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Paweł Łukaszewski With The Choc de Classica Prize
2014-04-07
Yesterday, Paweł Łukaszewski added the Choc de Classica prize to his various awards for the recording of „Missa de Maria a Magdala (Missa bremgartensis)”, which appeared on the DUX label in the Musica Sacra series.
The prize is also awarded to the performers of the work: Jan Borowski - conductor, the Choir of the Techniczno-Humanistyczna Academy in Bielsko Biała (University of Bielsko Biała), Elżbieta Grodzka-Łopuszyńska - soprano, Tomasz Sadownik - baritone, Silesian Chamber Orchestra.
Missa de Maria a Magdala (Missa bremgartensis) was written in 2010 with a commission from conductor Marco Castellini, who works in Bremgarten (the second part of the name of the work comes from the name of the town). The author of the text is Father Sylwester J. Kwiatkowski, Rector of the parish there. Paweł Łukaszewski confesses that although he has written two masses (Missa pro Patria and Messa per voci e fiati) earlier, he set about working on this with particular enthusiasm. He says that Father Kwiatkowski's text was a great inspiration to him, which opened his eyes afresh on the character of St. Mary Magdalene.
We invite you to read reviews of the recording, which also constitute a justification for this recognition:
Polish Music Knows No Crisis
At the age of 45, Polish composer Paweł Łukaszewski already appears as a worthy successor to Penderecki, Górecki and Lutosławski.
Paweł Łukaszewski rises to the heights of John Tavener and H.M. Gorecki, composers whom he admires. Like Tavener, Łukaszewski has an extensive collection of choral works. This theme is mentioned on the occasion of his CD, Musica Sacra 3, which includes, amongst other works, arrangements of Christmas songs in excellent harmonisation. A work in which the assimilated heritage of Górecki and Kilar manifests itself is for sure the Adagio for Strings. Consonances already known to us take winter colours here, as if frozen in time. But, after a moment, in the piece Souvenir for organ, the worried face of the composer appears. This work, gathering triads of triads, though with the effect of displacement, creates a growing sense of unfulfilment.
The work recorded on the CD, Missa de Maria a Magdala for soprano, baritone, mixed choir and orchestra invites the listener to meditation. Missa is written in a tonal language with colouring of polytonality and modality (fanfares, then the choir in the Introitus). Characteristic for the whole Mass, in the choral layer the composer avoids complicated, shocking rhythms. The Gloria is responsorial singing, and the Credo through the delicate removal of colour, brings the works of Steve Reich to mind. Generally the orchestration is restrained, highlighted by several interventions from the soloists. In many ways, the work could be assigned to modern English music, for example, composers such as Nicolas Jackson and David Briggs. The Communio finally reveals the ineffable beauty of the Mass. The simplicity of the structures of alternating sections, delicate, painful, quiet, softly lit ...
The interpretation of the musicians under the direction of Jan Borowski convinces that the new CD by Paweł Łukaszewski, Musica Sacra 3, is an essential recording.
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