Biography of Henryk Wars / Henry Vars
by Marek Zebrowski
 
Born in Warsaw on 29 December 1902, Henryk Warszawski came from a well-to-do middle-class family, and his siblings shared a strong interest in music. His older sister, Josephine, sang for the Warsaw Opera and was a soloist at Teatro della Scala in Milan. The younger, Francesca, married an Italian diplomat stationed in Warsaw and eventually settled in Milan. After brief studies at the Academy of Fine Arts, Warszawski was offered a scholarship by Warsaw Conservatory director, Emil Młynarski, to study composition with Roman Statkowski, conducting with Emil Młynarski, and piano with Henryk Melcer-Szczawiński. After graduating in 1925, and two-years at a military academy, he resumed his career in music.
 
Fascinated by American jazz, by the late 1920s Warszawski wrote some popular songs and scored the first Polish “talkie,” Na Sybir [To Siberia]. Using the stage name “Henryk Wars,” he quickly became a prolific film composer, scoring and recording over fifty films in the 1930s. Like the music of George Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Irving Berlin in America, Wars’s hit songs from these films are still popular in Poland.
 
Shortly after Poland’s defeat in fall of 1939, Wars escaped a POW transport and reached the city of Lwów, which was then under Soviet occupation. There he gathered refugee Polish musicians into his “Tea-Jazz” orchestra. After Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, Wars’s orchestra joined the Polish Second Corps under the command of General Anders, left Russia, and accompanied Allied troops on their wartime odyssey through Persia, Iraq, Palestine and Italy. For his service as Music Director of the Polish Second Corps attached to General Montgomery’s Eighth Army, Wars was awarded the highest military honor, Cavaliere della Croce d’Italia, by the last King of Italy.
 
After the war, Wars could not return to communist-controlled Poland. He also turned down engagements in England, where he had worked in the 1930s, and in Germany where he had extensive professional contacts before the war. Helped by a letter of sponsorship written by pianist Artur Rubinstein, Wars left for America in 1947, a country he had wanted to visit well before the outbreak of World War II.
 
Changing his name to “Henry Vars” shortly after settling down in Los Angeles, he initially worked in Hollywood as an arranger, copyist, conductor, and an anonymous composer of numerous film cues. Later he scored dozens of films, including several Westerns made by John Wayne’s production company. Vars’s most famous Hollywood achievement was his soundtrack for the film Flipper (1963), as well as music for the television series based on the same story. His most memorable songs from the 1930s were used in Spielberg’s Schindler’s List (1993) and Polanski’s The Pianist (2002), as well as in the 1984 Australian feature, Silver City. With his trademark gift for melody, Vars also composed show tunes for Ice Capades and Ice Follies in the 1950s and 1960s. Many of his American songs were recorded by such great artists as Bing Crosby, Doris Day, Brenda Lee, Margaret Whiting, Jimmy Rogers, and Mel Tormé.
 
One of the most significant recent developments in the legacy of Henry Vars was the discovery of his symphonic concert music in late 1990s, proving him to be a pioneering composer with a substantial catalogue of finely crafted, large-scale orchestral works. They include Symphony No. 1 (1948-1949), Piano Concerto (1950), City Sketches – Orchestral Suite (1951/1969-1974), and Sonatina for Orchestra (a work dedicated to the memory of Maurice Ravel), among others. These rare gems are preserved in the Polish Music Center’s Wars/Vars Collection, which was recognized in June 2024 with the UNESCO ‘Memory of the World’ designation, conferring world heritage status to this part of the Archival Collections of the USC Polish Music Center.
 
Vars’s remarkable erudition and his brilliant piano skills made him a popular figure among the Hollywood film elite. They often called on his Brentwood home where, in addition to traditional Polish hospitality, his guests were treated to discussions of art, music, politics and history. Vars’s drawings and caricatures from that period augment the legacy of this truly remarkable artist. Henry Vars died in Los Angeles on 1 September 1977. His children, Diana and Robert, reside with their families in the greater Los Angeles area.

