[inspic=93,left,,0] ‘STRING QUARTET NO.I’ 1. Moderato Magnifico 2. Vasto Quieto 3. Presto con fuoco performed by Ian Watson, Alan John, Mary Ward and Christoff Johannes FourieThis is my first piece for string quartet. I started to write this quartet in 2007, but finally finished it a few weeks ago. It is in an adapted ‘small’ concerto form (fugato and cadenzas in 1^st movement, impressionistic slow 2^nd movement and ‘furious’ finale in 3^rd movement). The atmosphere created by the music should pay tribute to some of the great string quartet writing done before me. For me, this starts with Haydn and Mozart and ends with Shostakovich and Bartok. Special thanks to Ian, Alan, Mery and Christoff. I am privileged as a composer to have such good instrumentalists/musicicians at my desposal.click here to listen

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’Awake’ (for electric guitar and laptop: Kaiser Looper and Guitar Rig2) performed by Marek Pasieczny and Bede Williams/New Zealand. Each year, over 21,000,000 people receive general anaesthesia. The vast majority go to sleep peacefully. They remember nothing. 3,000 of these patients are not so fortunate. They find themselves unable to sleep, trapped in the phenomenon of “Anaesthesia Awareness”. These victims are completely paralyzed and cannot scream for help. This is the story of one of them… I started playing and practicing the electric guitar just a few weeks ago. This is my first composition ever and first public performance for this instrument. It was a big challenge, and fun to compose this piece. Special thanks to Tom Stern and Bede Williams. click HERE to listen

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‘SIX FOLK MELODIES’ (version for trio – guitar, violin and cello): performed by Marek Pasieczny, Laura Sergeant and Paul Livingston.

1. 'A tam kolo mlyna rosnie jarzebina’/’Up there near the mill rowan grows’ 2. 'Pod zielono miedzo ptaszki owis jedzo’/’On the green boundary strip birds eat oats’ 3. 'Na suchej topoli ptaszek glowke zwiesil’/’On the dry poplar a bird sat down’ 4. 'A tam w polu przy drodze rosli jagody’/’ In the field grew berries’ 5. 'Oj lolysz mi si kolysz kolibejko lipowa’/’Oh swing swing linden cradle’ 6. Polka 'Wsciekla’/’The Furious Polka’ This work was originally written for trio (guitar, violin and cello). Each movement is short and easy technically but very effective due to a great deal of internal energy built into a small framework. They are similar in concept to Witold Lutoslawski’s “5 Folk Melodies for string orchestra”, based on Polish traditional folk melodies. But these folk melodies originate from my home town, a place in Poland called ‘Zamojszczyzna’. No one has ever used them before. I also arranged this work for guitar and violin duo and premiered it with my duo partner violinist Ian Watson in Lutoslawski’s Hall in Warsaw (Poland) this month. This set of melodies will be published by the Canadian publishing house Les Productions D’Oz.

Thuersday 13 March/1pm/RSAMD Glasgow, UK „String Festival”

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more about Robert Irvine here

Sonata (solo cello) dedicated to Robert Irvine click here to listen

1. Moderato, molto espressivo
2. Doloroso, tranquillo moltissimo
3. Ardente vivace con accentuado

I have been fortunate on many occasions to receive commissions from particular musicians, institutions or festivals. This has resulted in many successful premiers by the musicians the pieces were commissioned by. My cello Sonata was not a commission. In 2005, only few days after I came to Scotland, I heard Robert Irvin’s performance on Lunchtime Concert series. I immediately felt Robert’s strong musical personality, I always admire performers who take a score and add a level of authorship. I was inspired to write a piece for solo cello and few months after asked Robert if he would be willing to give the premier. The piece is in an adapted sonata form, the atmosphere being a tribute to the lineage of great virtuoso solo cello sonatas. For me this starts with Bach and ends with Hindemith and Kodaly. I have also included eastern Polish folk music

Monday 28 January/1pm/RSAMD Glasgow,UK

Sonata “Eastern” (for viola and piano)

• Pastoso con vaghezza, moderato molto ritmico
• Dogliosamente con grandezza
• Con slancio, moltissimo brillante

Jiri Kabat – viola and Graeme McNaught – piano

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I started to write this piece in July 2006 and finished in December 2007. The piece is based on main themes from my previous Sonata for cello solo, which I wrote for Robert Irvine in the beginning of 2006. Music, which appears in 'this’ moment, always in one indissoluble manner unites with spirit present of that moment. For me music is just 'specific recording of time.’ The subtitle of this work is ‘Eastern’ and originates from a personal dialogue throughout 2005/2006 in which I became interested in Polish history between the two world wars. Between the wars two cultures, Jewish and Polish, collided. Many very outstanding musicians and artists from the Middle East came and settled in Poland. This had a huge influence on almost all aspects of cultural life in Poland, including music.
I decided to write a piece in this very specific style, bridging these two large traditions.This sonata is for two soloists in that both parts contribute equally to the whole. It is the first time I have included piano in one of my compositions. Commissioned and dedicated to one of the best viola players in his generation- Czech musician Jiri Kabat.

Polish Composer Writes Williams Tribute

Thursday, 22 November 2007

Polish composer Marek Pasieczny was recently commissioned by one of the LSO players (who worked with John Williams in the Superman and Star Wars recordings) to write a Clarinet Concerto. Pasieczny, who describes the work as a kind of John Williams Tribute, will premiere the concerto in Spring 2008 in Glasgow (Scotland). Marek Pasieczny’s „Tribute to John T. Williams for Solo Clarinet” has been published by PWM.

Pasieczny on Williams’s webpage