This disc is part of a series entitled Young Polish Composers
in Homage to Frederic Chopin. It’s supported by the
European Krzystof Penderecki Music Centre and the City of Warsaw.
The series provides an excellent opportunity to hear the music
of 13 selected Polish composers who might otherwise have not
had the chance to reach an international audience.
Wojiech Ziemowit Zych was born in 1976, and his music is enticing
from the outset. He has a clear understanding of orchestration
and uses the orchestra to provide a rich variety of textures
and colours. In the first movement of his Symphony No 1,
he makes particularly good use of the low tessitura of the orchestra,
with low brass featuring heavily, and a small string section
allowing the wind and brass to take dominance. By contrast,
the second movement opens with high-pitched sounds from around
the orchestra, the pitches passing between instruments to build
up a pulsating line which possesses its own sense of life and
energy. The symphony was commissioned by the Siemens Foundation
for the Warsaw Autumn Contemporary Music Festival, and demonstrates
originality of thought and a developed musical aesthetic. One
can detect the influence of Penderecki, and the reliance on
wind and brass in the scoring makes the listener draw comparison
with contemporary wind orchestra pieces such as those by Karel
Husa, for example. Zych creates space within the orchestral
sound very well, and the music never feels overcrowded. Structures
are not immediately obvious on first hearing, but there is a
sense of coherence and flow throughout which lends a sense of
direction to each movement, moving between moments of complexity
and more static sections.
The Concerto for Bass Clarinet uses larger orchestral
forces and features strongly rhythmic elements in the opening
movement. The piece has a broad programmatic concept, with the
soloist taking on the role of an individual outside of society.
The two movements describe adventures and emotions respectively,
with the opening movement often developing in unexpected directions
through frequent juxtapositions of texture and mood. The harmonic
language seems simpler here than in the symphony, making use
of patterns such as the harmonic series and tonally-based chord
patterns. The piece has a rhythmic energy and once again, Zych
demonstrates his skill for orchestration. Overall in the recording
I’d like the bass clarinet to have a little more prominence;
balance issues would undoubtedly be a problem with an orchestra
of this size, despite careful scoring. That said, I feel the
soloist could be further into the foreground of the recording
without the results sounding forced. Michał Górczyński
performs with bravura and excellent technical control. The second
movement is more introspective, and the bass clarinet takes
on a lovely warm tone. Duos with the cello provide an effective
variety of colour within the same pitch range, and the range
of contemporary techniques used in both instruments adds an
extra dimension to the expressive power of the piece. Trills
and tremolos feature quite heavily in this movement, keeping
a sense of life within slower-moving harmonies. This is an expressive
work which gives a modern approach to the concerto in a convincing
way.
The final work on the disc is the 9 minute Stirrings of the
Will, based on the philosophical ideals of Schopenhauer.
The music coruscates through a variety of eruptions and fireworks,
and there is a sense of the composer speeding up and slowing
down our perception of time as the music evolves. The more static
moments hold a sense of timbral beauty and maintain interest
through the detail in the sound, while moments of tutti energy
impress with their sense of power and strength.
The orchestra performs with conviction throughout, giving contrast
between the poetic, delicate moments and the sections of full-on
power. I look forward to hearing more discs from this series.
Carla Rees
Michał Górczyński (bass clarinet) 
