Koffler, Józef

Koffler, Józef, Polish composer; b. Stryj, Nov. 28, 1896; d. with his wife and child during a Nazi roundup of Jews in Wieliczka, near Krakow, 1943. He was a student in Vienna of Grädener (1914–16), Schoenberg (1920–24), and at the Univ. with Adler (Ph.D., 1925, with the diss. Über orchestrale Koloristik in den symphonischen Werken von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy). He went to wów, where he taught at the Cons. (1929–41) and ed. the periodicals Orkiestra (1930–38) and Echo (1936–37). Koffler was the first Polish composer to embrace Schoenberg’s 12-tone system.

Works

orch.:Hanifa, overture (1925); Suite orientale (1925); Sielanka: Capriccio pastorale for Chamber Orch. (1925); Variations sur une succession de douze tons for Strings (1927; based on 15 Variations d’après une suite de douze tons for Piano); 4 syms.: No. 1 for Small Orch. (1931), No. 2 (1933), No. 3 for Winds (1935; London, June 17, 1938), and No. 4 (1940); Piano Concerto (1931); Prelude and Fugue (1936); Polish Suite for Small Orch. (1936); Little Suite after J.S. Bach (1937); Joyful Overture (1940); Haendeliana, 30 variations (1940). chamber: String Trio (1928; Oxford, July 23, 1931); Little Serenade for Oboe, Clarinet, and Bassoon (1931); String Quartet (1934); Capriccio for Violin and Piano (1936); Ukrainian Sketches for String Quartet (1941).Piano: 40 Polish Folk Songs (1925); Musique de ballet (1926); Musique quasi una sonata (1927); 15 Variations d’après une suite de douze tons (1927; also as Variations sur une succession de douze tonsfor String Orch.); Sonatine (1930); Sonata (1935); Variations sur une Valse de Johann Strauss (1935). vocal:Love, cantata for Mezzosoprano, Clarinet, Viola, and Cello (1931); songs.

Bibliography

M. Golab, J. K. (Krakow, 1995).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire