Ewa Demarczyk

Ewa Maria Demarczyk (16 January 1941 – 14 August 2020) was a Polish singer, generally associated with the sung poetry music genre and the Piwnica pod Baranami cabaret.

Ewa Demarczyk
Ewa Demarczyk in 1966.
Background information
Born(1941-01-16)16 January 1941[1]
OriginKraków, Poland
Died14 August 2020(2020-08-14) (aged 79)[2]
Genressung poetry
Occupation(s)singer
Instrumentsvocals
Years active1961–2000
LabelsPolskie Nagrania Muza, Wifon, Decca Records, Melodiya
Associated actsPiwnica pod Baranami
Websitewww.demarczyk.pl

Demarczyk was recognized as one of the most talented and charismatic singers in the history of Polish music.[3] She was praised for her unique interpretations, expression, and unusual stage personality. In the 1960s, she drew comparisons with Édith Piaf. In Poland, she would be often referred to as "the Dark Angel".[4]

Biography

She started her career in 1961, when she joined Jagiellonian University Medical College's student cabaret Cyrulik. After one year she left Cyrulik for Piwnica pod Baranami, where she met Zygmunt Konieczny, with whom she would work for the next four years.

Her first big success was a performance at 1963 National Festival of Polish Song in Opole where she got an award for the songs "Karuzela z madonnami", "Taki pejzaż" and "Czarne anioły". Later the same year Ewa sang also at Sopot International Song Festival and was named the best artist of 1963 by Polish journalists. In 1964 she took the second place in Sopot for "Grande Valse Brillante". The artist went on to perform at Olympia in Paris, after Bruno Coquatrix's invitation,[5] as well as at the ceremony celebrating 20th anniversary of United Nations.

In 1966, she graduated from Ludwik Solski Academy for the Dramatic Arts (however, later she never played any part in a movie). The same year the artist teamed up with another composer, Andrzej Zarycki. The year 1967 saw the release of her first longplay album, Ewa Demarczyk śpiewa piosenki Zygmunta Koniecznego, which proved to be a major success and was later certified Platinum for selling over 100,000 copies.[6]

At the turn of the 1960s and 1970s, she travelled extensively around the world to countries such as Italy, France, Germany, Cuba, Brazil, Mexico, United States, Australia, United Kingdom and Finland. She performed in numerous concert halls, including Carnegie Hall in New York and the Chicago Theatre.[7]

Demarczyk left the Piwnica pod Baranami in 1972. Two years later her next album was issued, including some new Polish songs plus four Russian-language versions of her previously known hits. It was released in Russia by the state-owned label Melodiya and sold several million copies. Later in the 1970s she was awarded an honorary award at Opole Festival and Order of Polonia Restituta.

Her 1982 live album, simply titled Live, turned out to be a big success, achieving Gold certification in Poland.[6] In the mid-1980s the singer founded her own theatre in Kraków. In spite of formal difficulties, it was soon shut down, although it generated interest.[8] In the 1990s her albums were re-released on CD and the artist got a number of awards in recognition of her input to Polish culture. Demarczyk continued to perform live until the late 1990s.

She gave her last concert on 8 November 1999 at the Grand Theatre in Poznań and afterwards she completely withdrew from public life. In 2001, a foundation Teatr Ewy Demarczyk was created. She died on 14 August 2020, aged 79.

Style

Demarczyk's repertoire consisted of demanding, not easily accessible interpretations of poems. Since her songs are often based on poems of "classical" poets, both Polish such as Julian Tuwim and Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński and foreign like Goethe, Mandelstam, Rainer Maria Rilke or avant-garde writers, such as Miron Białoszewski, the genre that Demarczyk is associated with is called sung poetry.

In her performances, she united both dramatic theatrical expression and vocal art (she was a graduate of both a drama school and conservatory, where she studied the piano). Every song she performed was in fact a short musical drama of enormous intensity.

Awards and honours

Discography
Ewa Demarczyk in 1966

Albums:

  • 1967: Ewa Demarczyk śpiewa piosenki Zygmunta Koniecznego
  • 1974: Ewa Demarczyk
  • 1982: Live

Singles:

  • 1963: Karuzela z madonnami / Czarne anioły / Taki pejzaż
  • 1964: Grande Valse Brillante
  • 1968: Grande Valse Brillante / Tomaszów
  • 1974: Groszki i róże / Sur le pont d’Avignon / Jaki śmieszny / Cyganka / Zmory wiosenne

List of songs

The list presents the songs sung by Ewa Demarczyk arranged in alphabetical order:

