Antoni Szalowski

Antoni Szałowski (Warsaw, 21 April 1907 –Paris, 21 March 1973) was a Polish composer. In his youth he studied violin but soon became more interested in piano, conducting, and composition. Szałowski studied with Paweł Lewicki at the Warsaw Conservatoire, but in 1930 he received a government grant which enabled him to study in Paris. He was a student of Nadia Boulanger at the École Normale de Musique de Paris. His first three string quartets were met with much success, but his Overture for Orchestra (1936) was his first well-known work. During World War II, he lived in hiding and with financial difficulties and was sought by the Nazis, but he managed to still compose several works. Most of his works were written for strings. Szałowski suffered a heart attack and soon died when trying to lift his wife who had slipped on the floor. Szałowski is mostly known today for his Sonatina for Clarinet (1936) and other chamber wind pieces, with occasional playings of his Overture.

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