(Un)Daughters

They are the daughters of great Polish composers, but neither wanted to remain simply “a daughter”. The title of the project, (NOT)Daughters, refers to Irene Poldowski, daughter of Henryk Wieniawski, and Roxanna Panufnik, daughter of Andrzej Panufnik. The parenthetical “not” emphasises their artistic independence: both grew up in the shadow of famous names, yet developed their own musical voices and their own places in music history.

Irene Poldowski, born Régine Wieniawska, was born in Brussels in 1879. She was the youngest daughter of Henryk Wieniawski, who died when she was just ten months old. She studied piano and composition in Brussels, Paris and London, among others with Vincent d’Indy and André Gedalge. After marrying the British aristocrat Aubrey Dean Paul, she was also known as Lady Dean Paul, but published her music primarily under the pseudonym Poldowski. Its exact origin remains unknown. Its neutral or masculine sound may have helped obscure the author’s gender and distance her from her famous father’s name, while also evoking her Polish roots.

Songs occupy the most important place in her output, particularly settings of poems by Paul Verlaine. Poldowski created more than twenty settings of his poetry, combining French sensitivity to language with harmonies reminiscent of the Impressionism of Debussy and Ravel. These are brief musical portraits of love, longing, melancholy, sensuality and fleeting memories.

Roxanna Panufnik was born in London in 1968. She is the daughter of Andrzej Panufnik, one of the most important Polish composers of the twentieth century, who settled in Britain after emigrating from Poland. Roxanna therefore grew up in a Polish-British musical household. Her music combines European traditions with inspirations drawn from different cultures and religions, while memory, spirituality, dialogue and encounters between different traditions are recurring themes in her work.
The programme will include her Cantator & Amanda for bassoon and string quartet. The composition tells a medieval legend from the English town of Rye about the forbidden love of the monk Cantator and a local girl, Amanda. Their attempt to escape together ends in tragedy: the monk is captured and walled alive into the monastery, while Amanda dies of despair.

The project has been prepared by the Poldowski String Quartet, founded in 2022 by Marta Piórkowska, Agata Krystek, Damian Kułakowski and Mateusz Błaszczak. The musicians are associated, among others, with the National Philharmonic in Warsaw, Sinfonia Varsovia, the Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra and Hashtag Ensemble. The quartet made its debut the following year at the WarszeMuzik festival. Choosing Poldowski as its namesake reflects the ensemble’s interest in composers and artists who have been forgotten or remain outside the mainstream repertoire.