Eugeniusz Knapik

Eugeniusz Knapik (born July 9, 1951, in Ruda Śląska) is a Polish pianist and composer of classical music best known for his 1980 chamber piece String Quartet No. 1. Knapik studied composition and piano with Henryk Górecki (1933–2010) and Czesław Stańczyk at the University of Music in Katowice. As a pianist, he has recorded widely, mainly in 20th-century music. He has won numerous prizes for his compositions, including at the Festival of Polish Piano Interpretation in Słupsk, and the International Chamber Music Competition in Vienna.

Along with Andrzej Krzanowski and Aleksander Lasoń, Knapik is generally seen as a leading member of the composers who emerged in Poland during the mid-1970s. This group was collectively named Stalowa Wola after the city at which they stated their manifesto at a 1975 festival of music sub-titled "From young composers to a young City". Their statement read, "The work of the composers who entered their artistic lives at the festivals in Stalowa Wola was a kind of opposition to the 1950s and 60s avant-garde: opposition towards novelty for novelty's sake, and towards total destruction. This opposition was a spontaneous, intuitive, deep-rooted reaction, which we only later became fully aware of." He has borrowed from 19th and 20th century English language poetry for both libretto and inspiration, a fact which sets him apart from most of his Polish contemporaries.

Today, Knapik teaches at the Katowice Academy of Music, where he is a professor and director of composition.

Selected works Sonata for Violin and Piano, 1971 Psalms for soloists, choir and orchestra, 1973–75 String Quartet No. 1, 1980 Hymn for clarinet, trombone, cello and piano, 1980 The Minds of Helena Troubleyn, Cycle of three Operas, 1987-96 Up into the Silence for soprano, baritone, string quartet and orchestra, 1996-2000 Introduction to Mystery for Tenor, Mixed Choir and Symphony Orchestra, 2005 La Liberta chiama la liberta, opera, 3rd Part of the Trilogy The Minds of Helena Troubleyn, 2010