Thanks, didn’t know about that one (Dux isn’t on my radar; might need to fix that). i expect there’ll be many more releases going forward now the labels have latched onto her.
In listening to the 4th Symphony and 2 Pianos Concerto, I found it helpful to think of Bacewicz as akin to Martinů. There are even similarities in their approach to harmony (less so in the concerto, admittedly), if not melody or rhythm (Martinů could be mistaken for no-one else in those respects)! More importantly, though, I believe both shared an essentially sunny musical disposition through which worlds of pain, pathos and poignancy could nevertheless be glimpsed.
“sunny musical disposition” – that’s along the lines of what i’ve taken away from her work, generally, so far. That emphasis on the more upbeat, frivolous stuff – with only relatively brief (and, as i wrote, undermined) excursions into darker music – suggests that it’s that that she wants to focus on. Thus far, though, i’m not convinced it’s where she’s at her most interesting. But i’m curious to explore further.
[…] exploring the Complete Symphonic Works of Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz. As i pointed out in my review, they effectively jumped into her music halfway through, beginning in the early 1950s with her […]
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Looks like Dux Records put out an album of Music for String Orchestra at around the same time as the CPO disc. Even more to explore…!
Thanks, didn’t know about that one (Dux isn’t on my radar; might need to fix that). i expect there’ll be many more releases going forward now the labels have latched onto her.
In listening to the 4th Symphony and 2 Pianos Concerto, I found it helpful to think of Bacewicz as akin to Martinů. There are even similarities in their approach to harmony (less so in the concerto, admittedly), if not melody or rhythm (Martinů could be mistaken for no-one else in those respects)! More importantly, though, I believe both shared an essentially sunny musical disposition through which worlds of pain, pathos and poignancy could nevertheless be glimpsed.
“sunny musical disposition” – that’s along the lines of what i’ve taken away from her work, generally, so far. That emphasis on the more upbeat, frivolous stuff – with only relatively brief (and, as i wrote, undermined) excursions into darker music – suggests that it’s that that she wants to focus on. Thus far, though, i’m not convinced it’s where she’s at her most interesting. But i’m curious to explore further.
[…] exploring the Complete Symphonic Works of Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz. As i pointed out in my review, they effectively jumped into her music halfway through, beginning in the early 1950s with her […]