Ewa Demarczyk

{{Short description|Polish singer, actress (1941–2020)}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Ewa Demarczyk

| image = Ewa Demarczyk Polish singer 1966.jpg

| caption = Ewa Demarczyk in 1966.

| image_size =

| alt =

| background = solo_singer

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=y|1941|1|16}}{{cite web| url = http://www.kppg.waw.pl/person.php?art=1061&ruch=200| title = KPPG - Wykaz osób: Demarczyk Ewa| accessdate = 2011-03-03| work = www.kppg.waw.pl| language = Polish}}

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=y|2020|8|14|1941|1|16}}{{cite news|url=https://www.wprost.pl/kultura/10353306/zmarla-ewa-demarczyk-przez-lata-byla-zwiazana-z-piwnica-pod-baranami.html|title=Zmarła Ewa Demarczyk. Przez lata była związana z "Piwnicą pod Baranami"|work = Wprost|language = pl |accessdate=2020-08-15}}

| origin= Kraków, Poland

| genre = sung poetry

| occupation = singer

| instrument = vocals

| label = Polskie Nagrania Muza, Wifon, Decca Records, Melodiya

| years_active = 1961–2000

| associated_acts = Piwnica pod Baranami

| website =

}}

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

Demarczyk was recognized as one of the most talented and charismatic singers in the history of Polish music.{{cite web| url = http://muzyka.onet.pl/0,91852,91852,biografie.html| title = Ewa Demarczyk - Biografia| accessdate = 2011-03-04| work = muzyka.onet.pl| language = Polish| url-status = dead| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110119030137/http://muzyka.onet.pl/0,91852,91852,biografie.html| archivedate = 2011-01-19}} She was praised for her unique interpretations, expression, and unusual stage personality. In the 1960s, she drew comparisons with Édith Piaf. In Poland, she was often referred to as "the Dark Angel".{{cite news|url=https://www.thefirstnews.com/article/why-did-ewa-demarczyk-the-dark-angel-of-polish-song-disappear-from-public-eye-at-the-height-of-her-career-4244 |title=Why did Ewa Demarczyk, the ‘Dark Angel of Polish Song’ disappear from public eye at the height of her career? |access-date=2019-09-21}}

Biography

She started her career in 1961, when she joined Jagiellonian University Medical College's student cabaret Cyrulik. After a 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 the 1963 National Festival of Polish Song in Opole, where she received an award for the songs "Karuzela z madonnami", "Taki pejzaż" and "Czarne anioły". Later the same year, she sang at the Sopot International Song Festival and was named the best artist of 1963 by Polish journalists. In 1964 she took second place in Sopot for "Grande Valse Brillante". She went on to perform at Olympia in Paris, at Bruno Coquatrix's invitation,{{cite web| url = http://muzyka.onet.pl/10172,1635433,0,wywiady.html| title = Nie widziałem jej blisko 40 lat| accessdate = 2011-03-03| work = muzyka.onet.pl| language = Polish}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} as well as at a ceremony celebrating the 20th anniversary of United Nations.

In 1966, Demarczyk graduated from the Ludwik Solski Academy for the Dramatic Arts (however, she never had any film roles). The same year she teamed up with another composer, Andrzej Zarycki. 1967 saw the release of her first 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.{{cite web| url = http://www.demarczyk.pl/Ed/dyskografia.htm| title = Ewa Demarczyk >>www.demarczyk.pl>> Dyskografia| accessdate = 2011-03-03| work = www.demarczyk.pl| language = Polish| url-status = dead| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110927132311/http://www.demarczyk.pl/Ed/dyskografia.htm| archivedate = 2011-09-27}}

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.{{cite news|url=https://culture.pl/en/artist/ewa-demarczyk |title=Ewa Demarczyk |access-date=2018-04-05}}

Demarczyk left the Piwnica pod Baranami in 1972. Two years later her next album was issued, including some new Polish songs and four Russian-language versions of her previous hits. The album 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 the Order of Polonia Restituta.

Her 1982 live album, simply titled Live, turned out to be a big success, achieving gold certification in Poland. In the mid-1980s Demarczyk founded her own theatre in Kraków. In spite of formal difficulties{{Clarify|reason="In spite of formal difficulties" - not clear what this means|date=December 2022}}, it was soon shut down, although it generated interest.{{cite web| url = http://www.kobieta.pl/gwiazdy/emocje/zobacz/artykul/ewa-demarczyk-wielka-artystka-wielka-zagadka/| title = Ewa Demarczyk - wielka artystka, wielka zagadka| accessdate = 2011-03-03| work = www.kobieta.pl| language = Polish| archive-date = 2011-08-25| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110825232718/http://www.kobieta.pl/gwiazdy/emocje/zobacz/artykul/ewa-demarczyk-wielka-artystka-wielka-zagadka| url-status = dead}} In the 1990s her albums were re-released on CD and Demarczyk received a number of awards recognising her input to Polish culture. She 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 works by "classical" poets – both Polish such as Julian Tuwim and Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński and international like Goethe, Mandelstam, Rainer Maria Rilke, as well as 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). The songs she performed were essentially short, intense musical dramas.

Awards and honours

Discography

File:Ewa Demarczyk Polish singer.jpg

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:

class="wikitable" width=95%
bgcolor="#505050"

!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

{{reflist}}

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}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Demarczyk, Ewa}}

Category:1941 births

Category:2020 deaths

Category:Musicians from Kraków

Category:Recipients of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1944–1989)

Category:Sung poetry of Poland

Category:Polish cabaret singers

Category:Polish cabaret performers

Category:20th-century Polish women singers