Click on a title to find fragments to listen, program notes, history of performances and links to publications.
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„Sudden Rain” Chamber Opera for soprano, tenor, mixed chorus and chamber ensemble (2008)
Program note
Sudden Rain is a story about how two closely related people can misunderstand each other, and how intentions can fail. The libretto is a compilation of texts by Anna Konieczna and Aleksander Nowak. The piece was written in the years 2006-2009, partly during studies in Louisville, as a final thesis, and partly already after studies.
Performances
- May 21, 22, 25, 28, 2011; Ingrida Gapova (soprano), Tomasz Piluchowski (baritone), Choir and Orchestra of the National Opera in Warsaw, Music Director: Marek Moś, Stage Director: Maja Kleczewska, Scenography: Katarzyna Borkowska, Stage Movement: Mikołaj Mikołajczyk, Chorus Preparation: Bogdan Gola, Lights: Wojciech Puś; Chamber Hall of the National Opera in Warsaw
- May 13,15,28, June 5, 2010; Ingrida Gapova, Łucja Szablewska (soprano), Tomasz Piluchowski (baritone), Choir and Orchestra of the National Opera in Warsaw, Music Director: Marek Moś, Stage Director: Maja Kleczewska, Scenography: Katarzyna Borkowska, Stage Movement: Mikołaj Mikołajczyk, Chorus Preparation: Bogdan Gola, Lights: Wojciech Puś; Chamber Hall of the National Opera in Warsaw
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”Three Short Songs” for tenor and piano (2007)
perf.: Dan Weeks (tenor), Naomi Oliphant (pf); live recording
Program Note
All the poems by the twentieth-century Polish poets used in the piece seem to be joined by one common motif – they are an attempt of grasping short, trivial moments and giving them meaning. The music is supposed to additionally uphold these attempts. The piece was written in Louisville, in years 2006-2007. It is dedicated to Naomi Oliphant and Dan Weeks, whose remarkable passion for Eastern European consonants was an impulse for writing it.
Performances
- January 10, 2008; Dan Weeks, Naomi Oliphant; Adam Didur Chamber Hall , Silesian Opera in Bytom
- January 9, 2008; Dan Weeks, Naomi Oliphant; Concert Hall of The Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice
- January 7, 2008; Dan Weeks, Naomi Oliphant; Concert Hall at JAMU (Janacek academy of music and dramatic arts), Brno, Czech Republic
- January 5, 2008; Dan Weeks, Naomi Oliphant; Concert Hall at the Culture House in Żywiec
- January 4, 2008; Dan Weeks, Naomi Oliphant; Concert Hall at the State Music School in Gliwice
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”Songs of Caress” for mezzo-soprano, violin, cello and piano (2007)
perf.: Urszula Kryger (mezzo-soprano), Krzysztof Lasoń (vn), Stanisław Lasoń (vc), Piotr Sałajczyk (pf); studio recording
CDProgram Note
All the lyrics in this piece are poems by 19th and 20th century Polish and American women poets. They share a subtle quality of seeing the world, things and people with what can be called ‘caress’. Caress in a broad sense: as gentleness, affection and tenderness but also as compassion, care, longing, deep engagement or even passion. The piece shows gradual transition from caress that is direct – loving and explicit, to a different kind of caress – somewhat cool, sad, and a bit disturbing; caress towards someone who is elsewhere.
The piece was written in the Fall of 2007, in Louisville, as part of the scholarship program of the Silesian Marshall Scholarships for the Arts, in 2nd edition 2007.Performances
- March 28, 2008; Ewa Majcherczyk, Krzysztof Lasń, Stanisław Lasoń, Jacek Maksymiuk; Ewa Majcherczyk’s Diploma Recital; Chamber Hall 2 at The Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice
- January 10, 2008; Ewa Majcherczyk, Krzysztof Lasoń, Stanisław Lasoń, Jacek Maksymiuk; Recital of Dan Weeks and Naomi Oliphant; Adam Didur Chamber Hall, Silesian Opera in Bytom
Recordings
- January 11, 2009; Urszula Kryger, Krzysztof Lasoń, Stanisław Lasoń, Piotr Sałajczyk; sound engineering: Julita Emanuiłow, Beata Jankowska-Burzyńska; Concert Hall of The Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice
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”Fiddler’s Green and White Savannas Never More” for male voices and chamber orchestra (2006)
perf.: New Music Orchestra, Camerata Silesia, Szymon Bywalec (dir); studio recording
CDProgram Note
The premise of this work was that the composition should be a reflection of the experiences of a sea voyage through cold and inhospitable regions of Northern Atlantic. It was to be a musical record of what went on, a musical diary on the go. Very quickly this premise turned out to be stupidly naïve. Logistic difficulties aside, the experience tended to be surprisingly down-to-earth, so to say. There was the option of adding ideology and mythology into the mix, but it hardly appealed to the composer. Another option was to embrace an aesthetics that borders on the vulgar and the profane. It held equally little appeal. Thus the composer turned to using a metaphor, to speaking figuratively, to avoiding the literal. To put it shortly, hardly anything here is what it seems to be, just like life at the sea is not what it may appear to be. And the less clarity there is as to what exactly is what, the better – this way, you get closer to what the wind and the water are, as well as to what they are not.
The work was commissioned by the Warsaw Autumn Friends Society with support of the Siemens Foundation in MunichPerformances
- December 20, 2009; New Music Orchestra, Cantus Floridus, Szymon Bywalec; Promotional concert of the CD "Fiddler's Green"; Concert Hall of the Polish Radio in Katowice
- October 11, 2006; New Music Orchestra, Camerata Silesia, Szymon Bywalec; Velvet Courtain 2 Festival; Concert Hall of the National Philharmony in Lwow (Ukraine)
Recordings
- April 10, 2007; New Music Orchestra, Camerata Silesia, Szymon Bywalec; sound engineering: Lech Dudzik, Gabriela Blicharz; Concert Hall of the Silesian Philharmony
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”The Island of Hazes and Gales” for mixed choir and symphony orchestra (2005)
perf.: Symphony Orchestra and Mixed Choir of The Silesian Philharmonics, Miros?aw Jacek B?aszczyk (dir); live recording
Program Note
The Island of Hazes and Gales was created in the years 2005-2006, as a diploma thesis, finalizing composition studies in Katowice. The title is associated with the common name of a faraway, hard-to-reach place on the Barrent’s Sea, which the composer once almost visited. The piece is about this “almost”, which sometimes stand between the goal and its’ realization. It also talks about something that is told to be, but it cannot be seen, so maybe it is not there after all. The piece uses text written by the composer; and a quotation from the traditional Scotish song, “Auld Lang Syne”.
Performances
- March 30, 2007; Symphony Orchestra and Mixed Choir of the Silesian Philharmonics, Misros?aw Jacek B?aszczyk; Concert of Graduates of the Academy of Music in Katowice; Karol Stryja Concert Hall of the Silesian Philharmonics in Katowice