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Poland Music Scene - Bands & Gigs
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Music in Poland
Artists from Poland, including famous composers like Chopin or Penderecki and traditional, regionalised folk musicians, create a lively and diverse music scene, which even recognises its own music genres, such as poezja śpiewana (sung poetry) and disco polo.
Poland is one of the few countries in Europe where rock and hip hop dominate over pop music, while all kinds of alternative music genres are encouraged.
Poland has always been a very open country to new music genres and even before the fall of communism, music styles like rock, metal, jazz, electronic, and New Wave were well-known. Since 1989, the Polish scene has exploded with new talents and a more diverse style.
Every year, a huge gathering of young Poles meet to celebrate the rock and alternative music in Jarocin, Żary, and Kostrzyn nad Odrą and at Open'er Festival and Off Festival. These events often attract more than 250,000 people and are comparable to the gatherings in Woodstock and Roskilde.
Poland has a very active underground extreme metal music scene. Some of the bands that have heralded and helped the cause are Behemoth, Vader, Yattering, Decapitated, Indukti, Hate, and Lux Occulta. This has paved ground for a large underground movement. One of the biggest record labels of death metal in Poland is Empire Records.
In jazz music, polish musicians created a specific style, which was most famous in 60s and 70s. Most famous polish jazz artists are: Krzysztof Komeda, Adam Makowicz, Tomasz Stańko & Michał Urbaniak.
Two contemporary big Polish music festivals are Opole Festival and Sopot Festival. Among other important festivals there are: Jazz Jamboree, Rawa Blues Festival and Wratislavia Cantans.
Heavy Metal
Poland has one of the strongest and most well respected heavy metal scenes in Europe, specifically the death metal scene. One of the biggest record labels of death metal in Poland is Empire Records. The death metal band Vader is considered the most successful Polish heavy metal act and have gained commercial and critical praise internationally. Their career spans more than three decades with many international tours.
They are often seen as a huge inspiration on modern death metal. Both Behemoth and Decapitated have also found significant success both inside and outside of Poland. Both have toured extensively across Europe, America, and in the case of Decapitated, have recently toured Australia and New Zealand. Recently Indukti, Hate, Trauma, Crionics, Lost Soul and Lux Occulta have started to become well known outside of Poland.
Though there is also a healthy and active grindcore scene, death metal remains Poland's strongest and most successful genre in terms of heavy metal. There is a healthy black metals scene as well, led by Graveland, Darzamat, Kataxu, Infernal War and Vesania.
Though there is also a healthy and active grindcore scene, death metal remains Poland's most popular and famous export as far as heavy metal goes.
Folk Music
Interest in Poland's traditional folk music has seen revival in Poland and elsewhere. Poland now has traditional folk music festivals that feature authentic music from Poland's past. These festivals also incorporate dances and folk costume into their repertoire. Sometimes groups will compete against one another with various experts in traditional folk music, dance, and costume, presiding over the performances.
Classical Music
At the end of the 18th century, Polish classical music evolved into national forms like the polonaise. In the 19th century the most popular composers were: Józef Elsner and his pupils Fryderyk Chopin and Ignacy Dobrzyński. Important opera composers were Karol Kurpiński and Stanisław Moniuszko. Famous soloists and composers were Henryk Wieniawski, Juliusz Zarębski.
At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries the most promiment composers were Władysław Zeleński and Mieczysław Karłowicz. Karol Szymanowski gained prominence prior to World War II. Józef Koffler was the first Polish twelve-tone composer (dodecaphonist).
Between the wars, a group of composers formed the Association of Young Polish Musicians; these included Grażyna Bacewicz, Zygmunt Mycielski, Michał Spisak and Tadeusz Szeligowski. Following World War II, some composers, such as Roman Palester and Andrzej Panufnik, fled the country and remained in the exile. In the early 1960s, however, a number of composers known as the Polish Composers' School arose, characterized by the use of sonorism and dodecaphonism.
The style emerged out of the political crisis in 1956, following Stalin's death; that same year saw the Warsaw Autumn music festival inaugurated, from whence came additional popularity for the Polish Composers' School. Composers included Tadeusz Baird, Boguslaw Schaeffer, Włodzimierz Kotoński, Witold Szalonek, Krzysztof Penderecki, Witold Lutosławski, Wojciech Kilar, Kazimierz Serocki and Henryk Mikołaj Górecki. More modern composers include Krzysztof Meyer, Paweł Szymański, Krzesimir Dębski, Hanna Kulenty, Eugeniusz Knapik and Paweł Mykietyn.
Podhale
While folk music has largely died out in Poland, especially in urban areas, the tourist destination of Podhale has retained its traditions. The regional capital, Zakopane, has been a center for art since the late 19th century, when people like composer Karol Szymanowski, who discovered Goral folk music there, made the area chic among Europe's intellectuals.
Though a part of Poland, Podhale's musical life is more closely related to that found in the Carpathian mountains of Ukraine, Slovakia, Moravia in Czech Republic and Transsylvania. The people in the Tatra mountains of Poland and Slovakia are descendants of Vlach shepherds who settled there from 14th to 17th century.
Local ensembles use string instruments like violins and a cello to play a distinctive scale called the Lydian mode. The distinctive singing style used in this scale is called lidyzowanie. The lead violin (prym) are accompanied by several second violins (sekund) and a three-stringed cello (bazy). Duple-time dances like the krzesany, zbójnicki (Brigand's Dances) and ozwodna are popular.
The ozwodna has a five bar melodic structure which is quite unusual. The krzesany is an extremely swift dance, while the zbójnicki is well-known and is perceived as being most "typical" of Podhale and Northern Slovakia. Folk songs typically focus on heroes like Janosik.
Outside of Podhale, few regions have active folk scenes, though there are music festivals, such as the Kazimierz Festival, which are well-known and popular. Regional folk bands include Gienek Wilczek Band (Bukowina), Tadeusz Jedynak Band (Przystalowice Male), Stachy Band (Hazców nad Wislokiem), Franciszek Gola Band (Kadzidło), Edward Markocki Band (Zmyslówka-Podlesie), Kazimierz Kantor Band (Głowaczowa), Swarni Band (Nowy Targ), Kazimierz Meto Band (Glina), Ludwik Młynarczyk Band (Lipnica) and Trebunie-Tutki.
Polish Music Charts
The Polish Music Charts are two official album charts and seven singles charts in Poland, provided by ZPAV, the Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry (Związek Producentów Audio Video). The first, the Top 100, is a monthly chart based on data received from the album companies. The second, the OLIS chart, is a weekly chart based on retail sales data.