North Waves is the latest album showcasing the richness and diversity of the Gdańsk school of composition. This time, the focus is on chamber music by nine composers, with a special emphasis on works featuring the viola. The album is produced by the Stanisław Moniuszko Academy of Music in Gdańsk and released by the American label Odradek Records (ODRCD 472). The world premiere is scheduled for July 18, 2025.
The recording includes compositions by seven faculty members of the Academy – Kamil Cieślik, Marek Czerniewicz, Tadeusz Dixa, Andrzej Dziadek, Piotr Jędrzejczyk, Krzysztof Olczak, and Anna Rocławska-Musiałczyk – along with two doctoral students, Adam Diesner and Hubert Gabriel Żmudzki.
Performers of the nine featured works include Academy professors and accomplished musicians: tenor Ryszard Minkiewicz (Rector of the Academy), pianists Maciej Gański, Piotr Nowicki, Izabela Paszkiewicz, and Małgorzata Walentynowicz, accordionist Paweł Zagańczyk, flutist Rafał Jędrzejewski, violinists Andrzej Kacprzak (Vice-Rector for Artistic Affairs) and Paweł Kukliński, violist Krzysztof Komendarek-Tymendorf, cellist Jakub Grzelachowski, percussionist Paweł Nowicki, as well as the composers themselves – Krzysztof Olczak (tape) and Piotr Jędrzejczyk (loopers and electronics).
Five of the works are dedicated to their performers, highlighting a personal connection between the composers and interpreters.
The album opens with Two Halves, a lyrical poem for piano and two performers by Marek Czerniewicz, composed in 2017 at the request of pianist Izabela Paszkiewicz. Originally written for piano, flute, double bass, and bells, it now features piano, bells, viola, and flute in the composer’s new arrangement.
The next two compositions, by Tadeusz Dixa and Andrzej Dziadek, represent different approaches to musical dialogue with the past. Dixa’s Impression for percussion and piano was written for the Nowicki duo – Paweł and Piotr Nowicki – who premiered it at the 52nd Poznań Music Spring Festival.
Impromptu for viola and piano by Dziadek, composed in 2016, is dedicated to Komendarek-Tymendorf and Gański.
Kamil Cieślik’s String Quartet No. 1 (2015) stands out for its expressive contrasts and clear formal structure.
Anna Rocławska-Musiałczyk’s lullaby for another time (2022) for viola and piano, dedicated to Komendarek-Tymendorf, is based on subtly evolving repetitions of musical material.
Rondo alla Cassubia for solo viola by Adam Diesner, also dedicated to Komendarek-Tymendorf, premiered on June 7, 2023, at the International Viola Congress at Mahidol University College of Music in Thailand.
Piotr Jędrzejczyk’s Fantasy and Canon. Duet for flute, sound speaker, accordion, loopers, and electronics (2020) was commissioned by flutist Yun Yang and premiered by her and Zagańczyk at the concert “Spring Colors of Sound” in the “New Music in the Old Town Hall” series in Gdańsk.
In Veste sub altera (2024) for solo viola, Hubert Gabriel Żmudzki draws inspiration from Beata viscera by Perotinus. The Latin title is taken from this medieval hymn, and the piece is also dedicated to Komendarek-Tymendorf.
The album closes with North Waves (2024), a work by Krzysztof Olczak for tenor, viola, accordion, hi-hat, and tape. For the first time in his career, Olczak sets a poem by Zbigniew Herbert to music, assigning the verses to the tenor. The composition, which lends its title to the entire project, is dedicated to Ryszard Minkiewicz.
The album will be available on physical CD through music retailers such as Empik, via the Academy's publishing house (https://wydawnictwo.amuz.gda.pl), and on streaming platforms including Spotify, YouTube, Deezer, and iTunes.
Honorary Patronage: His Magnificence Prof. Ryszard Minkiewicz, Rector of the Stanisław Moniuszko Academy of Music in Gdańsk.
Patronage: Gdańsk Branch of the Polish Composers’ Union.
Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC
