Tadeusz Baird

Tadeusz Baird (26 July 1928, Grodzisk Mazowiecki  – 2 September 1981, Warsaw) was a Polish composer.

He was born in Grodzisk Mazowiecki, to Scottish immigrant parents. He studied composition, piano and musicology in Warsaw with, among others, Kazimierz Sikorski. In 1956, with Serocki, he founded the Warsaw Autumn international contemporary music festival. In 1974 he began to teach composition at the State College of Music (currently the Music Academy) in Warsaw.

Photograph of Tadeusz Baird.

Compositions

Baird's music is usually lyrical, very expressive, and intensely subjective. It is often rooted in the post-Romantic tradition, despite serial techniques.

Music for solo instruments

• Sonatina I (1949)
• Sonatina II (1952)
• Little Suite for Children (1952)

Chamber music

• String Quartet (1971)
• Play for String Quatret (1971)

Orchestral works

• Symphony I (1950) - Polish National Prize, 1951
• Colas Breugnon: a suite in the old style for string orchestra with flute (1951)
• Four Essays (1958) - UNESCO Prize, 1959
• Symphony III (1969) - National Prize, 1970

Concertos

• Four Dialogs for oboe and chamber orchestra (1964) - UNESCO Prize 1966
• Oboe Concerto (1973)
• Scenes for cello, harp and orchestra (1977)
• Concerto Lugubre (1975) for viola and orchestra

Vocal-instrumental works

• Four Love Sonnets for baritone and orchestra (1956) to texts by Shakespeare
• Five Songs for mezzo-soprano and six instruments (1970) to texts by H. Poświatowska - National Prize, 1970
• Tomorrow, a musical drama to a libretto by J. S. Sito

Recordings

Baird's works have limited exposure on record, the principal recordings being a trio of Olympia CDs, focusing on his orchestral output and including the one-act opera Tomorrow. The Colas Breugnon suite has been recorded twice, notably by the Polish Chamber Orchestra under Jerzy Maksymiuk on EMI.

External links

• Baird page at the Polish Music Center