Tadeusz Kocyba’s Music for Porwanie Baltazara Gąbki TV series

The article presents the synthetic analysis of the soundtrack of Tadeusz Kocyba (1933–2007) for the 13-episode series titled Porwanie Baltazara Gąbki [The Abduction of Balthazar Sponge] (1969–1970, dir. by W. Nehrebecki, A. Ledwig, E. Wątor, J. Byrdy and al., Animation Films Studio in Bielsko-Biała). The soundtrack is analysed in the strict context of the film narration and the visual layer of the movies in order to present the composer’s strategies in terms of instrumentation, musical implication of emotions dictated by the plot, illustrative music, creating of the characteristics of places, using of the leitmotivs. Among the features that are characteristic for the soundtrack of this series there is the significant meaning and construction of the themes that are connected with the figure of the antagonist, referring twice to the musical identification of the existing region (theme song – Krakowiak dance and the quotation from the St Mary’s Trumpet Call), the lack of concentration on shaping of the clear themes, high diversity of the musical line, the lack of mickey-mousing and the special position of two instruments: clarinet and jonika, which have various functions