Brand new version of my SIX FOLK MELODIES : suite for Clarinet in B flat & Guitar, based on Polish folk melodies, has just been premiered by phenomenal duo: Vojin Kocic (guitar) & Matthias Müller (clarinet).
Premiere took place last Sunday during the 87th Musikwoche Braunwald in Braunwald, Switzerland.
Fantastic acoustic – baritone guitar, a true work of art, one of a kind instrument made by one of the best guitar makers: Philip Woodfield and his son, Oliver.
Revised and completed version of (SZOPEN) RE:MEMBERING III for piano solo just flying to Canada to the brilliant Carl Petersson, to be among a few solo piano pieces he will soon record.
Edition Type: PDF (ready-to-print) full score + guitar parts & composer’s program notes | Publishers: SLE London Catalogue Number: SLE086 | Date Published: 09 June, 2023 | published in the UK
order your copy now contacting us directly via ✉️: slepayment@gmail.com
Edition Type: PDF (ready-to-print) full score + guitar parts & composer’s program notes | Publishers: SLE London Catalogue Number: SLE087 | Date Published: 10 June, 2023 | published in the UK
order your copy now contacting us directly via ✉️: slepayment@gmail.com
My LE PARNASSE SILESIENNE – in Memory of Sylvius Leopold Weiss: suite of baroque dances for Solo 13-course Baroque Lute has been recently recorded by Polish lute player Anna Wiktoria Swoboda
Standing ovation after sold-out concert in Poland during the 39th edition of Music Festival ’Muzyczne Święta Kwitnących Azalii’ at Moszna Castle / w Mateusz Kowalski. The program included Polish premiere of EX NIHILO (NIHIL FIT) in original version for two guitars.
Together with outstanding Mateusz Kowalski, we will premiere: (SZOPEN) RE:MEMBERING II and DODECAPHONIC PRELUDE AND FUGUE III, both brand new versions for two guitars. We will also give Polish premiere of my EX NIHILO (NIHIL FIT) II for Two Guitars and Large Guitar Ensemble w/ the students of the Chopin University, conducted by Ryszard Bałauszko.
THE ELEMENTS II: Triple Concerto – version for Two Guitars, Cello and Guitar Octet has been premiered! w/ incredible: Gen Li (cello), Mark Ashford (guitar) and Guitar Octet (eight amazing RBC students) under conductor Mark Eden, at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire
I’ve been lucky over many years now, to make music with extraordinary people, however this is one of a kind, once in a lifetime project. This summer I’m going to compose and record music with living legend, composer I admire very much: Carlo DOMENICONI. I will compose together with Carlo large multi-movement piece for two guitars.
The very first rehearsal and masterclass at the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. Premiering THE ELEMENTS: Triple Concerto – version for Two Guitars, Cello and Guitar Octet with fantastic Gen Li (cello), Mark Ashford (guitar) and eight students under conductor Mark Eden.
EX NIHILO (NIHIL FIT) II officially premiered! w/ Aniello Desiderio & Zoran Dukic (soloists), Thomas Offermann (conductor) and brilliant student’s ensemble from Hochschule für Musik und Theater Rostock during Berlin International Guitar Academy & Festival
Giving master-classes, lecture and premier of EX NIHILO II during this year’s XI Berlin International Guitar Academy & Festival w/ Thomas Offermann, Edin Karamazov, Pavel Steidl, Zoran Dukic, Aniello Desiderio and more!
THE ELEMENTS: Triple Concerto for Guitar, Cello, Percussion and Guitar Orchestra and SUSURRUS VI for Guitar and Percussion has been premiered! w/ Thomas Burritt (percussion), Bion Tsang (cello) and Joe Williams (conductor). commissioned by Austin Classical Guitar, performed at the Aisd Performing Arts Center, Austin, TX (pictures by Jack Kloecker)
final rehearsals of THE ELEMENTS: Triple Concerto for Guitar, Cello, Percussion and Guitar Orchestra w/ amazing soloists: Thomas Burritt (percussion) Bion Tsang (cello), conducted by Joe Williams. Commissioned by Austin Classical Guitar, premieres: 18th of February at Aisd Performing Arts Center, Austin, TX
rehearsing Triple Concerto: THE ELEMENTS, for Guitar, Cello, Percussion and Guitar Orchestra w/ Thomas Burritt and Bion Tsang. Commissioned by Austin Classical Guitar, will be premiered this Saturday, 18th of February at AISD Performing Arts Center, Austin, TX
What an incredible 6h long recording session! I’ve been blessed to record over 60 min of my music with phenomenal musician and wonderful person: Thomas Burritt. New album followed by full videos soon!
EX NIHILO (NIHIL FIT) 2: for Two Soloists and Large Guitar Ensemble (extended version) now on all major platforms! w/ Pia Gazarek Offermann, Thomas Offermann and 15 amazing guitarists in Rostock, Germany // sound engineer Carsten Storm / editor: Shushan Ghazaryan
Edition Type: paper-book, full score: solo guitar & composer’s program notes (12 pages) | Publishers: SLE London Catalogue Number: SLE081 | Date Published: 20 December 2022 | printed in the UK
order your copy now contacting us directly via ✉️: slepayment@gmail.com
Performed three full SOLO & DUO (as a part of my Austin Classical Guitar residency) concerts this weekend with the brilliant Bion Tsang on cello. We had standing ovation, amazing audiences and lots of fun!
