Stanislaw Skrowaczewski papers
Scope and Contents
Collection includes Stanislaw Skrowaczewki's score library as well as his own compositions and personal papers. All of the scores include performance notes and other marginalia. Personal papers include correspondence, calendars and datebooks, performance programs and publications, and other like documentation.
Collection is currently being processed by Performing Arts Archives Staff. Materials will be added to this inventory as they become available for research.
Dates
- circa 1940s to 2017
Language of Materials
English, Polish
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is currently being processed by Performing Arts Archives Staff. Materials will be added to this inventory as they become available for research. Please contact the Performing Arts Archives for more information.
Conditions Governing Use
This collection may be protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code). It is the user's responsibility to verify copyright ownership and to obtain all necessary permissions prior to the reproduction, publication, or other use of any portion of these materials. Researchers may quote from the collection under the fair use provision of the copyright law.
Biographical Note
Stanislaw Skrowaczewski was a musical composer and conductor born in Lwów (then in Poland, now in Ukraine) on October 3, 1923.
Skrowaczewski graduated from the Academy of Music in Kraków in 1946 and soon after became the associate conductor of the Wrocław Philharmonic (now Warsaw National Orchestra) in Poland. In 1958 he and wife Anna fled Poland, and Skrowaczewski made his international debut with the Celvaldn Orchestra. In 1960 he was appointed music director of the Minnesota Orchestra (then Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra), a position he held until 1979.
Under Skrowaczewski's leadership the Minnesota Orchestra gained a reputation for championing contemporary music; in the 1970s the orchestra won multiple awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCP) for its commitment to new music. Skrowaczewski also played a pivotal role in the building of Orcehstra Hall, which opened 1974. It was also during Skrowaczewski's tenure that say the change in name from the Minneapolis Symphony to the Minnesota Orchestra.
After his tenure with the Minnesota Orchestra, Skrowaczewki went on to serve as the principal conductor for the Halle Orchestra in Manchester, as well as artistic advisor to the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in Wisconsin. He continued to guest conduct internationally until his death in 2017.
In additional to conducting, Skrowaczewki was also a notable composer, having studied composition with Nadia Boulanger while in Europe. Skrowaczewski's Clarinet Concerto (1981) was commissioned by the American Composers Forum (then Minnesota Composers Forum) and written specifically for Minnesota Orchestra principal clarinetist Joe Longo. His Passacaglia Immaginaria (1995) was commisioned by the Minnesota Orchestra and nominated for Pulitzer Prize in 1997. Skrowaczewki's Chamber Concerto, commissioned by the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, received a second Pulitzer nomination in 1999.
Skrowaczewki was the recipient of many awards for his service to the musical arts. Such awards include but are not limited to: the Gold Medal of the Mahler-Bruckner Society, the Ditson Conductor's Award, the Kennedy Center Friedheim Award, the McKnight Distinquished Artist Award, and the Commander Order of the White Eagle, one of the highest orders conferred by the Polish government.
Extent
80 Linear Feet (109 hollingers, 20 record cartons, 14 flat boxes, 3 book trays)
Abstract
Collection contains the scores and personal papers of musician Stanisław Skrowaczewski.
Physical Location
MLAC
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Colletion was donated to the Performing Arts Archives by Nick Skrowaczewski and Paul Sebastien in 2017 and 2018.
Processing Information
Collection is currently being processed by Performing Arts Archives Staff. Materials will be added to this inventory as they become available for research.
- Composition (Music) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Correspondence Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Music -- Composition Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Music Scores Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Musicians. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Theater programs Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Title
- Stanisław Skrowaczewski papers
- Status
- In Progress
- Author
- Alex Hollub
- Date
- November, 2017
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
Collecting Area Details
Contact The Performing Arts Archives Collecting Area
