This week the LA Phil is giving their first performance of Grażyna Bacewicz's 1948 Concerto for String Orchestra, her most frequently performed work, under the baton of Paavo Järvi. I had the pleasure of researching Concerto for String Orchestra and writing the program note for the LA Phil, which you can read here.
For those who are unfamiliar with the Concerto for String Orchestra I've included a recording above of Ruth Reinhardt conducting the Frankfurt Radio Symphony. It's a Covid-era recording, and the spacing between the players isn't ideal for this work, but the playing is beautiful. Bacewicz (1909–1969) was an accomplished violinist as well as a composer. Many of you may know that my background is as a violist, and you can imagine why this work appeals to me.
I give my thoughts about the composition and Bacewicz's compositional voice in the program note itself. For those interested in more about her work, I've found some resources that I'd love to share.
To Read
I reference it in the note, and want to reiterate that Diana Ambache's 2022 book Grazyna Bacewicz, The ‘First Lady of Polish Music’ is a must for people who want to get to know Bacewicz and her music. To quote my LA Phil program note briefly, and illustrate the relevance of Bacewicz in today's musical culture:
"Her career as a composer coincided with the post-World War II era, during which Poland was effectively governed by Joseph Stalin, and Bacewicz had to contend with Soviet censors. In Grazyna Bacewicz, The ‘First Lady of Polish Music’, author Diana Ambache writes, “There was a particularly oppressive period under Stalin’s control (1948–53) with the diktats of socialist realism, when the creative process was compromised by state censorship.” Despite the cultural confines, her career flourished."
To Browse
This website is dedicated to Grażyna Bacewicz and covers her work, the timeline of her life, her personality, and contains an extensive bibliography. I've found it especially useful when digging into more obscure works. Speaking of, if you don't know her 1959 radio opera The Adventure of King Arthur you're in for a real treat.
To Study
I'm currently pursuing my Doctorate in Composition at the University of Southern California (USC) and for those who don't know – USC has a Polish Music Center complete with a library, an archive, a manuscript collection (including many Bacewicz manuscripts), a calendar of events, and a newsletter.
In my own compositional life, this spring is big. If you're in LA or NYC I have two premieres to put on your radar:
LA February 28 7:30 PM: USC Thornton Symphony premieres my orchestral work Einmal ist keinmal on their annual New Music for Orchestra concert. Conducted by chair of the composition department Prof. Donald Crockett, Einmal ist keinmal is programmed alongside works by fellow Thornton composers David Hernandez, Namratha Kasalanati, Kai Kubota-Enright, Bakhari S. Nokuri, and Estevan Olmos. Free admission.
NYC March 20-22: Experiments in Opera presents the premiere of my hour-long solo opera for vocalizing cellist Aaron Wolff – The INcomplete Cosmicomics at The Tank on a double bill of SOLOperas alongside Jason Cady's This Is Not About Natalie. (more on this soon but tickets are available now and start at $18)
