Włodzimierz Kotoński

Włodzimierz Kotoński (23 August 1925 – 4 September 2014) was a Polish composer. Born in Warsaw, Kotoński studied there with Piotr Rytel and Tadeusz Szeligowski at the PWSM, graduating in 1951. In an initial period of activity he took an interest in folk music from the Podhale region in southern Poland. After attending the Darmstädter Ferienkurse in 1957–61, he adopted punctual serialism in works like Sześć miniatur ('Six Miniatures') for clarinet and piano of 1957 and Muzyka kameralna ('Chamber Music') for 21 instruments and percussion in the following year. This trend culminated in 1959 in Musique en relief for six orchestral groups. His Etiuda na jedno uderzenie w talerz ('Study on One Cymbal Stroke') was the first Polish piece of electronic music, created at Polish Radio's Experimental Studio. He also worked in various electronic music studios abroad, amongst others in Cologne, Paris, Freiburg, and Berlin.

In 1967 he was appointed lecturer in composition at the Frédéric Chopin Music Academy in Warsaw, where he also directed the electronic music studio. Notably, he wrote the first book in Polish on the field of electronic / electroacoustic music.

In the years 1974–1976 he was head music editor at the Polskie Radio and head music director for the Polish Radio and Television. In the years 1980–1983 he was vice president, and in 1983–1989 president of the Polish Section, International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM). He presented guest lectures in composition and electroacoustic music at foreign universities in, amongst others, Stockholm, Buffalo, Los Angeles, and Jerusalem.

His students included: Jacek Grudzien, Jarosław Kapuściński, Krzysztof Knittel, Konstancja Kochaniec, Stanislaw Krupowicz, Owen Leech, Hanna Kulenty, Pawel Mykietyn, Pawel Szymanski. See: List of music students by teacher: K to M#Włodzimierz Kotoński.

He died in Warsaw at the age of 89 on 4 September 2014.