At the Source

The Karol Szymanowski Quartet concert features a diverse selection of Polish chamber music, spanning from the Renaissance to the 21st century. The dramatic core of the program is formed by four arrangements of works by Wacław of Szamotuły. These short polyphonic chorales, arranged for string quartet by Włodzimierz Sołtysik, offer simplicity and calm textures that contrast with contemporary works, while also setting the rhythm of the evening, like meditative reference points between more expressive forms.

Krzysztof Penderecki’s String Quartet No. 4, composed in 2016, lasts just nine minutes. It consists of a series of short segments with varying characters-from harmonics to pizzicato and unison. Though it no longer employs the avant-garde techniques of the 1960s, it maintains tension through irregular rhythms, contrasting articulations, and a sparse yet expressive texture.

In contrast, Andrzej Panufnik’s String Quartet No. 3 Paper-Cuts (1990) is inspired by traditional folk visual art. Each of its five movements has a clearly defined rhythm and a repetitive structure, much like a geometric pattern. Panufnik uses limited means to significant effect: the quartet is full of contrasts while maintaining formal clarity.

Aleksander Tansman’s String Quartet No. 4 from 1935 is an example of French neoclassicism in a Polish context. The three-part form moves from a slow, slightly rubato introduction through a lyrical, symmetrical middle section to a fast-paced finale built on rhythmic motifs.

The concert concludes with Karol Szymanowski’s Nocturne and Tarantella Op. 28, arranged by Myroslav Skoryk for string quartet. The original version for violin and piano was composed in 1915, during a time when Szymanowski was experimenting with a new musical language. The Nocturne unfolds slowly with an ornamented melodic line and rich harmony. The Tarantella contrasts this with rhythmic precision and violin virtuosity. In the quartet version, these tensions remain-redistributed across the ensemble.

It is a concert built on contrasts-not only of styles and eras, but also of form and function. Between the chorale and the tarantella, repetition and improvisation, the 16th and 21st centuries reveal a common path.

Penderecki's String Quartet No. 4 performed by the Silesian Quartet: