TEXT BOOKLET
EWELINA NOWICKA - COMPOSER/VIOLINIST
Musik for Violin and Piano (Kreuzberg Records) http://www.ewelinanowicka.com
Assessing a young composer or classifying them within a specific musical genre is no easy task. Eras such as the Baroque, Classical, or Romantic periods, although well-defined, belong to the past and not the present. Young composers nowadays are developing their own unique styles. They may express themselves in various ways within a single work and their pieces are often described as eclectic.
Listening to this recording, one thing becomes clear regarding Ewelina Nowicka and her pieces: We are dealing with not only a virtuoso violinist, but also a virtuosic composer. Nowicka and the pianists bring these passionateworks to life with equally passionate performances. Nowicka engages the listener by inviting them into her personal life and arousing their emotions. Her music is frequently inspired by her own family history, which has a rich heritage closely tied to Jewish culture, and also the characteristics of experimental contemporary music, which can be found in just about all her works. Let us take a closer look at her compositions.Obsession – a violin concerto in three movements. Written in 1999, this was Nowicka’s first composition for orchestra. The piece was first written for violin, xylophone and chamber orchestra. Later, in 2010, it was transcribed for violin and piano. The composer’s interests and rhythmic aspects are conveyed particularly well in this piece and became a seed for later compositional developments.
Atonali – for solo violin was inspired by Schumann’s Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood). This work evolves and contains both old and new violin playing techniques, requiring great virtuosity from the soloist.
Kaddish 1944 – A letter from Nowicka’s aunt served as the inspiration for this piece. The letter describes her aunt’s life in the Lodz ghetto and goes on to describe her journey on a cattle train to Auschwitz. It was during this journey where she became separated from her mother on the ramp. The melody appears at the very beginning of the piece and can be likened to a fragile and delicate small plant. The melody then goes through many developments rather than flourish, but gets its chance to do so at the end. This is how the impressions, influences, and musical structure are linked together.
Concerto Ebraico – Nowicka’s second violin concerto, for which she received an award for in 2008, from the Bremen Composers Competition in Germany. Many musical elements come together in this piece and it consists of three parts entitled Sabbat, Katharsis, and Purim. It contains an energetic, lively dialogue between the piano and violin, and reminds the listener of late Romantic and folk elements from the early 20th century. Furthermore, it combines technical savvy with emotional depth, thereby engaging the audience right from the beginning to the very end.
Conventus – for solo piano, is similar to creating a sculpture. The listener should imagine scraps flying through the air, as a musical space is created by carving out a low, middle, and high register on a piano. This imagery is achieved through modern playing techniques such as clusters and faint minimalistic characteristics. Natural and spatial elements are further emphasized by sustaining high tones through the pedals. This emotional, expressive, powerful work is full of imagination.
Saltatio Mortis – was originally for violin, harpsichord, and chamber orchestra. This recording features the violin and piano transcription. This danse macabre is distinctive because of its atonal elements and especially for its ostinato pattern.
Strawinskana – is a solo violin work. The composer quotes 20th century music and reveals her influences, such as pieces by Igor Stravinsky in particular, a master of rhythm. There is a clear reference to Stravinsky’s violin concerto within the first two measures. Nowicka uses this as a point of departure in order to create her own ideas, leading to an expressive, rhythmically structured composition.
“You have to play from the heart” is a well known quote from C.P.E. Bach. A parallel can be drawn from these words: Ewelina Nowicka is a musician who plays and composes from her heart.
© Frans Waltmans
English translation: Norom Bou