Tonight’s concert celebrating Henryk Wars has a historical and festive vibe. The works performed include some of his most enduring and best-loved hits, composed for Polish films and cabaret stages of Warsaw in the 1930s. Assembled especially for this evening, the Thornton Art Deco Orchestra is composed of virtuosos of the USC Thornton School of Music, led by Derek Zimmerman and coordinated by Prof. Sharon Margaret Lavery. Each of Wars’s compositions has a slightly different instrumentation, likely dictated by the performing forces of the original house ensembles in such storied Warsaw clubs as Adria, Morskie Oko, Perskie Oko, or Karuzela Theatre. Published in Warsaw between 1927 and 1938, the scores for these songs are part of the Polish Music Center’s Wars/Vars Collection. They were edited and corrected for this presentation, which likely represents their West Coast premiere in their original sound.
 
Wars’s fascination with American jazz launched his spectacular career with the 1927 foxtrot, New York Times. Premiered at the Karuzela Theatre’s music review, Może tak? [Could it be so?] and scored for flute, clarinet, two saxes, two trumpets, trombone, banjo, harmonium, percussion, piano, two violins, cello and bass, it wasn’t an instant hit with the public since Argentine tangos were more popular at the time. Eventually however this tune was recognized as the first jazz composition in Poland and gained the 25-year-old composer some well-deserved fame.
 
Kochaj mnie, a będę Twoją [Love me, and I’ll be yours] is a steamy tango from the review, Gwiazdy Warszawy [Warsaw’s stars] that ran for several weeks at the Morskie Oko Theatre, also known as Warsaw’s Casino de Paris. The orchestration here is alto sax, banjo, accordion, trombone, percussion, piano, three violins, cello and bass.
 
Czy tutaj mieszka Panna Agnieszka? [Does Miss Agnes live here?] is one Wars’s best-known songs. Scored for four clarinets, four trumpets, banjo, accordion, snare drum, piano, three violins, cello and bass, it is one of his many tangos. It was first heard in the 1937 film, Trójka hultajska, a story of three vagabonds who purchase a lucky lottery ticket and agree to meet a year later at the same pub to recount their adventures.
 
Ach! Jak przyjemnie… [Oh! It’s so nice…] is a lively foxtrot from the 1938 romantic comedy, Zapomniana melodia [The forgotten melody]. The complicated plot features an exclusive boarding school for girls, a handsome leading man, and a lot of singing. With its cheerful mien, this song opens the film on a scene of several kayaks energetically rowed down the river by dozens of singing girls. The performing forces for this still popular number include a clarinet, three saxes, two trumpets, trombone, guitar, percussion, piano, and strings.
 
Czekałam tyle dni [I waited so many days] is a slow-fox from the 1938 film, Druga młodość [Second youth]. It is a story of an older woman neglected in marriage by her husband. After she meets her adult son’s friend, she hopelessly falls in love with the younger man. Complications arise when another woman appears on the scene and the heroine’s life turns tragic. This tune features six saxes, four trumpets, two trombones, guitar, percussion, piano and strings.
 
A slow-fox/tender lullaby from the 1938 film, Paweł i Gaweł [Tweedledum and Tweedledee] is still one of the favorite bedtime songs for adults and children alike. It’s official title, Dlaczego nie chcesz spać? [Why won’t you fall asleep] has been superseded by the first line of refrain that everyone still remembers, Ach, śpij kochanie [Oh, sleep my darling]. This number also uses six saxes, four trumpets, two trombones, guitar, piano, percussion and the usual complement of strings.
 
