Augustyn Bloch, the composer and organist, was born on 13th of August 1929 in Grudziądz.

He was an organ student of Feliks Raczkowski and a composition student of Tadeusz Szeligowski at the National Higher School of Music (nowadays the Academy of Music) in 1950-5 and 1952-9, respectively. In 1947-57, when still a student, Bloch gave organ concerts in Wrocław, Oliwa and Warsaw. In 1954-77 he had a contract with the Polish Radio Theatre to write music for its plays. In 1977-9 and 1983-7 Bloch was the Vice-President of the Association of Polish Composers, and in 1979-87 he chaired the Program Committee of the "Warsaw Autumn" International Festival of Contemporary Music.

Bloch was the winner of international composing competitions in Vercelli (1961) for his Piano Variations "Karol Szymanowski in Memoriam" (1953) and twice in Monaco: for "Meditations" for soprano, organs and percussion in 1962 and for his "Expectation" ballet in 1963.

In 1969 Bloch was third at the UNESCO's International Composers' Tribune in Paris for his "Dialoghi per Violino ed Orchestra" (1964). In 1989 the composer received the Brighton Festival award for the "Oratorium" for organ, strings and percussion, composed in 1982. He is also a two-time winner of the Minister of Art and Culture award: for "Enfiando per Orchestra" (1970) and for the ballet "Gilgamesh" (1968), received in 1971 and 1985, respectively.

Bloch's radio compositions for children earned him the award of the Radio and Television Committee in 1960 and of the Chairman of the Council of Ministers (for his music for children and youth, and in particular for the opera-ballet "The Beauty is Very Much Asleep") in 1973. In 1981 Bloch received the annual award of the Association of Polish Composers. He is also the holder of the Chevalier Cross and the Officer Cross of the Poland's Revival Order, conferred in 1969 and 1979, respectively.

Augustyn Bloch's compositions are to a large extent determined by his interest in the organ. This interest has its origins in his family home, his father having been the organist at the Grudziadz parish church. The composer always looks back to his childhood, when he spent long hours at the gallery, listening to his father play. When Bloch went to study the organ at the National Higher School of Music, his professor was Feliks Raczkowski, the distinguished organ teacher. At the same time Bloch worked as an organist in the churches of Gdańsk and Warsaw. When studying composition with Tadeusz Szeligowski, Bloch composed his first piece, "Fantasia per organo" (1953). Another composition written in his student years was the "Organ Sonata" from 1954. Bloch was later to compose other pieces for solo organ, notably "Jubilate" (1974) and "Forte, piano et forte" (1985). The organ will also appear in many other of his compositions, including "The Meditations" for soprano, organ and percussion (1961), "The Oratorium" for organ, strings and percussion (1982), "Canti per coro ed organo" (1984), "For Thine Light Shall Come", a psalmodia for voice, organ, choir and orchestra (1987), "Hac Festa Die per organo, coro ed orchestra" (1996) and "Oratorium Gedanense 1997 per organo, coro ed orchestra" (1997).

After a short spell of playing concerts as an organist, his own music included, Bloch gave up that career to focus exclusively on composing. Initially influenced by neoclassicism, he got briefly interested in dodecaphony. Yet it is the sound that has always been central to Bloch's composing language. One of his most interesting sound experiments is "Anenaiki" (1979), a piece in which the composer uses a choir consisting of sixteen voices to obtain unusual sound effects, including aliquot sounds. Sonorous effects are an important means of expression even in Bloch's religious pieces.

The religious trend, in the most general understanding of the word, is very important in Bloch's compositions, presumably owing to his family roots and organ experience. The recent years saw Bloch composing particularly many religious pieces, notably "Hac Festa Die" (1996), "Thou Shall Not Kill" (1990), "The Ostrobramska Littany" (1989), "Exaltabo te Domino" (1987) and "For Thine Light Shall Come" (1987). A number of such compositions have been inspired by the composer's wife, the excellent singer Halina Lukomska, who has often been the first performer of her husband's vocal and instrumental pieces.

Of special note are also Bloch's accomplishments in the area of stage music. He has written five ballets, a "miracle opera" based on a Biblical text - to use the composer's own words - entitled "Alejet, Jefte's Daughter" (1967), a musical "Pan Zagłoba" (1971), a children opera "The Beauty is Very Much Asleep" (1973) and a children musical "The Tale of a Violin Soul" (1979).

