Twardowski
is hardly a household name in the Western world, but the
pieces here and also in recently-reviewed Acte Préalable
APO0110 (see review)
will likely give listeners cause to take notice. This disc,
as with the one I reviewed earlier, features a youth orchestra.
Both orchestras show themselves equal to the challenge of
these pieces.
The early Little
Symphony, written as a student piece, is more a piano
concerto, energetic and angular, with a dark theme brought
up by the strings while the timpani toll behind them. Heavily
contrapuntal, this piece sounds rather like a less aggressively-dissonant
Shchedrin. Prokofiev also comes to mind as this first
movement progresses, opening up to a scale that belies
the work’s given name. The Scherzo that follows
certainly brings up the sarcastic side of Prokofiev, in
a danse macabre, short and striking. The following Largo is
brooding and meditative for unaccompanied piano, a feature
that also figures in Twardowski’s Small Concerto. This
dark moment leads without a break into the final Passacaglia.
Its repeated figure carries an eerie reminiscence of the
passacaglia of Shostakovich’s first violin concerto, though
without such an epic sense of grief. At any rate, the
work is arresting and something that fans of mid-century
modern music will enjoy. This should certainly see more
time on the stages in live performance than it has seen
since its composition.
The following
work, Triptych of the Virgin Mary is scored for strings
only. The opening section, entitled “The Manger in Bethlehem” juxtaposes sforzando chords
in the strings with solo or chamber group interludes redolent
of early music. The three main sections are separated by
two innocent and enjoyable short dances, both of less than
two minutes. The central tableau “The Entombment” is a reverent
and resonant piece, again employing the tone of Renaissance-era
music. “The Resurrection” brings back the forceful chords
first heard in the opening section. An enjoyable piece,
especially for the “Entombment” movement, which certainly
could have been longer without this reviewer minding.
Of the
remaining pieces, the Old Polish Concerto for string orchestra
is also available in a different performance on APO 0110. This
piece fits with the Triptych in its purposeful look
backwards in terms of treatment of thematic material and
form. The opening movement calls Prokofiev’s first symphony — also
composed with a retro glance — to mind. You will also hear
elements of Grieg’s Holberg Suite. The sound of the Zenon
Brzewski Warsaw String Orchestra on the other APO 0120 release
is less compressed and more immediate, and is my pick over
the Chopin Youth Orchestra’s performance. It certainly is
nice, however, to have more than one performance available
to the public.
As a lovely
curtain-closer, we have the engaging triple-meter Oberek,
a Polish folk dance. The strings here are lush and the playing
is wonderfully done.
Overall,
many fans of Prokofiev and Alexander Tcherepnin will find
these works quite interesting. Acte Préalable does well
in this release in providing a cross-section of Twardowski’s
works, from the reminiscent to the more challenging. Perhaps
these works will soon see a wider appreciation due to this
release. I look forward to hearing future performances.
David Blomenberg
for
details
Edward Wolanin
(piano) 
