Six composers – seven quintets – four pianists – one quartet. The latest double-CD album of the Silesian Quartet contains compositions by Aleksander Lasoń, Krzysztof Meyer, Zbigniew Bargielski, Bettina Skrzypczak and Bartosz Witkowski.
The composers of the works on this album are distinguished and highly regarded Polish composers: Paweł Szymański, Aleksander Nowak, Rafał Augustyn, Krzysztof Meyer, Zbigniew Bargielski, and Elżbieta Sikora.
For the composer, who belongs to the generation of Mr Kleks’ ‘pupils’, the songs recorded on this album and arranged in the form of a suite are a kind of orchestral fantasy, into which well-known melodies sung by a children’s choir and an ‘adult’ mixed choir are only woven.
Works of art always function in contexts: of their own genre, its tradition, the composer’s work or the accepted aesthetics of the time. In the case of these three compositions, also in the context of the Kwartesencja festival, where they were first performed.
The latest Warsaw Philharmonic release, Szymanowski Reimagined, takes listeners on a fascinating journey through the musical landscapes of Karol Szymanowski, rendered in a new orchestral guise.
The album you are holding in your hands includes transcriptions of works by a composer close to our hearts.
The CD opens with music dedicated to Count Hans Heinrich XI von Hochberg, Prince of Pless, such a colourful character that he deserves a separate account.
The album’s programme has been carefully thought out. From the list of compositions reflecting my personal sensitivity and aesthetic (scored for various performing forces, from solo to symphonic), I could only select those written for violin and piano, plus one soloistic work.
Two String Quartets (1980, 2019), as well as Trio for Violin, Clarinet and Piano (2003), are works of particular importance in the chamber music chapter of the oeuvre of Eugeniusz Knapik, a composer who is arguably better known today for his monumental vocal-instrumental works – stage and non-stage.
In her interpretation of Telemann’s Fantasias, Małgorzata Malke takes her listeners on a journey to 18th- century Poland, a land which Telemann often visited, drawing inspiration from Polish folk music.