Spring has sprung (as it annually does) and this time around it also brought a shower of fine gifts to the Polish Music Center. There was much excitement around the PMC’s Spring Concert at the end of March, mainly because of the long-delayed world premiere of Mojave—an atmospherically beguiling and deeply musically satisfying work for clarinet, cello, percussion and piano by Marcel Chyrzyński. The composer travelled from Poland for this momentous occasion that came at the end of a concert at USC’s Alfred Newman Recital Hall.
During his extended visit at the PMC that followed, Maestro Chyrzyński donated several of his scores to our library. Besides the aforementioned Mojave, the composer also gave us the published scores of his Haiku No. 3 for flute solo, the Adagio—Krzysztof Penderecki in Memoriam for string orchestra, as well as his Symphony No. 1—Un livre sur l’homme for symphony orchestra. He very graciously autographed each of the works with a dedication to the Polish Music Center.
Having thus augmented our score library, Marcel Chyrzyński also contributed two CD albums to our sound library. The first CD, Vol. 4 in the series highlighting Krakowska Szkoła Kompozytorska [Kraków Composers’ School] features works by Zbigniew Bujarski, Jakub Ciupiński, Magdalena Długosz, Mendi Mengiqi, Krystyna Moszumańska-Nazar, Marek Stachowski, Wojciech Widłak, Anna Zawadzka-Gołosz, as well as Chyrzyński’s own Reflection No. 4. The second CD, Vol. 5, features Chyrzyński’s Ukiyo-e No. 3, as well as music by Zbigniew Bujarski and Marek Stachowski.
Finally, mindful of the PMC’s extraordinary collection of Paderewski-related materials, Chyrzyński added to it by presenting us with a commemorative Polish Bank note, celebrating Ignacy Jan Paderewski. Released in 2019, this non-circulating and rare note in 19 PLN denomination also celebrates the centenary of Narodowy Bank Polski that was founded in January of 1919 during Paderewski’s tenure as Prime Minister of the newly independent Poland. More information on this issue can be found here: www.coinworld.com/news/paper-money/polish-national-bank-issues-19-zloty-commemorative-note
As always, many thanks—Dziękujemy!