Catalogue

When asked to attempt a definition of her music, she called it lyrical expressionism. The choice of this term says much about the emotional intensity of Elżbieta Sikora’s music, which may reflect the experience of her two home countries, Poland and France, but is also a consequence of her artistic maturation in an age when two powerful trends – the avant-garde and neo-Classicism – were vying for the palm. Such a label may also result from the artist’s focus on the listener as her target, whom she invariably attempts to surprise, shock, or bewilder.

On the CONNECTIONS album, you will find Szalonek’s selected compositions, from his oldest (his student work – 'Toccata polyphonica' for string orchestra of 1954, as well as the cycle that brought him international recognition – 'Confessions'. 'Triptych' to Words by Kazimiera Iłłakowiczówna for speaking voice, mixed choir, and chamber orchestra of 1959) to his last works (such as 'L’Hautbois mon amour' of 1999, the composer’s confession of his love for the oboe, written for a solo performer, here – NOSPR principal oboist Maksymilian Lipień).

Bells have for centuries remained an element of the Polish audiosphere. ‘For the Angelus bells are ringing…’ wrote Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer of these sounds which have been as natural to the landscape as thatched roofs, village graveyards, rivers and woods. Even so, the carillon (a set of at least 23 tower bells activated by means of a special keyboard) still appears to be an exotic instrument and its potential largely remains unrecognised.

A musical drama written for voices, harpsichord, strings, looper and dragon. The piece is a fascinating collision of the sensitivity of one of the most outstanding Polish composers of contemporary music and an exceptional writer, awarded and, above all, read in Poland and around the world.

A musical drama written for voices, harpsichord, strings, looper and dragon. The piece is a fascinating collision of the sensitivity of one of the most outstanding Polish composers of contemporary music and an exceptional writer, awarded and, above all, read in Poland and around the world.

Stanisław Moniuszko’s songs collected in his Songbooks for Home Use were the Romantic, 19th-century counterparts of present-day pop music hits. Written to be sung at private homes and to live their own independent lives, many of them actually did fulfil this role.

‘I made up my mind to go gaga for a few weeks and write some verse loosely based on the bios of my family members,’ explains Michał Rusinek, otherwise a serious and reputable literary scholar, translator, and writer. ‘My ancestors were apparently rather ordinary. Still, I am convinced that even a very ordinary family can be viewed from an unusual perspective.

High Definition Quartet is an ensemble well-tested in musical explorations, and its pianist-leader Piotr Orzechowski has adopted, not without reason, the nickname of Pianohooligan – one who with roguish impudence jumps across the fences that separate various musical worlds.