Janina Skowronska

Janina Skowronska (February 8, 1920 – 1992) was a Polish composer who is best remembered for her arrangements of folk songs, and for creating Little Chopin, a children’s musical based on the life and works of Frederic Chopin.

Skowronska was born to a Polish family in Germakowka (then in the USSR, now in Ukraine). She studied music at the State Music College  in Wroclaw, Poland, and with Tadeusz Szeligowski. She received a diploma in 1961.

Skowronska’s compositions included:

Chamber

 * Theme and Variations (string quartet)

Orchestra

 * Symphony

Piano

 * Preludes 
 * Rondo 
 * Waltz

Theatre

 * Little Chopin (for children)

Vocal

 * Children’s Songs
 * Drugi Brzeg (soprano, oboe, two clarinets and horn)
 * “Golden Rain”
 * Moda Pani Czepca Nie Ma (mixed chorus)
 * O Wy Corne Kawki (folk song; mixed chorus)
 * Od Krakowa do Wroclawia (folk dance suite; chorus and orchestra)
 * Parodie (text by W. Marianowicz; baritone, soprano, bassoon and string orchestra)
 * Pokoju Czas (text by R. Heniszowa; mixed chorus)
 * Samotne Drzewa (text by L. Turkowski; mixed chorus)
 * Suite of Folk Dances (text by Andrzej Waligórski; orchestra and chorus)
 * “Tu Bedziemy” (text by A. Burcia; voice and piano)
 * Two Folksongs (soprano and piano)
 * U.F.O. (for soprano and eight instruments: clarinet, cello, six percussion)
 * Ziemio Moja (mixed chorus)