Title Author Composer
Am Sonntagnachmittag Stanisław Baliński Leszek Długosz
Babuni Marina Tsvetaeva Andrzej Zarycki
Ballada o cudownych narodzinach Bolesława Krzywoustego Gallus Anonymus Andrzej Zarycki
Biegnie dziewczyna lasem Bolesław Leśmian Andrzej Zarycki
Canción de las voces serenas Jaime Torres Bodet Andrzej Zarycki
Cyganka Osip Mandelstam Andrzej Zarycki
Czarne anioły ("Black Angels") Wiesław Dymny Zygmunt Konieczny
Czerwonym blaskiem otoczona Stanisław Ratold Andrzej Zarycki
Dans bien longtemps Robert Desnos Andrzej Zarycki
Der Herbst des Einsamen Georg Trakl Andrzej Zarycki
Deszcze ("Rains") Krzysztof Kamil Baczynski Zygmunt Konieczny
Don Juan Marina Tsvetaeva Andrzej Zarycki
Folguj szczątkom swej młodości Wisława Szymborska Andrzej Zarycki
Garbus Bolesław Leśmian Zygmunt Konieczny
Grande Valse Brillante Julian Tuwim Zygmunt Konieczny
Groszki i róże Julian Kacper Zygmunt Konieczny
Il était une feuille Robert Desnos Andrzej Zarycki
Imię Twoje ("Your Name") Marina Tsvetaeva Andrzej Zarycki
Jaki śmieszny Wincenty Faber Zygmunt Konieczny
Karuzela z madonnami Miron Białoszewski Zygmunt Konieczny
Kląskały słodko słowiki Joanna Olczak-Ronikier Andrzej Zarycki
Kupcie szczeniaka Tadeusz Śliwiak Julian Kaszycki
Musik im Mirabell Georg Trakl Andrzej Zarycki
Nähe des Geliebten Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Andrzej Zarycki
Nie ma nas Leszek Długosz Andrzej Zarycki
Nieśmiertelniki Bronisława Ostrowska Andrzej Zarycki
O czemu pan Agnieszka Osiecka Zygmunt Konieczny
Opuszczony dom ("The Abandoned Home") Wiesław Dymny Adam Nowak
Osjan Bolesław Leśmian Zygmunt Konieczny
Palma sola Nicolás Guillén Andrzej Zarycki
Panna Śnieżna Andrei Bely Andrzej Zarycki
Pieśń nad Pieśniami Solomon Andrzej Zarycki
Piosenka pod choinkę Leszek Długosz Andrzej Zarycki
Pocałunki ("Kisses") Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska Zygmunt Konieczny
Pokochaj mnie ("Love Me") Emanuel Schlechter Robert Stolz
Przychodzimy, odchodzimy Janusz Jęczmyk Zygmunt Konieczny
Psalmen für den Hausgebrauch Tadeusz Nowak Andrzej Zarycki
Psalmy Dawida David Stanisław Radwan
Puchowy śniegu tren Andrzej Włast P. Arezzo
Purpurowe ciepłe słońce Tadeusz Miciński Andrzej Zarycki
Rebeka Andrzej Włast Zygmunt Białostocki
Ronda del fuego Gabriela Mistral Andrzej Zarycki
Samotność ("Loneliness") Bolesław Leśmian Andrzej Zarycki
Schattengetränk Bolewsław Leśmian Andrzej Zarycki
Skrzypek Hercowicz Osip Mandelstam Andrzej Zarycki
Słowiki ("Nightingales") Joanna Olczak-Ronikier Andrzej Zarycki
Smutna, niedokończona historia – Laura i on Mikhail Lermontov Krzysztof Litwin
Stary Cygan J. Wima Andrzej Zarycki
Sur le pont d’Avignon Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński Andrzej Zarycki
Szewczyk Bolesław Leśmian Jerzy Wysocki
Taki pejzaż Andrzej Szmidt Zygmunt Konieczny
Time long past Percy Bysshe Shelley Andrzej Zarycki
Tomaszów Julian Tuwim Zygmunt Konieczny
Wiersze wojenne ("War Poems") Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński Zygmunt Konieczny
Wiosenna noc w Starym Krakowie Franciszek Serwatka Franciszek Serwatka
Z ręką na gardle Jerzy Skolimowski Krzysztof Komeda
Zbyt młodam Robert Burns Andrzej Zarycki
Zmory wiosenne Bolesław Leśmian Andrzej Zarycki
Życie szare Anna Akhmatova Andrzej Zarycki

See also

References
  1. "KPPG - Wykaz osób: Demarczyk Ewa". www.kppg.waw.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2011-03-03.
  2. "Zmarła Ewa Demarczyk. Przez lata była związana z „Piwnicą pod Baranami"". Wprost (in Polish). Retrieved 2020-08-15.
  3. "Ewa Demarczyk - Biografia". muzyka.onet.pl (in Polish). Archived from the original on 2011-01-19. Retrieved 2011-03-04.
  4. "Why did Ewa Demarczyk, the 'Dark Angel of Polish Song' disappear from public eye at the height of her career?". Retrieved 2019-09-21.
  5. "Nie widziałem jej blisko 40 lat". muzyka.onet.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2011-03-03.
  6. "Ewa Demarczyk >>www.demarczyk.pl>> Dyskografia". www.demarczyk.pl (in Polish). Archived from the original on 2011-09-27. Retrieved 2011-03-03.
  7. "Ewa Demarczyk". Retrieved 2018-04-05.
  8. "Ewa Demarczyk - wielka artystka, wielka zagadka". www.kobieta.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2011-03-03.

Bibliography
  • Angelika Kuźniak, Ewelina Karpacz-Oboładze: Czarny Anioł. Opowieść o Ewie Demarczyk : Znak, Społeczny Instytut Wydawniczy Sp.z o.o. : 2015 : ISBN 978-83-240-2049-2
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