Finally—and since the last song’s texts were mentioned—a few observations about Wars’s Polish lyricists. He worked with several exceptional literary talents, including such well-known poets as Julian Tuwim (1894-1953) and Marian Hemar (1901-1972). They were eager to write for Wars, since almost all his melodies were instantly sung on the streets. Regarding tonight’s program, Andrzej Włast (1895-1942), owner of the Morskie Oko cabaret theatre wrote the lyrics for the New York Times and Kochaj mnie, a będę Twoją. Ludwik Starski (1903-1984) contributed memorable verses to Ach! Jak przyjemnie… and Dlaczego nie chcesz spać, while Jerzy Ryba (1901-ca. 1941) authored the text to Czekałam tyle dni.

Wars, UNESCO & the USC Polish Music Center
 
Wars Collection: A UNESCO ‘Memory of the World’ Treasure
 
Founded in London in November of 1945 and headquartered in Paris, UNESCO—the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization—promotes world peace and security through international cooperation in the arenas of education, arts, sciences, and culture. Thanks to the Polish Music Center’s longstanding relationship with the National Archives in Poland, we were recommended to the UNESCO Pamięć Świata/Memory of the World program, which encompasses efforts in preserving, promoting, and providing access to the most important historical documents in Poland and around the world. An international committee of experts advises UNESCO’s Director General on the special cultural and historical significance of materials chosen for this elite list, which include documents and archival holdings, manuscripts held in libraries and museums, as well as printed materials and audiovisual records that are of exceptional historical value.
 
The Polish division of this program has operated since 1992 and, from 1997 onwards, items of world heritage rank have been added to this UNESCO list. Additions are made every two years, when candidates for inclusion are discussed during a meeting of the International Committee of Experts. The Committee members represent the most important libraries, archives and educational institutions in Poland, and this group of scholars is headed by the Director of the National Archives, Dr. Paweł Pietrzyk.
 
A few years ago, Dr. Pietrzyk spent several days at the Polish Music Center, studying our Manuscript Collection as well as our Zygmunt and Luisa Stojowski, Bronisław Kaper, Henryk Wars/Henry Vars, and Roman Ryterband Collections.
 
Thanks to his encouragement, we petitioned the Polish UNESCO Committee to include some of the PMC’s most unique archival items and, after several filings, we were notified that Wars Collection would make the 2024 UNESCO list.
 
The official UNESCO ceremony took place on June 26, 2024 at the ‘Belweder’ Presidential Palace in Warsaw, with Poland’s Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Hanna Wróblewska and National Archives Director Paweł Pietrzyk in attendance. Seventeen institutions—most of them in Poland—were presented with UNESCO certificates, including the PMC for our “Manuscripts of symphonic, chamber and film works by Henryk Wars.” Donated by his widow, Elizabeth, to the PMC in 2005, this collection includes several previously-unknown yet truly pioneering symphonic works by the composer, who was most famous for his cabaret tune and film scores. Written throughout the last three decades of Wars’s life in Los Angeles, these manuscripts are now recognized internationally for their rarity and great cultural and historical value.
 
This UNESCO designation for the PMC’s Henryk Wars Collection confers an extraordinary honor not only on us at the Polish Music Center but also on the whole of the USC Thornton School of Music and University of Southern California. There are only a few other universities so recognized for the world heritage treasures they possess in their archives. Such universal distinction and worldwide acclaim may also spotlight other manuscripts and special collections housed under the Polish Music Center’s roof, bringing new performers, researchers and historians to study them in depth.
 
 
Annual Paderewski Lecture-Recital
 
The Annual Paderewski Lecture-Recital is the flagship event of the USC Polish Music Center, spotlighting current achievements in Polish music. The selection of Paderewski as the patron of this series highlights both his role in California’s history and his connection to the University. This eminent composer-statesman received an honorary doctorate from the School of International Relations at USC in 1923. The PMC celebrates Paderewski’s legacy by highlighting the most distinguished and talented Polish composers of our times discussing their own music or, on certain special occasions, the anniversary of a composer or an era of music.
 
