Joachim Mendelson, Grażyna Bacewicz: Chamber Works Silesian String Quartet, Karolina Stalmachowska, Piotr Salajczyk

• Joachim Mendelson (1897 - 1943): String Quartet No. 1:
• 1 Mendelson: String Quartet No. 1: I. Moderato con spirito (44.1 kHz) 05:45
• 2 Mendelson: String Quartet No. 1: II. Largo (44.1 kHz) 06:41
• 3 Mendelson: String Quartet No. 1: III. Allegro con brio molto vivace (44.1 kHz) 03:55
• Quintet:
• 4 Mendelson: Quintet: I. Allegro (44.1 kHz) 04:56
• 5 Mendelson: Quintet: II. Molto lento espressivo (44.1 kHz) 03:31
• 6 Mendelson: Quintet: III. Allegro con brio (44.1 kHz) 05:00
• Grażyna Bacewicz (1909 - 1969): String Quartet (Youthful work):
• 7 Bacewicz: String Quartet (Youthful work): I. Allegro Moderato 03:22
• 8 Bacewicz: String Quartet (Youthful work): II. Molto adagio 01:37
• 9 Bacewicz: String Quartet (Youthful work): III. Fuga 02:54
• Quatuor (à cordes):
• 10 Bacewicz: Quatuor (à cordes): I. Allegro 05:21
• 11 Bacewicz: Quatuor (à cordes): II. Grave 04:29
• 12 Bacewicz: Quatuor (à cordes): III. Capriccioso 03:30
• 13 Bacewicz: Quatuor (à cordes): IV. Maestoso 04:52
• Total Runtime 55:53

Info for Joachim Mendelson, Grażyna Bacewicz: Chamber Works

The award-winning Silesian quartet present a new album featuring two composers from Warsaw – Joachim Mendelson and Grażnya Bacewicz. After completing his music studies in Warsaw and Berlin, Joachim Mendelson moved to Paris in 1929, where he joined the Association des Jeunes Musiciens Polonais, a society founded in 1926 to facilitate the study, publication, and promotion of the works of young Polish composers. Bacewicz also received support from the Association, and from Paderewski, and studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger. The associations’ aims included re-establishing a national musical life at the highest level back in Poland (after more than a century of joint occupation by Russia, Prussia, and Austria), and both composers returned to Warsaw and worked there until 1939. Mendelson taught at the Institute of Music, and Bacewicz became leader of the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra and continued her career and a composer and soloist. Mendelson was imprisoned in the Warsaw ghetto until 1943 when he was murdered by the Gestapo. Five of his works survive, thanks to the French publisher Max Eschig, including the quartet and quintet recorded here. Both Bacewicz works on this recording were rejected by the composer, and never included in her catalogue of works. It is extremely lucky that the manuscripts have survived, preserved at the National Library in Warsaw. Half a century after her death the Royal String Quartet prepared performing scores and gave the first performances.

Silesian String Quartet
Karolina Stalmachowska, oboe
Piotr Salajczyk, piano

The Silesian String Quartet
is one of the leading chamber ensembles in Poland. In its earliest years it honed its craft under the tutelage of members of such quartets as LaSalle, Amadeus, Juilliard, Smetana, and Alban Berg.

Today, the Silesian String Quartet enjoys international renown, performing on concert stages in the majority of European countries as well as in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Japan, China and South Korea. It has appeared in such prestigious venues as the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Konzerthaus in Vienna, De Singel in Antwerp, Schauspielhaus in Berlin, Tivoli in Copenhagen, Salle Pleyel in Paris, Carnegie Hall in New York, Jordan Hall in Boston, Hoam Art Hall in Seoul, and Bellas Artes in Mexico City. The ensemble’s repertoire draws on the masterpieces of the chamber music canon, with a strong focus on the works of contemporary composers.

The chamber musicians of Silesia boast a very rich discography. They have recorded music from many eras, with special emphasis on Polish music from the last three decades. Their recordings can be found on over 50 albums released on such labels as Chandos, ECM, EMI Poland, Olympia, CD Accord, and Radio Katowice. Six of them have been singled out for Fryderyk Awards of the Polish Phonographic Industry in the category of Best Chamber Music Album. Since 1993, the ensemble had organised the International Chamber Music Festival Silesian String Quartet and Guests, which in its past 25 editions has welcomed several dozen outstanding artists from Poland and abroad.

The Silesian String Quartet has also been the recipient of numerous prizes and distinctions, among the most important of which are the Gold Cross of Merit (1999), the Orpheus Award for the best performance of a piece by a Polish composer during the Warsaw Autumn Festival (2002), the Honorary Gold Badge for Services to the Silesia Province (2005), and the Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis (2008).

Booklet for Joachim Mendelson, Grażyna Bacewicz: Chamber Works