Książek Piano Duo
Geir Draugsvoll, Bayan
Sinfonia Varsovia
Zvonimir Hačko, Conductor

Paweł Mykietyn: Prank for chamber orchestra (2019) [30’00”]
Polish premiere

Hanna Kulenty: Carrés Noirs (Black Squares) for piano four-hands, perc. & two string orchestras (2024) [20’00”]
Polish premiere

Sofia Gubaidulina: Fachwerk for bayan solo, percussion and string orchestra (2009) [36’00”]

The repertoire of tonight's program consists of three works which have never been performed in Poland: Pawel Mykietyn's Prank, Hanna Kulenty's Carres noire (Black Squares); and Sofia Gubaidulina's Fachwerk. The title of the program is taken directly from each piece: PRANKS, SQUARES, AND PANELS. These pieces allude to the character of each piece.

Mykietyn's Prank for chamber orchestra is literally a musical joke, a prank, played on the listener. The piece starts very slowly and gradually increases in tempo until it reaches a climactic point which always comes at the end of a section. At that point, the fast notes are turned to half of their value, and while everything else seems to be chugging along, faster and faster until its next climax -- at which point, again, the fast notes become a part of the longer pulse -- and so on. Soon, one realizes that this piece is rushing to nowhere. It is a fine example of tricks and good music which will keep you wanting more . . . Mykietyn's work was commissioned by the International Centre for Contemporary Music in London (ICCM) and was premiered and recorded by London Sinfonietta.

Black Squares was also an ICCM commission. Here is how Hanna Kulenty explains the meaning of the piece:

The piece utilizes my own musical language and technique - a new musical surrealism, or more precisely, gravitational surrealism. A list of different musical

tempos - slow, fast, very fast --create a new type of dramaturgy and musical narrative. The title of the composition is also the title of my oil painting, where the dramaturgy of lines, squares and colours is interpreted similarly through musical language. These dramatic lines and squares reflect my own sense of subconsciousness and superconsciousness which I see in the universe.

Gubaidulina's Fachwerk is written for solo bayan, strings and percussion; it stands as one of the great masterworks of our times. Fachwerk was inspired by the 

exposed wooden beams seen in half-timbered architecture which to Gubaidulina represented both aesthetic beauty or "wooden planks" as well as a representation of the beams of the cross. Thus, the work is primarily a spiritual symbol incorporating a "dialogue" between the solo bayan and the orchestra, focusing on craftsmanship, texture, and spiritual depth, rather than virtuoso showmanship. The work is contemplative and mysterious, with plenty of dramatic moments, and incorporates specific techniques like mirrored finger patterns on different button systems on the bayan and often uses the bayan to recall the sounds of a Bach organ. 

This piece was recorded by ICCM with tonight's guest soloist Geir Draugsvoll for whom the piece was originally written, and London Symphony Orchestra, Zvonimir Hačko conductor.