Remarkably, the children part of Bloch's output is very significant. In addition to the previously mentioned works, Bloch wrote a number of songs for children as well as two pieces for children instrumental groups: "Walking Down the Keyboard for four small hands and an equally small percussion" for piano and percussion (1981) and "Travelling Without a Ticket Across Europe and a Small Percussion" for piano and percussion (1982). These compositions use modern playing techniques in ways fully accessible to children of a few years old.

Compositions:

• "Fantasia per organo" (1953)
• Wariacje Fortepianowe / Piano Variations "Karol Szymanowski in Memoriam" (1953)
• "Sonata per organo" (1954)
• "Concertino" for solo violin, string orchestra, piano and percussion (1958)
• "Espressioni per soprano ed orchestra" (1959)
• "Impressioni Poetiche" for male choir and orchestra to texts of Jan Kasprowicz (1959)
• "Medytacje / The Meditations" for soprano, organ and percussion (1961)
• "Voci", ballet in one act for soprano, baritone and chamber orchestra (1962)
• "Oczekiwanie / Expectation", ballet in one act (1963)
• "Dialoghi per violino ed orchestra" (1964)
• "Byk / The Bull", ballet in one act (1965)
• "Alejet, córka Jeftego / Alejet, Jefte's Daughter", opera- mystery play in one act (1967)
• "Gilgamesz / Gilgamesh", ballet-pantomime in one act (1968)
• "Enfiando per orchestra" (1970)
• "Salmo Gioioso per soprano e cinque fiati" (1970)
• "Pan Zagłoba / Mr. Zagłoba" musical (1971)
• "Bardzo Śpiaca Królewna / The Beauty is Very Much Asleep", opera-ballet-pantomime in one act (1973)
• "Jubilate per Organo" (1973-74)
• "Poemat o Warszawie / A Poem About Warsaw" for voice, mixed choir and orchestra (1974)
• "Z gwiazdą w Cudobudzie / With a Star in a Marvel Shed", Mazovian pastorale for 18 vocal soloists and instrumental ensemble (1974)
• "Zwierciadło / Looking-glass", ballet-pantomime for tape (1975)
• "Wordsworth Songs" for baritone and chamber orchestra (1976)
• "Clarinetto Divertente", miniature for solo clarinet (1976)
• "Taka sobie muzyka / Such a Music", a series of songs for piano and orchestra (1976-77)
• "Głos Milczenia / The Voice of Silence", ballet-pantomime for tape (1977)
• "Piosenki dla dzieci na glos i fortepian / Songs for Children for voice and piano" (1977)
• "Warstwy czasu / The Strata of Time" for 15 string instruments (1978)
• "Piosenki dla dzieci / Songs for Children" for voices and instrumental ensemble (1956-79)
• "Bajka o skrzypcowej duszy / The Tale of a Violin Soul" musical for children (1979)
• "Anenaiki" for sixteen-voice mixed choir a cappella (1979)
• "Carmen Biblicum" for soprano and 9 instruments (1980)
• "Chodzenie po klawiszach na cztery male rece i perkusję też niedużą / Walking Down the Keyboard for four small hands and an equally small percussion" for piano and percussion (1981)
• "Oratorium" for organ, strings and percussion (1982)
• "Jazda na gape przez Europę i perkusję też niedużą / Travelling Without a Ticket Across Europe and a Small Percussion " for piano and percussion (1982)
• "Supplicazioni per violoncello e pianoforte" (1983)
• "Canti per coro ed organo" (1984)
• "Forte, piano e forte per organo solo" (1985)
• "Zostań Panie z nami / Oh Lord, Stay With Us", music at twilight for orchestra (1986)
• "Duetto per violino e violoncello" (1986)
• "Albowiem nadejdzie światlość Twoja / For Thine Light Shall Come", a psalmodia for voice, organ, choir and orchestra (1987)
• "Exaltabo Te, domino per coro misto" (1988)
• "Lauda per soprano, alto, percussione e quattro archi" (1988)
• "Musica per tredici ottoni / music for 13 brass instruments" (1988)
• "Litania Ostrobramska / The Ostrobramska Littany " for mixed choir and orchestra (1989)
• "Nie Zabijaj! / Thou Shall Not Kill", meditations for baritone, cello, choir and orchestra (1989-90)
• "Trio per violino, violoncello e pianoforte" (1992)
• "Wzwyż / Upwards" for orchestra (1993)
• "Infiltrazioni per due violini bela Bartok in Memoriam" (1995)
• "Hac festa die per organo, coro ed orchestra" (1996)
• "Oratorium Gedanense 1997 per organo, coro ed orchestra" (1996-97)
• "Drei Stuecke saxophon-Kammer-Orchester" (1998)

Source: Polish Music Information Center, Polish Composers' Union, November 2001.

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