ANAKLASIS / katalog / Portraits / ANA 034

Witold Szalonek claimed that his art was a search for the instrument’s musical soul. His music, to put it briefly, was a search. His discoveries spanned different territories and involved the application of various tools. Nevertheless, the half century of his work as a composer was filled with experimentation using traditional ingredients, the construction of his individual language based on classical foundations, with a study of Bach and Chopin, and attentive listening to his immediate surroundings, including folk music.

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). The other performers on the album are bass-baritone Tomasz Konieczny, flutist Ania Karpowicz, alto singer Urszula Kryger, narrator Joanna Freszel, the Camerata Silesia Katowice City Singers’ Ensemble, and AUKSO – Chamber Orchestra of the City of Tychy.