For the generation of Polish-Lithuanian siblings – Vytautas Bacevičius and Grażyna Bacewicz – Karol Szymanowski was an icon of new music. His Masques, Op. 34, belonging to the Impressionist/Expressionist phase, present his interpretation of figures rooted in culture.

Three Grotesques by Bacewicz fit into the trend of comic and dance vitalism. In turn, Bacevičius’ works represent cosmological ideas: anticipated by Poème mystique, Op. 6 and Méditaton, Op. 29 from the Kaunas, modernist years, and embodied by Trois pensées musicales, Op. 75 from the American years. Cosmic music expressed the artist’s inner universe. The Piano Suite No. 3, Op. 60 crowns the earlier period, which was a “compromise” with the listener, while Sixième mot, Op. 72 belongs to a collection of seven compositions resembling words “conveyed” through sounds.

PROGRAMME:

Karol Szymanowski (1882–1937)
Schéhérazade from the cycle Masques, Op. 34 No. 1 [9’]
(1916)

Tantris le bouffon from the cycle Masques, Op. 34 No. 2 [8’]
(1916)

Grażyna Bacewicz (1909-1969)
Three Grotesques [7′]
(1935)

Vytautas Bacevičius (1905–1970)
Mistinė Poema (Poème mystique) Op. 6 [6’]
(1927)

Suite No. 3, Op. 60 [6’]
(1956)
Allegretto
Allegro moderato
Lento
Presto

Meditacija (Méditation) Op. 29 [3’]
(1937)

Šeštas žodis (Sixième mot) Op. 72 [9’]
(1963)

Trys muzikinės mintys (Trois pensées musicales) Op. 75 [6’]
(1966)
Allegro moderato
Adagio
Vivace

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PERFORMER:

Yusuke Ishii
piano