Little-known Polish composers from 1945 on

[Maciek]

Hi, snyprrr! I'm not sure if I understand. If you know those DUX discs then you should know the Bacewicz 4th...? It's on one of them.

Anyway, given your interest in string quartets, and assuming that you already know all of the Polish 20th century classics (Szymanowski, Penderecki, Lutosławski, Górecki), if you want to expand, I'd recommend two slightly less known composers who are probably just as good:

Krzysztof Meyer - perhaps the greatest Polish master of the genre, and of chamber music in general (I'm currently mad about his Sonata for cello and piano)

Paweł Szymański - one of the most creative and imaginative composers around.

And something you should really hear is Witold Szalonek's 1+1+1+1.

And there's of course Grażyna Bacewicz, whom you mention, sometimes referred to as "the missing link" between Szymanowski and Lutosławski.

Aleksander Tansman might be worth checking out as well, though, frankly, I have mixed feelings about some of his earlier sqs.

Also, if you want an overview of the Polish 20th century quartet repertoire, take a look at the program of a famous all-day string quartet marathon from Warsaw Autumn 2006:
Part I
Part II
Hardly any of these are available on CD, though.

[EDIT: some of these composers have their own threads on GMG, see the first post of this thread for links]

[Maciek]

Oh, and if you don't want to limit yourself to string quartets, Tim Johnson's The Rambler once posted Bogusław Schaeffer's 2 + 2, I think the link still works - see here.

[snyprrr]

i only have one of the DUX cds.

i also have a very mysterious "polski nagriana"/wilanow qrt. cd (1994?) with szy,lut,pend....plus meyer's 3rd (so i have 3 and . the rest of meyer's qrts seem to be available. i can't tell if this cd is really from 1994, or just a re-issue....anyone know? also, the seating arrangement seems to change for each qrt on the cd....pretty cool.

the bacewicz no4  just has eluded my pocketbook all these years...i do look forward to hearing it one day though.

also i mentioned the lithuanian str qrt cd by vilnius str qrt (in the vilnius thread). i find the same "grittyness" in a lot of 1970s eastern european music, i guess the "greyness" of eastern bloc life seeping into the music.

tansman's 9 (?) qrts are available on etcetera. i hear he has a more "french" disposition.

BEST OVERALL BACEWICZ CD: OLYMPIA 311 with the concertante works (viola cto, 2piano cto.....) AS LONG AS YOU PRETEND THE OLYMPIA 312 (T BAIRD) IS ATTACHED TO IT!!


that was an awesome warsaw autumn recital list! hey...it's the dafo!

[Maciek]

Frankly, I'm not that much of a Dafo fan (I have both those discs you mentioned) 0:) but that concert would definitely never happen without the Silesians - possibly the best string quartet in this part of Europe! (Well, OK, competition is a bit tough because of Wilanów... )

I have that Polskie Nagrania CD too. Some of the material may have been released earlier on vinyl, I'm not sure. But that was definitely the first (and last ) time it was put on compact disc.

A couple of the Bacewicz quartets were also released on Olympia. Plus there's a complete set recorded by the Amar Corde Quartet, on Acte Préalable. I haven't got it yet (it's been on my list for a couple of years now) - I'm suspicious of the ensemble, which I've never heard live. I see they've recently started to record the complete Karol Rathaus quartets - so perhaps I should be more trusting. (It's just that I've had very mixed experience with Acte Préalable issues. 0:))

[Maciek]

Noticed this mouth-watering new release on the DUX page today:



DUX 0688 Szymon Krzeszowiec playing solo violin music by Krzysztof Meyer, Stanisław Moryto, Paweł Szymański, Krzysztof Penderecki, Tadeusz Wielecki, Eugeniusz Knapik, Witold Szalonek (my favorite composers in red ).

[Krzeszowiec is the current first violin of the Silesian Quartet - in 2001 he replaced Marek Moś, who embarked on a conducting career. Frankly, I feel that was a loss for both the quartet (it hasn't been quite the same) and Moś, who isn't such a great conductor. But that is not saying anything about Krzeszowiec as a solo violinist - I've never heard him in that role.]



While I'm at it, I might as well post a few other interesting new DUX discs. I do not have any of them but I suppose few (if any) people track these things, so maybe this will be useful in some way:


DUX 0679 ELŻBIETA SIKORA SOLO & ELECTRONICS
Gośka Isphording - harpsichord, Wilhem Latchoumia - piano, Emmanuelle Ophele - flute, David Simpson - cello
Elżbieta Sikora Orpheus Head II for flute & tape; Suite for cello & tape; Suite II for harpsichord & tape; Reflets Irisés for piano & electro-acoustic sounds

Apart from Grażyna Bacewicz, Elżbieta Sikora must be the most important Polish 20th century female composer (wonderful achievements of Hanna Kulenty, Marta Ptaszyńska, Grażyna Pstrokońska-Nawratil, Agata Zubel and Krystyna Moszumańska-Nazar notwithstanding). She also has the unquestionable special merit of being the author of the first contemporary piece I ever heard at a concert (Orpheus' Head 2).


DUX 0677 Little Big Music
Silesian Chamber Orchestra/Massimiliano Caldi
Benjamin Britten Variations on a theme of Frank Bridge, Gustaw Holst St Paul’s Suite, Witold Lutosławski 5 Folk Melodies, Wojciech Kilar Orawa

At first blush this may make the impression of a plate of warmed up leftovers. But take a closer look. AFAIK this is only the second time Lutoslawski's Folk Melodies for strings have been recorded, and this has to be the only recording in print.


DUX 0672 Apolinary Szeluto (1884-1966)
Camerata Vistula , Konstanty Andrzej Kulka - violin, Andrzej Tatarski - piano, Andrzej Wróbel - cello
Sonata in F major for cello and piano Op. 9, Sonata in D major for violin and piano Op. 73, String Quartet in E flat major Op. 72

Those interested in the short-lived "Young Poland" movement will probably know that Karol Szymanowski was one of the founders, and perhaps also that Mieczyslaw Karlowicz was a sort of patron. But do you know the names of the other 3 members? Well, why would you? There's almost nothing of theirs on disc! They were: Grzegorz Fitelberg, Ludomir Rozycki and, yes, Apolinary Szeluto. AFAIK, there exists a recording of exactly one piece by Fitelberg (which is alright, the guy was really a conductor in later years). There are also quite a few (though not nearly enough) Rozycki pieces available on CD - including a very recent Hyperion release containing his string quartet. But until this disc came out there was absolutely nothing by Szeluto available so hooray!


DUX 0651 Kazimierz Serocki, Tadeusz Baird, Jan Krenz: Piano Concertos
Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra/Jerzy Swoboda and Tadeusz Wojciechowski, Adam Wodnicki - piano

Have I posted this one before? If so - I apologize. It contains three exceptionally good neo-classical (neo-romantic?) piano concertos by composers who are usually associated with the avant-garde (they were founders of the "Grupa 49" which started the Warsaw Autumn festival; Krenz, of course, is primarily thought of as a conductor - quite unjustly, to be frank).


DUX 0639 Aleksander Tansman
Bartosz Cajler - violin, Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic Orchestra in Bialystok/Marcin Nałęcz-Niesiołowski
Cinq Pieces pour Violon avec accompagnement de Piano ou de petit orchestre, Violin Concerto (1937), Suite Baroque pour orchestre de chambre (1958)

The Olympia recording of Tanman's Violin Concerto is long out of print so this is a very welcome disc!

[Maciek]

For those living in the UK: this year the Sounds New festival in Canterbury (which starts in less than a week) will be devoted to Polish contemporary music ("Polish Connections").