グレツキのピアノ世界

「悲歌のシンフォニー」に匹敵する感動作の花束

「悲歌のシンフォニー」で一世を風靡したグレツキ。彼にとりもっとも近しい楽器はピアノで、1955年から寵児となった後の2008年にわたる作品は20世紀から21世紀の音楽の進化を象徴してもいます。1989年生まれのカナダのピアニスト、ジャレッド・ダンは全作品に挑戦。2台作品では作曲者の愛娘アンナ・グレツカと共演。未発表の「5つの小品Op.13」も貴重。前衛から静謐までグレツキの個人的で感情的な世界を見事に再現しています。
東京エムプラス

Ever since his Symphony No. 3 ("Symphony of Sorrowful Songs") propelled him to unheard-of heights for a contemporary composer, Henryk Gorecki has been known mostly for orchestral and choral works. He was not a prolific writer for the piano; this album contains his entire output of music for one or two pianos. Yet the musics significance is attested to by the presence of pianist Anna Gorecka, the composers daughter, on the two-piano works. She was the teacher of the principal pianist, Jarred Dunn, who has a fine feel for the combination of folk nationalism and atonal influences that characterize Goreckis early works. Most of the music comes from the first part of Goreckis career. At first, he was influenced by Bartok, and the set From a Birds Nest, Op. 9a, consists of short pieces that recall those of Bartoks technically simple but never unsophisticated Mikrokosmos. Like other composers of his day, Gorecki flirted with serialism, and the Five Pieces for Two Pianos, Op. 13, from 1959, offer an interesting example of his use of the method (although he disowned much of his serialist music), with a treatment of rhythm that is complex but not oriented toward the total serialism procedures of the day. Along the way are small works of personal significance, some of them from the more accessible later period of his work, and falling under the Polish category known as sonorism. Sample the Quasi valse, from the Sundry Pieces, Op. 52 (which gathers works from various periods); it is a humorous take on the experiences of those who have listened to piano practicing. The album may stand to the side of Goreckis main output, but it comes from musicians who know his music well, and it will be of great interest to the many who enjoy the work of this Polish composer. ~ James Manheim