Catalogue

The album SONGS OF SILESIA comprises a collection of the Silesian master’s vocal pieces, which perfectly reflect his broad horizons. Szalonek was a visionary and an innovator, but also an artist inspired by local folklore ('On Johnnie’s Cathy', 'Katowice Ballad', 'From Opole Region', 'Silesian Folk Ballad' for solo soprano and mixed choir) and by religious subjects ('Litany of Loreto – to the Blessed Virgin Mary', 'Miserere'). His music could be charmingly simple or extraordinarily complex. On this album, it is performed by Camerata Silesia Katowice City Singers’ Ensemble under Anna Szostak.

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).

This is the first complete (2CD) recording of all the songs composed by writer and journalist Zygmunt Mycielski (1907–1987), editor in chief of Ruch Muzyczny music journal and an intellectual actively involved in the 1960s social and political work (for which the Polish communist authorities imposed restrictions on him). He was also a composer (a fact we sometimes tend to forget), educated in Cracow and later (at Karol Szymanowski’s instigation) a pupil of Paul Dukas and Nadia Boulanger in Paris (the latter became his long-time friend).

Music history abounds in paradoxes. Take the Rhodes piano, for instance. Commissioned by the US army as an easy-to-transport instrument for military bands, it reached the wide audience thanks to The Doors, the band that remains an icon of rock-music pacifism.

The eminent composer and pianist Zygmunt Krauze claims that he shunned Fryderyk Chopin through much of his artistic life. When he finally realised that he could not avoid facing that music, rather than piously worshipping the national saint he is getting to grips with Chopin’s art on his own terms.

Does music need parity? Probably not, it defends itself. But it is worth noting and emphasising the artistic advantages of outstanding contemporary composers and their unforgettable predecessors - women in Polish music are a voice as separate as it is expressive. The album is the result of cooperation with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, and more specifically the Polskie Heroiny Dźwięku (Polish Heroines of Sound) program conducted by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as part of the wider Polska Music campaign.

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.

Gdańsk, as we have testified for years, is renowned for its carillons, that is, sets of many bells played from a keyboard. The city’s largest carillon is mounted in the tower of St Catherine’s Church, a smaller one – at the Main City Hall. There is also a third mobile carillon that can be moved around, as the name suggests. For the last several years, the City of Gdańsk and Museum of Gdańsk have been commissioning new works for these instruments. Their premieres take place in September. Through the courtesy of PWM Edition, these compositions have also been recorded and released.