Philharmonics play chamber | Polish music

Chamber music is one of the most difficult of musical activities – it requires the ability to cooperate in an ensemble, and at the same time take responsibility for the performers’ own actions – not being controlled by a conductor. The musicians who perform every day as part of a larger ensemble – the Szczecin Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra – will present their skills for chamber music concerts. We will hear two makeups: a string quartet and a trio of clarinet, cello and piano.

The artists reached for compositions exclusively from Polish music circles, yet virtually unknown to the wider audience. These include the first of two young string quartets by Stanisław Moniuszko – Quartet No. 1 in D minor dedicated to Józef Elsner. The piece, written by a mere twenty-year-old artist, together with Quartet No. 2 in F major, remain the only examples of chamber music in the output of the author of "Home Songbook".

In addition to the Moniuszko quartet, the program includes a repertoire from the second half of the twentieth century. The five-movement String Quartet No. 3 “Paper Cuts” by Andrzej Panufnik was written in 1990 following his return to Poland after 36 years of emigration. Hence the title and formal assumptions, a reference to Polish folklore – the symmetry of folk cut-outs. At the same time, this composition, created on the order of the string quartet competition held in London, aims to expose the expressive and technical possibilities of all instrumentalists.

Another composition for string quartet is the one-movement Overture by Mikołaj Górecki from 2000, which is characterized by a lively theme and a constant struggle between tonality and atonality.

The program also includes two trios of contemporary artists associated with Szczecin – Artur Cieślak and Tadeusz Mazurek. The evening will close with the Fantasy Trio Op. 26 for clarinet, cello and piano by the Polish-American composer born in Chicago, Robert Muczyński. Although the creator himself, the grandson of a Polish emigrant, did not speak Polish, he liked to emphasize his Polish roots.