Polish

When conceiving his Polonaise for orchestra, Penderecki used the fantasia form, not unfamiliar to Chopin, which is based on a primary theme, which, as the piece progresses, is being developed, transformed and subjected to several different variations. Richly orchestrated, it allows performers to create colours that overlap each other while influencing the overall musical expression. Spatiality is a very important aspect of this work as during its world premiere the wind instruments were placed on the balcony of the Warsaw Philharmonic's Concert Hall. The composition could be called "the apotheosis of a polonaise" or, as the composer prefers, "a small symphonic poem on the theme of a polonaise".

Second Life' is the first-ever album featuring both acoustic guitar and string orchestra on each track. Acoustic guitarist Adam Palma is accompanied by one of the greatest European orchestras, The Chamber Orchestra of Polish Radio AMADEUS, led by famous conductor, Agnieszka Duczmal. This album is a very personal record, an intimate look at music and life from the perspective of a man who "regained" his life after waking from a long coma. Recovering gave Adam time to reflect, to review his own musical roots, and to view his life deeply from a new perspective. We hear the songs that the soloist grew up listening to: folk melodies, a scout song, a song belonging to the patriotic trend of music, known film themes, Chopin's compositions (never before performed on the guitar), and Adam's own compositions that show what he himself describes as his Polish soul. All the arrangements have been written by Adam Palma and orchestrated by the outstanding Polish film score composer Krzesimir Debski. On this album, classical music and jazz are intertwined. All this against a background of the characteristic harmony of Polish songs, combining the sound of acoustic guitar and string orchestra!

Pulling from over a decade of musical styles and nuances explored by The Polish Ambassador, combined with the lush instrumentation of 3 seasoned instrumentalists, The Polish Ambassador and The Diplomatic Scandal are closing the gaps between live and electronic music. After a cornucopia of albums and countless gigs around the world, The Polish Ambassador has docked the mothership outside the embassy; a fitting stop for a Diplomatic Scandal to unfold. An amalgamation of funky beats, retro synths, and live instrumentation make up the bulk of this controversial saga…

Jennifer Pike writes: ‘This recording project of Polish music is one that is particularly close to my heart. The idea for the series arose from an awareness of the sound world associated with Polish music, of the country’s long-held fascination with the violin, and of my own Polish heritage on my mother’s side. As a successor to the first volume, released in 2019, this album continues to explore a breadth of repertoire that includes some rarely heard gems. The Violin Sonata, one of Szymanowski’s earlier compositions, is a work brimming with late-romantic intensity.

This new release from DUX presents 20th century works for violin duo by Polish composers, performed here by Polish violinists Marta Gidaszewska and Robert Laguniak. Among the composers whose works we can hear on the album, Grazyna Bacewicz occupies a prominent place. Both her Suite for Two Violins (1943) and Easy Duets on Folk Themes for Two Violins (1945), meant for didactic purposes, charm with Bacewicz's typical precision and clarity of structure and interesting melodies. The Sonatina for Two Violins by Tadeusz Paciorkiewicz also refers to Neoclassicism, although the harmony of the piece is more complex, and its expressive values differ from the subdued emotions typical of that era. The next composition, Michal Spisak's Suite for Two Violins, also deviates from the Neoclassical model; despite its declarative title, it is a mysterious work with the narrative element in the dominant role. The last piece presented, Sonata for Two Violins, is a work by Mieczyslaw Weinberg, a Polish composer of Jewish origin whose music is currently being discovered after years of neglect.

Ewelina Novicka came across Weinberg's traces while researching Shostakovich, and Laks was brought to her attention by pianist friend Milena Antoniewicz, with whom she recorded her own composition Kaddish in the version for violin and piano in 2011. The Polish-born violinist Ewelina Novicka was not only deeply touched by the fact that Laks and Weinberg had escaped the Shoah, but above all by the connection with the fate of her own family, which gave rise to her desire to place her artistic work in the service of the works of these two composers.

This new release from DUX presents two 19th-century works of two Polish composers belonging to two different generations, so far almost unknown.

“Polish Space Program” is the second album from Warsaw-based synth trio Xenony. It contains nine new songs that took the band far from their chip-tune roots.