Inaugurated in 2002, the Paderewski Lecture-Recital has presented Joanna Bruzdowicz, Krzesimir Dębski, Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, Wojciech Kilar, Zygmunt Krauze, Krzysztof Meyer, Marta Ptaszyńska, Elżbieta Sikora and Stanisław Skrowaczewski, and has celebrated the 60th anniversary of Zygmunt Stojowski’s death, the centenary of Sir Andrzej Panufnik’s death, the 75th anniversary of Karol Szymanowski’s death, and the 150th anniversary of Paderewski’s birth, amongst other important milestones.
 
 
USC Polish Music Center at 40
 
The 2024-2025 concert season marks the fortieth anniversary of Polish Music Center’s presence on the USC campus. It began with a vision and became a lifelong mission of Wanda Wilk—a USC alumna, and the Center’s first director—who, along with her husband, Dr. Stefan Wilk, decided to enrich her alma mater’s resources in Polish music. With initial gifts of manuscripts from Witold Lutosławski and Stanisław Skrowaczewski in late 1984, the Center formally opened in January 1985 in a modest-sized space in the basement of Doheny Library. After Wanda’s retirement, the Center’s reins were taken over for another decade by Dr. Maja Trochimczyk, and its growing library was moved to larger quarters in the United University Church building right next to Thornton School of Music. By 2004, the new team of Director Marek Zebrowski and Assistant Director Krysta Close took over, and the Center was moved to a still larger suite of rooms in Stonier Hall in the center of USC’s historic campus, where it remains to this day.
 
Throughout the four decades of its operations, the PMC became a unique research and cultural outreach center for scholars, performers, journalists and the general public interested in Polish music. The Center’s extensive and expanding Archival and Library Collections include books, scores, manuscripts, recordings, periodicals, documents, reference materials and many museum-quality items and memorabilia related to Polish music.
 
The PMC provides a broad range of services to the USC community, audiences in California and the public worldwide through concerts, the Polish Music History book series, and an online monthly Newsletter. Since 1994, the PMC website has provided a wealth of information, including biographies and catalogues of works, recordings and repertoire by Polish composers, and articles on the history of Polish music and dance. Thanks to a transformative gift by the Dianne and Tad Taube Foundation, the PMC permanent staff grew in 2023 to include Archive Specialist and Social Media Coordinator, Dr. Tomasz Fechner. For its day-to-day operations, the Center also relies on student workers and dedicated volunteers.
 
The cornerstone of the Polish Music Center’s archives—our Manuscript Collection, initiated by gifts of original scores by Stanisław Skrowaczewski and Witold Lutosławski—has since become the foundation for one of the world’s most important collections of manuscripts by modern Polish composers. Today this collection holds over 300 manuscripts by Bacewicz, Baird, Laks, Meyer, Penderecki, Ptaszyńska, Schaeffer and Tansman, among many others. Other important collections received since 2005 include the Henry Vars [Henryk Wars] Collection, Zygmunt and Luisa Stojowski Collection, Bronisław Kaper Collection, Paderewski Archive—the Paso Robles Collection, Roman Ryterband Collection, and Joanna Bruzdowicz Collection.
 
Since 2006 the PMC has organized the Paderewski Festival in Paso Robles and, together with the Festival Board of Directors and partners in Poland, it also runs the Cultural Exchange Program linking students on California’s Central Coast with Poland. In addition to serving as a research base and a conduit for musicians who perform at the Festival, the PMC provides participants in the Paderewski Piano Competition and Cultural Exchange with the opportunity to take part in master classes with members of the world-renowned faculty of the USC Thornton School of Music. Another exciting and beneficial ongoing PMC partnership is with Poland’s State Archives and Archives of Historical Documents in Warsaw, which since 2014 has sent scholars to catalogue and help preserve our unique Archival Collections.
 
