WIND ON A POLISH NOTE

The Cracow Golden Quintet has been operating for more than 10 years and has been successful in many competitions. The potential of the classical wind quintet is truly enormous, the combination of woodwind instruments: flute, oboe, clarinet and bassoon with the horn (in the classical wind quintet the only instrument of the brass family) can surprise. On the one hand, great power of sound, on the other hand, subtlety. The program presenting the stylistically diverse work of Polish composers of the 20th century gives an opportunity to get to know the ensemble better. To begin with, the music of Witold Lutosławski. The Cycle of Folk Melodies was created for piano in 1945 and is an extremely neat piece, but far from what we stereotypically consider “contemporary music” — it is a sign of the times, but also a proof of the composer's mastery, who elaborated Polish folk melodies in a sophisticated way. It is also worth listening to compositions written immediately with the wind quintet in mind — Antoni Szalowski, Romuald Twardowski, Józef Świdr and Wojciech Łukaszewski. Composers — each one differently — extract different qualities and characteristics from the combination of five instruments, directing our attention to individual instruments and their virtuoso capabilities, and at other times blending different timbres into one.

Concert co-organized by the National Institute of Music and Dance as part of the program “Stage of Polish Music”, financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage

photo: Igor Andruch