Caught in the Middle
Why Mieczysław Weinberg Is Unknown in Poland
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
As a Polish Jew who spent the greater part of his life in the Soviet Union, Weinberg eludes clear national classification. As a composer, he was primarily bound to the Russian symphonic tradition. In Poland, Weinberg was seen as a Soviet composer of Jewish ancestry – and even that only by a small circle of music experts. Concerts and recordings are rare. Weinberg’s traditionalist style was long considered old-fashioned, the composer as epigone of Dmitrii Shostakovich. To this day, this misperception hinders Weinberg’s reception in Poland.
(Osteuropa 7/2010, pp. 139–146)