First day of my residency for Austin Classical Guitar 2022-23 🇺🇸 read-through of my five main themes to the February’s première with Joe Williams , ACG’s Artistic Director and the main conductor, Travis Marcum, ACG’s Education Director and 60+ truly passionate young guitarists!
Untitled (Black & Blood Orange) is inspired and based on Pei-Shen Qian’s painting in the style of Mark Rothko. About the piece (original composer’s notes):
What is art? When does art become art and when does it stop? Does art become art only when someone tells us that it is so, and not before?
We live in a society where the price tag, the reputation of a ‘highly renowned’ gallery, and so-called ‘art experts’ tell us what is true art and what is not. In turn, they are telling us what we should like and what we shouldn’t. But that’s not all. Under special circumstances, the same art experts may find something 'beautiful’, 'one of a kind’, 'brilliant’ and worth millions of dollars one day – and the next day completely worthless and unworthy of attention.
Genesis
Untitled (Black and Blood Orange) is inspired and based on Pei-Shen Qian’s painting in the style of Mark Rothko. The title is mine and is inspired by the original titles which Rothko would give to his own paintings.
When I first saw this painting, I knew it was not Rothko’s original painting. I knew that it was not a literal copy of an already created painting, but Pei-Shen Qian’s inspiration from the technique, language and visual world that Rothko created, that later on Pei-Shen studied for many years and at the end perfected.
For me, this painting was simply beautiful and extremely inspiring. Proportions, space, abstraction, tone, climate, colours, dynamics, inconspicuousness, warmth, atmosphere… In literally the same moment I saw the painting, a very clear vision of presenting the painting through music came to me. This happens extremely rarely. It’s not simply inspiration (as even that comes rarely) but more like a revelation, certainty.
Post-Impressionism vs Contemporary Art
Everyone’s perception is different. Especially when it comes to art. And even more so when it comes to contemporary art. For me, Pei-Shen Qian’s painting in the style of Mark Rothko speaks more in the hues and style of impressionism than in the rather (very often, but not always) cold, industrial style of contemporary art.
Above all, this Image is warm to me. The main background in desert warm yellow, with warm (even hot) blood orange and warm black (which permeates the purple background) is for me extremely impressionistic, friendly, and therefore tonal. Refined harmonically, but still tonal. Not abstract, not atonal. Therefore, the first element that I 'heard’ in this composition was the atmosphere and harmonic language of post-impressionism.
Tuning &Polytonality
The picture, its structure and atmosphere, as well as the elements it contains, directly correspond with the music. Since the painting itself is abstract, I knew I had to break with the typical sound, idiom of the classical guitar and find a completely different sound world. Hence, I used a very unusual tuning that I’ve never worked with or written in (4th string down to c sharp). But that’s not all…
In the picture, two almost symmetrical elements can be directly distinguished – two squares. One in a shade of black (top) and the other in a shade of blood orange (bottom). It also had a very tangible effect on my choice of tuning that I mentioned before. The black square represents the first three strings: minor chord (e min), while the blood orange square represents the three bass strings: major chord (A maj). This polytonality (polyharmony) relationship also occurs throughout the entire work (hence my decision to score using two staves).
The arpeggio
So far timbre (colour) has been used as a reference to tonality. Tuning (but also vertical chord blocks / harmony) has been used to refer to the two main squares from the painting. The last visual and undoubtedly important element of the picture are the square’s edges (lines). The boundaries between the background and the 'main characters of the picture’: the two squares.The boundaries (these lines) are very irregular, jagged and dynamic. That is why I decided to present them in the form of an arpeggio in a very irregular time signature. Single notes in the form of arpeggios overlap to create harmonies and chords. A very torn, irregular meter brings energy and vibrance to the piece.
My intention to some extent was to create a bridge between the two fine arts – visual and musical.For me it is definitely a representation, an extension, of visual art in music. Those two fine arts which complement each other, in this very case: literally one was created from the other.
I hope this composition will inspire potential performers and listeners. I will show the element of harmony in music as a world of shades and colours.This piece was commissioned by and is dedicated to great physicist, guitar-fan and friend of mine – Tomasz Polak.
Edition Type: full score: solo guitar & composer’s program notes (9 pages) | Publishers: SLE London Catalogue Number: SLE080 | Date Published: 23 October 2022 get your copy now
contacting us directly writing ✉️: slepayment@gmail.com
I’m truly excited to officially announce my residency for Austin Classical Guitar’s 2022-23 Artist-in-Residence (Austin, Texas, USA).
I will be composing, performing and collaborating with fantastic musicians, conductors and students over several months. Soloists include the fantastic Bion Tsang (cello) and Thomas Burritt (percussion) and I’ll be working closely with Joe Williams , ACG’s Artistic Director who will be conducting a giant orchestra of over 70 guitarists from Texas, and Travis Marcum, ACG’s Education Director!
I would like to thank Maestro Brouwer and all the honorable jury. Congratulations to all other composers from 32 different countries taking part in this competition. Thank you.
Marek Pasieczny / Leo Brouwer | Portugal International Guitar Composition Competition / Seixal 2022