Musica concertante (Witold Szalonek)
The work was commissioned by the American double bass player Bertram Turetzky and was dedicated by the composer “to the memory of my nephew Jacek who died tragically in 1976”. It is based on the “full twelve-tone sound material, structured precisely in accordance with the principle described by the composer as selective dodecaphony” (Magdalena Dziadek).
Carl Humphries, author of the entry about the composer in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, talking about such works as Mała Symfonia B-A-C-H or the under-appreciated Musica concertante per violobasso e orchestra, refers to the “synthesis between newly discovered modal (colouristic) intensity of the chromatic melodic material and the sonoristic approach to sound colour, and to the concept of form as a fluid and dynamic organism, the rhythm of which imparts hypnotic intensity to the music”. In her turn, Magdalena Dziadek describes Musica concertante as a work that is “monumental, full of content which is often autobiographical, no longer communicated through a single gesture, but through powerful sound series with penetrating impact of expression”.
The first performance of the work took place on 20 September 1977 during the Warsaw Autumn festival. The solo part was performed by Bertram Turetzky accompanied by the Symphony Orchestra of the National Philharmonic conducted by Wojciech Michniewski.
(work commentary quoted after PWM Edition)
