Classical energy

Since the 1920s, a way of composing known as neoclassicism has been clearly marked in the history of European music. Drawing on the traditions of past eras and at the same time remaining open to novelties, he stood in opposition to both the unbridled expression of the romantic attitude and the inaccessibility characteristic of the avant-garde. During an intimate concert, the works of artists working in this trend will be presented by four Silesian-related performers: oboist Justyna Stanek, violinist Bartłomiej Fraś, cellist Julianna Vinci and pianist Monika Kruk.

The activities of Grażyna Bacewicz are often combined with neoclassicism. Formal clarity, dramaturgic readability and belief in the autonomy of music, which are crucial to her, fit perfectly into this current. After the Second World War, however, the composer began the stage of searching for new means of expression. This prompted British musicologist Adrian Thomas to compare her artistic approach to the chameleon at the time. The sonatina for oboe and piano, which we will listen to, was written quite late — in 1955. Despite this, however, it bears a clear feature of neoclassical patterns. Zoltán Kodálya and the Polish woman, in addition to similar aesthetic attitudes to a certain extent, also share the weight of the experiences gained in their youth during their stay in Paris. The artist from Łódź studied there with the legendary Nadia Boulanger, and when she arrived in the French capital in 1907, she was delighted with the work of Claude Debussy. After returning to his homeland, Kodály focused on chamber music. In 1914 he composed his expressive and melodic Duo for violin and cello, Op. 7.

The sonata for oboe and piano was written by the French neoclassical Francis Poulenc shortly before his death. Released in 1962, the work turned out to be his last. He dedicated them to the memory of Sergei Prokofiev. It was this dedication, as well as the foreboding of the impending end, that must have influenced the mournful nature of the piece. It begins with the Elegy, and after the introductory revival of the Scherz comes the time for a somber lament. In Czech culture, Bohuslav Martinů was the leading artist with a neoclassical orientation. He remained an emigrant almost all his life: in 1923 he went to study in Paris, which he left only during the Second World War. He then went to the United States. The Quartet for oboe, violin, cello and piano was created there in 1947. This brilliant, light-hearted composition may have served the author as a form of rest from larger forms.