In June 2024, the PMC’s Henryk Wars Collection was honored with the UNESCO Memory of the World designation, a distinction bestowed on a select group of academic and historical institutions around the world. This certainly represents a milestone in the Center’s proud history as we look into the future and as we celebrate our past accomplishments. A big part of our success is due to our engaged audiences and the generosity of donors who sustain our operating budget. If you would like to support our mission and honor this anniversary, consider donating a multiple of $40 to secure the PMC’s promotion of Polish music locally and internationally for another 40 years. Thank you for your support!

FRIENDS OF POLISH MUSIC
 
PMC Founders & Benefactors
Dr. & Mrs. Clark Halstead
Lottie Harasimowicz
Dr. & Mrs. Kenneth Harris
Dr. & Mrs. Matthew Mickiewicz
Helena Nowicka, M.D.
Dr. & Mrs. Zbigniew Petrovich
Dianne & Tad Taube
Dr. Stefan & Mrs. Wanda Wilk
 
The Polish Music Center would like to express our deepest gratitude to the donors who contributed in the past fiscal year:
 
Anne & Terrence Anderson
Jennifer Audette *
Stan Bartosiak
Netapp (Scott Westbrook – Matching) *
Lukasz & Bozenna Bogucki
Charles & Alice Bragg *
Malgorzata & Slawomir Brzezinski *
Cynthia & Thomas Bylander
Dr. Bartosz Chmielowski & Rich Gallion *
Cyryla Cravens *
Andrzej & Nina Dabrowa *
Diana & Robert Eisele *
Piotr Gajewski *
Juliana Gondek *
Helena Modjeska Art and Culture Club Of LA*
Maja Trochimczyk – President *
Edward Hoffman
Dr. Stephen Hryniewicki
Magdalen Hull
Anna Kane
Malgorzata & Zbigniew Kostecki
Krystyna & Boguslaw Kuszta *
Dr. Robert Lombardi & Linda Lombardi *
Andrew & Joanna Maleski *
Grace Malolepszy *
Jan Matusak *
Lucyna Migala
Alicja Mogilski
Moonrise Press
Susan Moss
Richard & Karen Widerynski
Eva Muchnick *
Danuta Nowicki
Dr. Zbigniew Petrovich & Dr. Zofia Petrovich *
Edward & Maria Pilatowicz *
Profs. Krzysztof Pilch & Dr. Marianna Chodorowska-Pilch *
POLAM Federal Credit Union *
Wanda Presburger
The Rosenstiel Foundation -Lady Blanka Rosenstiel
Danuta Rudnicki
Clarissa Ryterband *
Waldemar W. Sadowinski
Christine Singer *
Miroslaw & Elzbieta Smogorzewski
Nick & Toni Strimple *
Dr. Janusz Supernak
Witold Swierczewski *
Theodora Emily Karczewski
Elzbieta Trybus
Scott Westbrook *
Scott H. Whittle & Terry A. Tegnazian *
Daniela & Richard Zarakowski*
Roman Zawadzki *
 
* indicates a sustaining annual member
 
We also thank the following PMC student workers and volunteers, whose gifts of time and effort are instrumental to our operations: Kevin Allen, Charles Bragg, Alice Bragg, Grace Malolepszy and Sonia Matheus.
 
Finally, we would like to gratefully acknowledge the USC Thornton partners whose assistance has made tonight’s event possible, including Erin Armato, Jeffrey De Caen, Sean David Christensen, Phoenix Delgado, Deanna Gasparyan, Robert Alexander, Adriana Gonzales, Jason King, Gretchen Meier, Tori Nagle, Heather Pio Roda, Jonathan Rios, and the entire Thornton staff for their collaboration in organizing and promoting this event.
 
The Polish Music Center relies entirely upon the generosity of donors and volunteers who support our mission and enjoy the fruits of our labor. If you would like to support the PMC, please see a member of our staff after the concert, visit giveto.usc.edu, or send your tax deductible contribution to the address below.
 
USC Polish Music Center
820 W. 34 St., BMH 101-MC 1441 | Los Angeles, CA 90089-1441
polmusic@usc.edu | (213) 821-1356 | polishmusic.usc.edu