Zdzisław Piernik, tuba

Strona A / Side A
1. Krzysztof Penderecki -Capriccio per tuba/ Scherzo a la Polacca 4'40"
2. Marian Borkowski -Vox per uno strumento ad ottone 5'40"
3. Andrzei Krzanowski-Sonata na tube solo /Sonata for Solo Tuba 14'05"

Strona B / Side B
1. Andrzej Dobrowolski -Muzyka na tube solo / Music for Solo Tuba 12'05"
2. Witold Szalonek-Piernikiana per tuba sola 12'05"

Zdzisław Piernik, born in Torun in 1942, is the first and so far the only Polish virtuoso tuba-player. The tuba is the biggest and at the same time the least mobile of the brass instruments. While the most conspicuous in the orchestra, it has been until recently, from the musical point of view, one of the most concealed instruments and only rarely made use of. It was only in the 19th century that Richard Wagner and Anton Bruckner assigned a more significant role to the tuba (or strictly speaking to it Wagnerian variety), then in the second half of the 20th century it emancipated itself to become a solo instrument. In Poland this emancipation has been mainly due to Zdzisław Piemik who, after having completed his studies at the State Higher School of Music in Warsaw under Juliusz Pietrachowicz and having won a prize at the National Festival of Young Musicians in Gdansk in 1970, embarked on a career of tubist-soloist. Before long he hat a string of successes both at home and abroad, among them at festivals and summer courses at Bayreuth, Witten, Darmstadt, Bourges, Stockholm, and Los Angeles. He has been giving concerts in the United Kingdom, Austria, Belgium, France, Holland, Japan, Mexico, FRG, and the United States. He also appeared many times at the festival of contemporary music the "Warsaw Autumn" at which he would. mostly perform pieces written especially for him. The list of composers who have dedicated their works to Zdzislaw Piernik amounts to a dozen: Benno Amman, Zbigniew Bargielski, Andrzej Bieian, Marian Borkowski, Andrzej Dobrowolski, Roman Haubenstock-Ramati, Wojciech Kilar, Krzysztof Knittel, Andrzej Krzanawski, Krzysztof Penderecki, Boguslaw Schaeffer, ELibieta Sikora, Witold Szalonek. Five of such pieces have
been recorded on this disc.

Capriccio per tuba by Krzysztof Penderecki was written in 1980 and was performed for the first time the same year at the "Warsaw Autumn". Although it is subtitled "scherzo alla polacca" Zdzisław Piernik does not play it at the tempo of a polonaise. He probably does not do so because the composition played at a slower tempo would lose its jocular character suggested by the subtitle. The Capriccio has been written in the traditional idiom apart from a sole fragment in which Penderecki uses the highest and the lowest of the sounds that can be extracted from the tuba. This is a short, one-movement piece easy to listen to but by no means easy for the performing tuba-player.

Vox -per uno strumento ad attone (which means: "for a brass instrument") by Marian Borkowski, written in 1977, is a composition designed for any brass wind instrument. Its graphical score, written not on note paper but the graph one, makes it possible to play it at any register. Also the pitch of particular sounds has not been indicated by the composer, so that soloist is free to choose it. The varying texture of Marian Borkowski's piece, in which the composer makes use of all possible kinds of sound and articulation (staccato, legato, tremolando, asciUando, moUo vibrato, fruUato, etc.) enables the soloists to demonstrate their skill.

The Sonata for tuba solo by Andrzej Krzanowski was written in 1978. Contrary to its title, suggesting a four-movement form, this is a one-movement piece made up of two contrasting themes, the very quick and very slow one, both subjected to only slight transformations. Like Penderecki in the aforementioned composition, Andrzej Krzanawski too sticks in his Sonata for tuba solo to the traditional idiom.. Because of this and the very simple structure of the themes it a piece very easy to listen to and at the same time very attractive owing to two qualities it combines, the virtuoso one (first theme) and the expressive one (the lyrical second theme).

The Music for tuba solo by Andrzej Dobrowolski was written in 1973. The composition consists of three movements, of which the outer ones are played on the "classical" bass tuba and the middle movement on the prepared tuba. By contrast to Penderecki and Krzanawski, the idiom Andrzej Dobrowolski uses in his piece is completely modern. He tries to achieve by means of it all sorts of sound effects, such as snoring, growling, whistling, twittering, squealing, sometimes so high-pitched that one can hardly believe they have been extracted from a bass instrument of this sort.

The Piernikiana by Witold Szalonek, written in 1977, suggests its dedication in the very title. Szalonek specjalizes in the search for new sound possibilities of wind instruments, both wood and brass. J!:ach piece he writes for them inspires him with new ideas and these in turn require of the performer to study thoroughly all the c,omposer's explanations and signs. Moreover, having been given a high degree of freedOm in the interpretation of the piece the soloist becomes co-responsible for the ultimate artistic effect. Among the nu.merous problems to be solved, while playing this extremely complicated composition, there is also the composer's wish for the tubist, at one place, to sing on his instrument... Piernikiana is the most difficult piece among those recorded on this disc and can therefore give a very good idea of the extraordinary range of virtuosity Zdzislaw Piemik has at his command. -- Tadeusz Kaczynski