Commencement
for Harpsichord
Commencement was composed in Vienna in January 1982 short after the imposition martial law in Poland. The music expresses dramatic circumstances connected with it and feelings of powerless anger towards the political regime. The piece is like a scream for help, which never arrives. Commencemnt is based on one short rhythmical melodic motive, continuously repeated and transformed. At the beginning the motive is presented in high register and than gradually goes lower and lower until the end of the piece. Commencement has a very homogenous musical form, similar to early unistic works without contrasts.
