question if the trends from the second half of the 20th century were reflected in songs. The scope of analysis covered the repertoire the author knew from her performance practice from the standpoint of a pianist. To the general characteristics of selected songs she added a review of famous trends, techniques and styles of composition, such as impressionism, neoromanticism, expressionism, dodecaphony, serialism, punctualism, minimalism, sonorism, spectralism, neoclassicism, vitalism, postmodernism, aleatoricism, bruitism, microtonality, electronic music, musique concrète, stochastic music, references to previous periods, to folklore and to popular music. She compared musical notation of the analysed works. She also confronted forms of songs with contemporary composition techniques. Interesting was the approach of composers to chamber relations in a duo and the way they made texts musical. Most composers distanced themselves from the avant-garde in works for voice and piano which had a specific poetic text because of the clarity of narration. Matching composers unequivocally to just one trend turned out impossible. Various techniques and phenomena may co-exist in one piece and in the same way one creator may search for different means of expression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is aimed at presenting piano and chamber music written by the forgotten composer of the period of the Young Poland. Born in Cracow to a family with rich music traditions, Jerzy Gablenz learned to play the piano, flute, cello and organ. But his main interest was to write music himself. As early as in his youthful years, he wrote songs and piano miniatures mainly dedicated to Małgorzaa Schoen, his future wife. He graduated from law school, but he also studied composition and theory of music with Władysław Żeleński, Feliks Nowowiejski and Zdzisław Jachimecki. His main occupation was managing the vinegar and mustard factory. Despite that, he found time for writing symphonic, opera, chamber, piano and vocal pieces. His piano works - due to their tunefulness, diversified texture, mysteriousness and ballroom elegance - are unquestionably worth promoting. They include: 4 Small Bagatelles op. 1 no. 1, 4 Improvisations op. 1 no. 3, 3 Improvisations op. 1 no. 4, Intermezzo a la mazurka op. 2, 2 Morceaux op. 3, Two Small Bagatelles op. 8, 2 Skizzen op. 24 Es war niemal..., or Suite op. 35. Gablenz's chamber works cover: Canzona op. 1 no. 2 for flute and piano, Sonata op. 15 for cello and piano, 5 Waltzes op. 28 for piano 4 hands, Arabesque op. 28 no. 6 for oboe and piano, Trios for three female voices and piano to lyrics by Leopold Staff op. 4 and op. 19. Unfortunately, Gablenz's tragic death on 11 November 1937 in a plane crash near Piaseczno made the further development of his great talent impossible. I believe that his creative output deserves promoting among music lovers not only in the Dominican Republic and Canada, but first of all in Poland, where some of his works still have not had their premiere performances, despite numerous efforts of Tomasz Gablenz, the composer's son. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]