The variety of styles, forms, and colours has fascinated and inspired Polish composers for many years. From Baroque to contemporary music, in the time of the First Polish Republic, during the partitions, and during the most tragic 20th century. It was Chopin that made Polish music famous in the world. However, there are still many other composers who are very interesting and deserve to be remembered and sometimes even discovered. Polish composers created music regardless of unfavourable circumstances, and in their music we find, above all, the Polish spirit that tied them to their country forever, even when it was impossible to find it on maps, but nevertheless it existed in the inalienable identity. It was that output and those biographies that inspired the creation of the International Competition of Polish Music, whose first edition was held in 2019; therefore, it is one of the youngest performance competitions in Poland.
Its programme differs from the one of typical performance competitions, as it consists solely of music by Polish composers. Moreover, the emphasis is on the quest for new repertoire, constantly rediscovered by researchers, but also by the performers themselves. One could ask whether such a competition makes sense. Similar questions arose when the Chopin Competition was founded less than 100 years ago. Very few people believed in the success of Jerzy Żurawlew’s initiative. 26 pianists came to the first Chopin Competition in 1927. Later, the list of participants grew steadily to reach over 500 in 2021. We are convinced that the International Competition of Polish Music will follow the same path. It was Poles that dominated the second edition of the event that ended in 2021, but – despite 6 the pandemic turmoil – there were also guests from far away. Among the pianists, the first two places were taken by foreigners, i.e. American Canadian pianist Carter Johnson and Ivan Shemchuk from Ukraine. A Pole – Michał Karol Szymanowski – won the third place.
The above proves the importance of the Competition, which attracts interesting and ambitious artists from different countries. The presented album is a selection of particularly interesting artistic creations. The first CD features excerpts from the performances of the winners of the first three prizes in both categories (piano and chamber music), while the second includes the interpretations awarded with special prizes and honourable mentions. Thus, an extraordinary panorama of Polish music emerges, from Karol Mikuli to Witold Lutosławski, which allows us to show the paths of Polish 19thand 20th-century music in an unconventional way. Our album features recording premieres of works by Henryk Pachulski and Miłosz Magin, but also charming piano Waltzes by Stanisław Moniuszko, a fragment of an exotic suite by Leopold Godowsky, impressive compositions for two pianos by Roman Maciejewski, or Grażyna Bacewicz’s Piano Sonata No. 2, full of virtuoso splendour.
We present you with an album that is a great exploratory adventure; it will satisfy every experienced seeker of new artistic discoveries. It includes works by as many as 20 composers active over the course of over 100 years. Thus, we close the second chapter of the International Competition of Polish Music and launch the next one, which will be completed in 2023. It is already now that we invite you to this extraordinary meeting with outstanding performers and wonderful output of Polish composers.
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