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Streamed Polish/Jewish music concert | Arto Piano Trio

2022-07-27
Concert location: Akademia Klawiszowa, ul. Łąkowa 35/38 Gdańsk

The concert was streamed on FB: @OddziałEtnografii

Arto Piano Trio, composed of: Agata Misiak – piano, Monika Skruszewicz – violin, and Zofia Elwart – cello in a concert of Polish/Jewish music.


Programme:

E. Bloch Three Nocturnes

A. Panufnik Piano Trio op. 1

Koncert był streamingowany na FB: @OddziałEtnografii

The leitmotif of the concert was the issue of migration, shelter, and heritage.

Concert 1: Polish and Jewish music: Bloch-Panufnik

Two chamber music works were presented at the first concert: the Piano Trio by Andrzej Panufnik and the Three Nocturnes by Ernest Bloch. Both pieces originate from early 20th century and were written only 10 years apart. Both composers had to face the issue of migration in their lifetime, which has been a crucial influence on their personal histories and works. Andrzej Panufnik is a Polish composer and conductor who, weary of his inability to adapt to the canons of socialist realism, migrated to the West in 1954 to find a peaceful place for working and composing. The Piano Trio is his youthful work which he composed at the age of 19 (in 1934). Also, this is the only one of his pre-war works that survived, while the rest were burned during the Warsaw Uprising.

Even though Panufnik composed the Piano Trio very early, it already has the characteristics which can be found in his later works, such as transparent formal construction, polished to the tiniest detail, with a deeply emotional expression and original content. Although there is noticeable convergence of the Trio’s style with the neo-classic trend, popular before the war, this piece certainly has unique features and rich expression, making it distinguishable and extraordinary and as such it is keenly played by musicians worldwide.

Ernest Bloch is an American composer, teacher and conductor of Jewish origin, famous for his numerous compositions linked to the Jewish culture.

The Three Nocturnes were created in 1924 when Bloch was teaching at the Cleveland Conservatory of Music. Unlike Panufnik’s piece, this cycle is not as popular or frequently performed. Every nocturne presents different assumptions. The first one has an original melodic pattern based on exotic scales, ethereal harmonies and noticeable references to Impressionism.

The second one is a lullaby with folk music elements. Both are characterized by peaceful, slow, almost hypnotizing narration. The third Nocturne is full of characteristic syncopation rhythms, unusual energy and vigor, yet with a peaceful middle part, with an inconspicuous reference to the first Nocturne while at the same time forming a kind of a composition bridge.