Krauze, Zygmunt (1938- )
Trio (7:57) 1959 Publisher: PWM (c2015)
I.
II.
III.
IV.
Instrumentation: oboe, clarinet, bassoon
Written by Krauze while a student, probably inspired by music of Ligeti, this piece is a great example of breaking away from the classical form. However it still uses the traditional form of notation while experimenting with new musical structure and symmetry of rhythm and line. It is written in four contrasting movements: fast, slow, quasi minuet and fast. It is notated with different time signatures throughout and with limited pitch material. It is highly repetitive, rigid and strict. The composer notates dynamics that tend to control the piece, the interpretation, and the performance. Movement I is a fast movement in mixed, aligned meter. The piece starts with an exposition in 2/4, next measure is in 3/4, following in 4/4, 5/4, 6/4, 5/4, 4/4, 3/4, 2/4 and so on until it changes in development. Following development it comes back to the beginning idea. The very orderly treatment of the musical material is also present in movement II. This movement is through-composed with a repeated melodic line in the clarinet which is then transposed to other instruments. As much as this movement is a cannon, it doesn’t sound like one. Movement III uses the idea of modules. Each module is separated from the other by silence. Each module is symmetrical, and has one middle measure that is not changed by the structure’s symmetry. Thus the pitches are not inverted. Movement IV is built of three identical parts played each time faster. Each part is 33 measures long and symmetry is abandoned here for the repetition.
The simplicity of the musical material is deceiving, and the piece needs advanced performers who have well established internal rhythm, especially in movement III. The third movement is the hardest movement to play. It might have been designed on the piano where it is very easy to connect single notes between the hands. This task is very hard to do on the woodwind instruments when each instrument plays a single note of the continuous line. Especially at the tempo that the composer expects – quarter note equals 132. The dynamics are also challenging at this tempo. The movement is notated without slurs, but the first recording by the Cracow Reed Trio, is performed with slurs. This is something to think about.
Grade: IV
Recordings: Szalowski, Spisak, Palester, Lutosławski, Tansman, Krauze, Krakowskie Trio Stroikowe (Cracow Reed Trio), Lebel: DUX 0493, 2005
Sheet music source: pwm.com.pl
Zygmunt Krauze
Born in Warsaw on September 19, 1938.
He is a composer, pianist, performer, educator and organizer of new music events. He studied piano and composition at the PWSM (Fryderyk Chopin Music University) in Warsaw and graduated in 1964. His composition teachers were Tadeusz Szeligowski and Kazimierz Sikorski. Since 1963 he has performed as a pianist, presenting his own compositions. In 1966 he received the French Government scholarship to study with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. In 1967, he founded the instrumental quartet named “Warsztaty Muzyczne” (Music Workshop) with which he premiered about 100 pieces (of different composers) over the subsequent 20 years.
From 1970-81 he served on the repertoire jury of the Warsaw Autumn International Festival of Contemporary Music. In 1973, for one year, he was an artist in residence at the Deutscher Akedmischer Austauschdienst. Between 1982-88 Krauze lived in Paris where for one year in 1982 he was invited by Pierre Boulez to be a musical advisor at IRCAM. In 1983 he initiated a cycle of Polish 20th century music concerts at the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris. The following year, he founded the Serocki International Composition Competition. During this time he also hosted weekly music programs at Radio France Musique.
The Polish musical community honored Krauza with numerous awards: an award of the Polish Composers’ Union in 1998, an award from Ministry of Polish Culture and in 1989 and 2005, and a “Gloria Artist” golden medal. In the early 1990s, he organized two festivals – Masters of 20th century Music, and World Music Days. From 2003-2006 Krauze served as the president of Witold Lutoslawski Society. For sixteen years, he was the artistic director of the Music Gardens Foundation, the organization, which brings a Music Garden Festival to the Royal Castle in Warsaw.