Is it possible to listen for a whole hour to percussion music without feeling fatigued? Well, the answer is yes. The Spaces of Rhythm – the latest release of the Krakow Percussion Group – proves that it may be a fascinating and surprising experience. The album features pieces from extremely different musical traditions and shows the immense expressive and tone colouring potential of a percussion group. The most prominent in each piece are no doubt the wide variety of rhythms, their multilevel combinations. Yet the tone colours and the dynamic span – from the disturbing silence or delicate murmurs to the exploding forte – are equally impressive. There is melody in this music as well in that it contains very distinctive motives. The two women-composers – Ruth Zechlin and Krystyna Moszumañska-Nazar – attract our attention with the transparent form and by consistently increasing and relieving tension while Mehdi Mengjiqi – with the use of original folk instruments referring to Albanian folklore. The “Landscape of Old City” by the Korean Kyu-Yung-Chin enchants the listener with the subtle oriental exoticism of the first part and the impressive picture of a military parade in the finale. The four pieces are linked with short interludes improvised solo by each member of the group. The Krakow Percussion Group, founded in 1984 by Jerzy Pilch, is well-known abroad and it regularly appears at festivals of contemporary music. The Polish audience will have an opportunity to hear the prominent percussionists live during a concert organized by the Centre for Japanese Art and Techniques in Krakow on March 26.

CDAccord · ACD057 – The space of rhythm