Relief I (KRZANOWSKI ANDRZEJ)

Par KRZANOWSKI ANDRZEJ. The cycle of nine Reliefs was written between 1984 and 1989, during the last period in Andrzej Krzanowski?s life, and it provides further evidence of his interest in the fine arts, which he exploited in his compositional work. The sculpture technique enabling an artist to create bas reliefs of varying degrees of convexity, for which the raw material is so important, is faithfully reflected in Relief II, where the accordion offers such possibilities for shaping the sound, dynamics, timbre and articulation that the narrative pursued in this work, involving the expansion and contraction of sound streams and the consistent processing of the raw material (whole tone ? semitone scale), creates a ?musical relief ?. This is not a dramatic or virtuosic work. Time flows slowly, on low, subtly fluctuating dynamic levels, the bands of sounds that form streams of varying density are written solely by means of horizontal lines, stretched out across regular bar lines that measure out the time, and the static unfolding of the music is enriched solely with vibrations. The sounds alternately overlap and fade. Sometimes they occur in imitation, and self-contained chords appear incidentally. The contemplation of time, multi-level structuring, subtlety and? dedication to the brilliant Japanese composer Toshio Hosokawa account for the popular name of this work ? ?Japanese?. Fragment of preface Grazyna Krzanowska translated by John Comber / Date parution : 2022-11-08/ Recueil / Accordéon

Par KRZANOWSKI ANDRZEJ. Relief VII (1988) is a composition in which we can hear echoes of phrases contained in Programme no. 6 and Relief IV. This time they are evoked by tubular bells in secundal-tritonal motifs and, in general, by other percussion instruments. The accordion part is dominated by the narrative of unrestrained repetition, often based on broken ninth structures, ending with four silent, recurrent harmonic turns (as if cadenzas) and a final, slightly ‘truncated tonic.’ The tempo Lento appasionato e lontano may indicate a quest for a new, distant, and, at the same time, judging by the rhythmic notation, quite difficult and demanding path. It is one of Andrzej Krzanowski’s last works. Its premiere took place on 15 August 1988 in Darmstadt as part of the International Summer Courses for New Music; the composer performed the accordion part while Chris Brannick played the percussion. Fragment of preface Grazyna Krzanowska translated by Zaneta Pniewska. / Date parution : 2022-11-08/ Recueil / Accordéon et Percussion

Par KRZANOWSKI ANDRZEJ. The sequence of expressively and dynamically contrasting tempi (Lento assai e tranquillo – Allegro con vigore – Lento assai e tranquillo – Allegro con vigore – Lento assai – Allegro con vigore – Lento assai e tranquillo – Allegro con vigore – Lento assai da lontano) creates a distinctly twofold form. Yet the two agogic-expressive strands display two features in common: musical material that remains constant for the whole of the work (mostly referring to the so-called semitone – whole tone scale) and a lack of stability and regularity to the rhythmic passages of particular sections, obtained through the use of such devices as pauses and added dots. This work was written in Czechowice-Dziedzice in 1986 and is one of two compositions – alongside Autumn Impressions – scored for amplified bass accordion. Dedicated to the French accordionist and teacher Alain Abbott, it was first performed on 27 January 2012 by Klaudiusz Baran at the 9th Witold Lutoslawski Chain Festival. / Date parution : 2022-11-08/ Recueil / Accordéon Basse Amplifiée