Talk:Andrzej Panufnik
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article falls within the scope of the WikiProject contemporary music, a collaborative effort to improve Wikipedia's coverage of contemporary music subjects. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks. |
| ??? | This article has not yet received a rating on the quality scale. |
| ??? | This article has not yet received a rating on the importance scale. |
 |
This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography. For more information, visit the project page. | ||
| Start | This article has been rated as Start-Class on the project's quality scale. [FAQ] | ||
 |
This article is supported by WikiProject Musicians, an attempt to build a comprehensive and detailed biographical guide to musicians and musical groups on Wikipedia. | ||
He migrated to Britain escaping from Poland in 1954, because the performance and the publication of the work had been prohibited by People's Republic of Poland till 1977.
What is "the work"? A particular piece, or all his work? Why was it banned? Flapdragon
[edit] Template was subtly misleading
The {{Infobox musical artist}} template was put on this article (I will leave aside my puzzlement that after I removed it, it was reinstated using the "undo" function with an inscrutable edit summary of "also conducture"). Here's a permalink to it, to show what was in it and facilitate discussion.
The information in the infobox in that linked version of the article may be summarised thus. Andrzej Panufnik (pictured) (born Warsaw 1914-09-24, died Twickenham 1991-10-27 aged 77) was a classical composer, conductor and pedagogue whose instrument was the piano. He was active 1934 to 1991, and acts with which he was associated were the CBSO and Warsaw Philharmonic. Here's his website.
It is, on the face of it, OK. But it glosses over many important nuances, and if this paragraph were the lead I would be editing it to address several problems. The problems are not lessened because the misinformation happens to be in a box. I do not have an antipathy to infoboxes, but I do have an antipathy to misinformation and misleading presentation.
Firstly, most of it is (or should have been) redundant with the lead. Admittedly, when the infobox was added the lead was minuscule, but I have now addressed that (my previous attempt to do this was summarily reverted by Emerson7 (talk · contribs)). The article already says where and when he was born and died (and WP:MOSBIO says this information doesn't belong in the lead), and that he was a composer and conductor. "Pedagogue" is a good description of him; I kept it in the lead.
Secondly, while his main instrument was the piano, he was never a career pianist, and the infobox suggested he may have been. He actually studied as a percussionist, but this was only a ruse to get him on the course at the Conservatoire.
Thirdly, "active 1934-1991" verges on the meaningless. It might as well say "active all his adult life", which is not noteworthy. He was not equally active in all his fields from 1934-1991, and the infobox implies he may have been. He was a career composer, and an occasional conductor, after he relinquished his CBSO post. What does "active" mean in this context, anyway? Is there a reference that says he was not active before 1934? What event in 1934 made him active where he had previously been inactive?
Fourthly, how can Wikipedia possibly get away with describing the CBSO and the Warsaw Philharmonic as "acts"? I have never heard a symphony orchestra described as an "act". (Other than perhaps at a crossover event, when backing a superstar pop vocalist - an event which Panufnik would never have countenanced.) Surely, it introduces inaccuracy into Wikipedia to suggest that "act" is anything other than a misnomer?
Fifthly, "Classical" linked to Classical music, which is unhelpful. Sixthly, Panufnik's URL is not important enough to be in the lead, and belongs instead discreetly in the "External links" section.
I have removed problematic entries from the infobox, in the hope that these issues can be addressed. --RobertG ♬ talk 09:24, 20 August 2007 (UTC)
