Bolesław SZABELSKI (1896-1979)
Concertino (1955) [18:42]
Henryk GÓRECKI (1933-2010)
Refrain for Orchestra (1965) [14:56]
Eugeniusz KNAPIK (b. 1951)
Islands (1983) [17:31]
Silesian Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra/Mirosłav Jacek
Błaszczyk
rec. June and September 2011, Concert Hall, Katowice, Poland
DUX DUX0865 [51:09]
Katowice is the third most populous city in the historic region of
Silesia, most of which, like Katowice itself, is situated in Poland. Each of
the three composers represented here studied and later taught at the
Katowice Music Academy. Bolesław Szabelski was Górecki’s
teacher, Górecki in turn taughtEugeniusz Knapik. Zbigniew
Raubo, the pianist on this disc, and Mirosłav Jacek Błaszczyk, the
conductor, were also both students who later returned to teach at the
Academy. The disc can fairly be seen as a celebration of that distinguished
and highly respected establishment.
Szabelski’s Concertino is in three movements, the first
of which is based on the busy, rhythmic figure that opens the work. A calmer
second subject appears, but the rapid music soon returns and dominates the
rest. The music is closer to the neo-classical style of Stravinsky than it
is to the Germanic counterpoint of Hindemith. The movement’s ending is
a complete surprise, a sudden common chord that seems to arrive from
nowhere. The slow movement is quite different, closer to the neo-romanticism
evoked in the booklet notes, and with echoes of Bartók. The finale
attempts to combine both worlds, and succeeds rather well: it is the most
successful movement of the three. All told, this is an engaging work that
you will probably want to come back to. In no way is it a concerto, though,
despite its title. The piano has an important role but barely qualifies for
the title of “solo instrument”. “Concertante” would
be a more apposite term.
Like many music lovers I was seduced by Górecki’s
Symphony of Sorrowful Songs when Classic FM made its composer famous.
I love it to this day: it is an inspired and courageous work of genuine
power that, in a fine performance - preferably with a Polish or at least a
Slav soprano - can be exceptionally moving, and that in spite of the fact
that there are so few notes in it. Since then I have listened to many
Górecki works in the hope of discovering something at least as
satisfying. Sadly, Refrain for Orchestra is not it. The work begins
with a held unison that leads to a rocking figure in the strings - though
the word “rocking” conveys too much the notion of activity - in
a motif that gradually thickens into clusters and is strangely punctuated by
staccato chords from the brass. This continues for eight long minutes until
there is a faster section wherein further chords alternate between the wind
and string sections of the orchestra. There are also some dramatic brass
trills. A gong stroke puts paid to this, and after a while the opening
rocking figure returns, as does the very first unison and a single, staccato
peck from the brass. I may be missing something here, but there seems to be
absurdly little musical material in this work. With one or two exceptions I
have been progressively more disappointed with each new Górecki work
I have heard, and this one plumbs new depths.
Islands comes complete with a commentary from the composer in
which he tells us that we shouldn’t listen to it with too narrow an
interpretation of its title in our minds. “We are all on an island
which drifts somewhere in the universe,” he tells us, and goes on
“every human being is an island as well…” As is often the
case with such works, I can discern no audible connection between the title
and the music itself in any case, so whether the composer agrees with John
Donne or not seems to be irrelevant. The music is slow and reflective for
much of the time, but compared to the Górecki it’s packed with
incident. Two lengthy solos punctuate the action, one for violin and the
other for double bass that begins in the instrument’s highest
register. (Only strings are used, I think: I haven’t see the score.)
The composer apparently aims to react against the Polish avant-garde
movement of the sixties, personified by such figures as Penderecki - who
later reacted against it himself. On the whole he has succeeded here, and
there are many passages of strikingly sonorous beauty, including the
sumptuous two-part writing that opens the work and returns later. But there
are a few empty gestures too, and Tomasz Jeż, in a long, important but
frequently impenetrable note in the booklet, is surely being disingenuous
when he says that the music “speaks to the listener in a similar
manner than [sic] the music of late Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler”.
I’m always sorry to react negatively to new works, but there
it is, and others will hear this music differently. The orchestra plays
magnificently and, as one might expect, seem totally convinced by the music.
They give performances of one hundred per cent commitment. The recording is
excellent.
William Hedley
A disc in celebration of the Music Academy of Katowice.