Polish Music, Vol.2

This album is another phonographic instalment of the Witold Lutoslawski Plock Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Jakub Chrenowicz, in line with the desire to promote extremely valuable and diverse, but still rarely performed music by native composers.

Presenting contemporary music in the context of historical music plays an important role in promoting Polish art. The unpretentious overtures by Karol Kurpinski (17851857) juxtaposed with the String Overture by Witold Lutoslawski (19131994) on one disc share the sonata allegro form and they both generously draw on tradition. In turn, they differ in their musical language, which changes with the surrounding world. The lyricism and kinship of the Serenade for string orchestra by Mieczyslaw Karlowicz (18761909) with works by Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Dvorak known in the music world at that time is separated from the Music for Strings, Trumpets and Percussion by Grazyna Bacewicz (19091969) by over half a century, during which music changed its face several times. Despite the sonoristic technique and Bacewicz’s innovative sound language, there are also some Neoclassical reminiscences, references to the sonata allegro form, to ostinato, cyclic figures or parallel figurations. The extraordinary vitality of the composer can also be a form of a dialogue with the emotionally saturated, though lyrical, Serenade by Karlowic