• Duration: 15'
• Instrumentation: 322(+ cl.b)2(+cfb)-4331-batt(4-6esec) 2fsm org-archi (16.14.10.8.8 a 5 corde)
• Year: 2004
• Type: parts, score

''Into the Earth'' is not a typical work for solo instrument and orchestra. Although - in selected passages - the organ plays a leading role, often determining the tone and timbre, its part, on the whole, co-creates with the orchestra the total complex sound result. The mutual intermingling, sometimes almost a fusion of the parts for orchestra and organ, indicates the overriding idea of the whole: the desire to obtain intense, homogenous and clear timbres. The two accordions, present in the orchestra, are the instrumental binding element combining the above-mentioned two worlds of the timbre (it is possible to use four accordions tuned in two pairs). This is one of the unusual solutions I used in this music. It is a one-movement composition resembling a long, gently strung bow. Despite the fact that in the course of the work there appear single violent changes and gestures, the whole, as a rule, develops gently from almost indiscernible noises through a gradual expansion of volume, a condensation of the texture and an extension of the dynamics to achieve a drawn out climax of some force, after which a reverse process follows: the music slowly dissolves in time and space bringing a complete decay of the sound. The characteristic feature of the musical language of ''Into the Earth'' is the focusing on timbre and sound. In addition to typically sonoristic, albeit subtle-sounding devices (clusters, noises, squeaks) it is also possible to find contrapuntal and polymetric structures operating at ''many speeds'' in the work as well as a peculiar kind of melody ''leaving traces'' (the effect of a blurred ''picture''). Drawing on experience gained from my recent creative work, I attempted to build many temporal planes which, coexisting, sometimes form apparent chaos and, as a result of transformations, change their shape and sense. The general principle of the ordering in time of the melody and harmony is fluctuation and, at times, ambiguous change, this being the reason this music is perceived not in the form of clearly and specifically drawn elements but rather as a colourful patch of rounded shape, devoid of sharp contours and emitting a kind of glimmer instead. The composition originated as an independent entity, so it is not my intention to reveal fully the personal inspiration accompanying the creative process. On the other hand, the mysteriously-sounding title of the work [''Wziemięwzięcie'' - a neologism in Polish] induced me to furnish ''Into the Earth'' with a poetic quotation which serves as a motto. Thus after reading the poem the listener may find in the work the idea of fathoming the essence of human nature and a human being, or getting an insight into one's own ego. The interpretation may also take on a different tone or colour, but it will always be connected with the relationship between man (men) and earth (Earth). The real inspiration, underlying the composition, should - in my opinion - remain private, lest it obscure the purely musical essence of this music. [Wojciech Widłak]