Eugeniusz Rudnik | |
---|---|
Born |
Nadkole, Poland |
28 October 1932
Origin | Polish |
Died | 24 October 2016 | (aged 83)
Occupation(s) | Composer, sound director, sound engineer |
Instruments | Electroacoustic |
Years active | 1960–2016 |
Eugeniusz Rudnik (28 October 1932 – 24 October 2016) was a modern Polish composer, electronics engineer and sound engineer and a pioneer of electronic and electro-acoustic music in Poland.
Rudnik was born on 28 October 1932 in Nadkole.
In 1967 he graduated from the Faculty of Electronics on Warsaw University of Technology. From 1955 he worked for Polish Radio, at first as the manager of plumbers, carpenters and painters.
In 1958 Rudnik started working in the Experimental Studio of the Polish Radio, fourth such facility in Europe, founded and directed by Józef Patkowski. Between 1967-68, he worked in the Studio for Electronic Music of the Westdeutscher Rundfunk in Cologne, when he cooperated with Włodzimierz Kotoński by the implementation of Klangspiele. In the late 1960s and 1970s Rudnik co- created some of Norwegian composer Arne Nordheim works, including "Colorazione" and "Solitaire" (1969).
Rudnik was one of the first Polish electroacoustic music producers and co-founder of the so-called Polish school of electroacoustic music and author of innovative solutions of spatial sound projection, composer of Skalary (1966). He was also author of the one of the first in the world poliversional tracks to tape, and the first Polish track quadraphonic Vox Humana (1968) carried out in Studio WDR in Cologne. His work has defined and confirmed the role of sound producer as a co-author of the works of electroacoustic music.
As a composer Rudnik created almost 100 works in studios of electronic music in Warsaw, Stockholm, Cologne, Paris, Bourges, Baden-Baden, Brussels and Ghent. They were presented on different radio stations throughout Europe and in many countries, as well as at many festivals in Warsaw, Wrocław, Finland, Zagreb, Stockholm, Berlin, Paris, Arles, and other sites. In 2006, he was a central figure in Warsaw edition of Audio Art Festival. His composition Homo Ludens was presented in 1985 at the prestigious world exhibition of contemporary art Documenta VII in Kassel.
He won many awards. In addition to the ones already mentioned, they include one at the First International Electronic Music Competition for "Dixi" (1968), 1st prize at the Bourges International Electroacoustic Music Competition (France) for "Mobile" (1972), 3rd prize in Bourges for "Ostinato" (1973), 2nd prize in Bourges for "Homo Ludens" (1984).
He was named Chairman of the Committee on Radio and Television "for his outstanding achievements in the field of creativity and execution of experimental electronic music for programs of Polish Radio and Television". He received the Warsaw Golden Badge of Honour for services to Warsaw (1987), an honorary radio award at the Festiwal Mediów "Człowiek w zagrożeniu" in Łódź for the "eternal and universal values of the human being documenting the threats of modern civilization" (1991), the Euphonia d'or prize in Bourges, also for "Mobile", the Golden Microphone Award for "valued worldwide achievements in the field of radio art and experimental autonomous music" (1993) and the first prize (shared with Maria Brzezińska) at the XVII Międzynarodowy Katolicki Festiwal Filmów i Multimediów in Niepokalanów, and at the "Dwa Teatry" festival in Gdańsk for "Przyjaciółki z Żelaznej ulicy" (2002).