The Mass Song Seminar at Nieborów, June 1950

The seminar on mass songs held in Nieborów, Poland in June 1950 is notable for what it did not accomplish: Amid a diversity of opinions voiced by poets, composers, and cultural officials, no firm guidelines for this seemingly new type of song emerged. What we can draw from examining the proceedings of this three-day session are an enhanced understanding of mass song as an evolving, not a static phenomenon and fresh insights into the political and logistical complexities that faced composers at this time.