Discoveries

The debut album of the Polish Cello Quartet. Four young virtuosos have one goal: to put the cello quartet on a par with other chamber ensembles rooted in tradition and established on concert platforms. The album delights with its intimate sound.

Year of release: 2017

Publishers: National Forum of Music, CD Accord

Performers: Polish Cello Quartet

Polish Cello Quartet is an ensemble founded in 2011 by graduates of music universities in Łódź and Katowice, who continued their studies, among others in Brussels, Cologne and Mannheim. The only ensemble of this kind in Poland and one of few of this class in Europe. Since 2014, PCQ has been a resident ensemble of the National Forum of Music in Wrocław. They give regular guest performances at Wrocław festivals: Wratislavia Cantans, Musica Electronica Nova and Jazztopad; International Kamermuziekfestival Schiermonnikoog in the Netherlands; Music Masters on Air (MusMA), a common platform for European festivals representing new directions in contemporary music; Q’arto Mondi Chamber Music Festival in Poznań.

The four young virtuosos have one goal: to put the cello quartet on a par with other chamber ensembles rooted in tradition and established on concert platforms. To achieve this goal, they follow several paths, adhering to the principle of building their repertoire of works originally written for cello quartet – by composers familiar with the specificity of the instrument, its technical and expressive possibilities, and, above all, with its “oratorical” potential in chamber music partnership.

Sometimes they play the role of tireless researchers, searching libraries, archives and catalogues of publishing houses in quest for known compositions for cello quartet, which, thanks to their enthusiasm, have been and will be performed for the first time on Polish stages. Equipped with knowledge about the music of past decades and centuries, they are even more expert in expanding their repertoire by adding contemporary pieces, usually dedicated to them, by outstanding Polish and international artists, sensitive and open to the suggestions of the performers. They have cooperated with outstanding classical musicians: with Dominik Połoński and Canadian cellist Gary Hoffman – and prominent jazzmen, to mention Tony Malaby and Nate Wooley. They pass on their experiences to younger enthusiasts: they are the originators and organisers of the International Cello Academy in Nysa, aimed at popularizing playing in cello chamber ensembles among pupils and undergraduates of conservatories. The Polish Cello Quartet is an ensemble of real explorers who are willing and able to share their discoveries. Their first album – pioneering in every respect on the Polish recording market – contains the fruit of their discoveries from the past.

Dorota Kozińska

Awards: Nomination for Emocje 2017 of Radio Wrocław Kultura