◾ Genesis ◾
This composition was first developed in 2011 at the request of Polish guitarist Oskar Kozłowski, who gave me free choice as to the subject, length, and form of the piece. I started working on this composition at the same time as another triptych, entitled Lutosławski: In Memoriam (commissioned from the USA). Lutosławski: In Memoriam was, soon after completion, premiered in the USA, then in Europe and Asia. However, (szopen) re:membering was never premiered, recorded or released. It lay forgotten for over 12 years... At the beginning of 2022, I decided to revisit the piece and revise it. This is version for two guitars (2023).
◾ Title ◾
From the very beginning of writing this composition, it was not my intention in any way to copy the language of Chopin himself. Even more so, the use of any quotations from his music was unacceptable to me.
I very consciously wanted to refer to my personal 'feeling' of Chopin's music. A very subjective, intimate perception of Chopin's compositional language, the atmosphere and the world that Chopin creates through his music - the world that I personally, intimately hear. In other words, it is my 're:membering' of Chopin (hence the title).
◾ Tuning ◾
For me, Chopin’s music is in dark, grey tones (full of sharps and flats). Therefore, before starting to write this triptych, I decided to build a new tonal world through a very unusual guitar tuning (3rd string g is g#, 6th E is low C#)
◾ Form ◾
I chose the triptych as the form of the composition. Three independent miniatures. Miniatures inspired by forms which Chopin himself fell in love with and led to compositional virtuosity: nocturne, prelude and mazurka. In my case, it is more of a reminiscence of these specific musical forms than their conscious, deliberate use (and here again it’s my emotional 're:membering' of a given form, rather than its academic, intellectual 'fulfilment').
The triptych opens with no:cturne – a dark, intimate, and contemplative part. Structurally it is extremely simple: a single, "winding" melody through the ever-changing harmony. Rubato (such an important element in Chopin's world) here is written into the notation through precise calculation (an ever-changing time-signature that breaks the natural ostinato pulse), thus giving an impression of rubato.
The centre of the triptych is pre:lude. It is the heart of the whole composition. The ostinato ‘be’ note (constantly repeating like a heartbeat) is present in every bar, incessant, providing an anchor that grounds the more harmonic moments that ’fly’ higher and higher. It is a truly pianistic structure. Unlike the adjacent parts - there is no obvious melody here. The most important aspect is the vertical harmony.
Later on, patches of harmony are blurred within the arpeggio technique, brushed with natural harmonics. The second half of pre:lude culminates in an explosion of dynamics, harmony and emotions. It is not only the culmination of pre:lude, but also of the entire triptych.
The cycle ends with ma:zurka (obertas), in the typical form of A-B-A1 with coda. A melody is very consciously built on the chromatic scale. It is a melody that returns over and over again that seems to spin (obertas). It is also for me personally 're:membering Chopin'. The melodic line proceeds very naturally into scale-arpeggios: down – up – down – up etc (another pianistic idiom). The middle section, which is typically calmer and slower in pace, seems to recall the no:cturne (natural harmonics from the opening). The whole ma:zurka, and also the whole triptych cycle ends with a coda (reminiscent of the harmonics in the middle section), closing with a pure octave in the bass (another piano idiom).
Dodecaphonic Prelude and Fugue came spontaneously into being in July ‘20 towards the end of the global lockdown brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a compositional challenge I posed for myself to create a piece based entirely on mathematical structures shaped by the twelve-tone technique (also known as ‘dodecaphony’). It is a technique which I have not used in over 15 years.
For me, dodecaphony, being totally free of the gravity of a tonal language, is at once liberating but with an element of ‘soullessness’ to it. One loses the sense of a ‘tonic’ base and the harmonic and melodic gravitation it holds. Yet – using a familiar and ‘tonal’ form of the prelude and fugue, the human ear can find (or perhaps wants to find) the base, the tonic and familiar tonal triads to gravitate towards. The experience has been truly liberating and, at the same time, surprising for me.
The piece is based strictly on a planned structure (the written-out structure is attached to the main score) and was written simultaneously in two versions: for solo piano and solo guitar. This is the third version for two guitars.
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