Acte Préalable
is a label I’ve been following fairly
closely since I became aware of its
releases in the past year. It has been
active in releasing not only neglected
pieces of Poland’s past composers and
showcasing Polish performers, but also
has worked to throw the spotlight on
contemporary composers, as evidenced
by the six discs of the continuing series
"New Polish Music Panorama".
Two discs, subtitled "Master and
His Pupils," as one would expect,
focus on the musical legacy of Poland’s
schools of composition. Both discs are
devoted to the work and pupils of Marian
Borkowski, who teaches at the Chopin
Academy of Music in Warsaw.
The opening piece by
Borkowski, Vox for optional (?)
brass instrument - the notation is such,
evidently because the choice of instrument
is left up to the performer. Here, the
piece is performed by its dedicatee
Zdzislaw Piernik on tuba. It’s certainly
progressive in terms of tonality and
lack of classical structure. As far
as an introduction to Borkowski is concerned,
this is rather arduous, with random
- and often quite loud - noises coming
from the solo instrument, ranging from
difficult and rapid intonations to intestinal
rumblings and back. This piece won’t
be just anyone’s cup of Darjeeling,
and it wasn’t mine. How would the works
by Borkowski’s nine students fare?
Some of them fare quite
well, actually. Take for instance, the
following violin sonata of Piotr Spoz,
which begins with an ominous ostinato
that reminds one of Rodion Shchedrin’s
piano pieces. Turbulent and dramatic,
the piece evaporates into the upper
registers of both instruments before
the second movement, marked Indifferente,
begins. This closing movement has an
air of indecision about it, and, as
the piece builds, certainly does not
feel indifferent. An intense and interesting
piece, performed with the composer on
piano.
Paciorek-Draus’s Muzyka
napotkana makes the unusual pairing
of oboe and accordion, in which the
oboe takes the majority of the foreground,
but over the course of the piece, trades
off staccato notes in an intricately
timed sort of language — a discourse
that seem to mimic communication patterns
in birds. The two instruments are an
intriguing combination, and the score
directs the performers to pat their
instruments for percussive effects.
Following the held
last note of the oboe is Molecules
by Aldona Nawrocka for prepared piano.
This is a work that centres on an obsessively
repeating note, treated to be muffled,
that serves as a pulse for the first
part of the piece. The title of the
work appears to be merely suggestive.
While quite modern in sound, it has
a relatively tight structure; certain
sections repeat, separated by fff
staccatissimo tone clusters, some lyrical
passages that disquiet, and a fairly
hefty bonk on the instrument with the
hand or foot with the sustain pedal
depressed. An exciting and enjoyable
work.
All but two of the
pieces here are scored for chamber ensembles
of various combinations or solo instruments.
Kowalski-Banasewicz’s Epizod
for orchestra has its thematic material,
which essentially amounts to a frantically-repeated
note, and a run up to a new note which
is also repeated. The orchestration
and feel of the piece reminds this reviewer
of a not-so-heavily syncopated Bernstein,
or, at the beginning, the "Maccaber
Danse" movement of Lowell Liebermann’s
first piano concerto. A quieter middle
section gathers tension, accelerating
slightly, before bursting into major
mode. The overall feel is that of West
Side Story combined with an occasional
dash of the music of Carl Stalling.
In a completely different
musical direction is Osada’s E-motion
for two accordions and stereo track,
which begins alarmingly with a stereophonically
distorted accordion chord. The effect
is startling. The live instruments are
mirrored, echoed and smeared by the
electronic track. The piece is occasionally
a bit claustrophobic, but quite an interesting
listen. At times the electronics make
the piece verge a bit too closely into
outerspace/videogame territory, however.
Another standout is
Lapinski’s Les Jeux of 1998 for
clarinet, bassoon, cello and piano,
which begins as a perpetual motion piece,
separated by short bursts of narrative
from various members of the ensemble.
A nicely pensive slow section features
the piano effectively, the other instruments
falling silent save for the cello.
The mood is shattered
but good with the opening explosive
outburst from the orchestra of Borkowski’s
closing piece, Dram, of 1966.
According to the composer, quoted in
the liner notes, the piano subjects
a 12-tone row to a tone-cluster-style
treatment. The piece is tense, anxious
and violent, with fortissimo punches
from the orchestra as the violins skew
their woozy glissandi.
For listeners who are
avid pursuers of new works and unsung
living artists, look no further. The
fact that Acte Préalable has
continued to release new volumes to
this series shows a considerable level
of commitment. The liner notes, in occasionally
idiosyncratic English translation and
Polish, give brief descriptions of the
works and, more helpfully, brief bios
of all the composers here represented,
along with listings of their completed
works. Well worth getting for those
interested in new music.
David Blomenberg
Acte
Préalable catalogue
Zdzislaw Piernic (tuba)*, Patrycja Piekutowska
(violin)***, Piotr Spoz (piano)***, Tytus Wojnowicz
(oboe)#, Zbigniew Kożlik (accordion)#, Szabolcs
Esztenyi (piano)##, Orchestra of the Jozef
Elsner Music School in Warsaw ###, Michal Nizynski
(conductor) ###, Michal Szubarga (clarinet) †,
Irena Wiselka-Cieslar (organ) ††, Radislaw Toporowski
(accordion) ††† , Grzegorz Toporowski (accordion)
†††, Maria Paz Santibanez (piano) ‡, Piotr Filip
(clarinet) ‡, Katarzyna Piotrowska (bassoon) ‡,
Mariusz Domanski (cello) ‡ , Robert Morawski (piano)
‡, Symphony Orchestra of the Fryderyk Chopin Music
Academy in Warsaw**, Piotr Borkowski (conductor)**
for
details
