Joachim Mendelson; Grażyna Bacewicz - Chamber Works (Silesian String Quartet)

Information

Composer: Joachim Mendelson; Grażyna Bacewicz

• Mendelson - String Quartet No. 1
• Mendelson - Quintet for Violin, Viola, Cello, Piano and Oboe
• Bacewicz - String Quartet (Youthful work)
• Bacewicz - Quatuor (à cordes)

Silesian String Quartet

    Szymon Krzeszowiec, violin

    Arkadiusz Kubica, violin

    Łukasz Syrnicki, viola

    Piotr Janosik, cello

Karolina Stalmachowska, oboe

Piotr Sałajczyk, piano

Date: 2023

Label: Chandos

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Review

One of Poland’s greatest 20th-century composers, Grażyna Bacewicz, is paired here with one of its many forgotten ones, Joachim (sometimes known as Leon) Mendelson. Both were active in 1930s Warsaw’s musical life, and both spent time studying in Paris at the beginning of that decade. Bacewicz (1909-69) survived the war and composed prolifically; one generation older, Mendelson (1892-1943) was murdered by the Gestapo in the Warsaw Ghetto. Just five of his works survived at the Parisian publishing house of Max Eschig, including the two heard on this new release.

Mendelson’s First String Quartet was published in 1938 and is thought to have been composed in the early 1930s. It wears its late Romanticism lightly, with tenderness framed by dancelike rhythms. But the Quintet of 1939 for violin, viola, cello, oboe and piano is more striking – and the highlight of this recording. The oboe and piano add piquancy, and Mendelson packs a lot of attractive ideas (the work leans more towards neoclassicism) into its compact 13 minutes. Together with the pianist Piotr Sałajczyk and oboe player Karolina Stalmachowska, the Silesians (minus their second violinist) give a spirited performance.

Neither of the two Bacewicz quartets – a youthful piece written around 1930 and a late score from circa 1965 – were included by the composer in her catalogue of works. Although the liner notes make a strong case for them, they are hardly top-drawer Bacewicz; nevertheless, the Silesians make them still worth hearing.

— John Allison

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Joachim Mendelson was a Polish Jewish composer whose life and career were largely erased by the Nazi destruction of Warsaw in 1944. Born sometime between 1890 and 1897, he studied music in Warsaw and Berlin before joining the Association des Jeunes Musiciens Polonais in Paris, where several of his works were performed and published. He later returned to Warsaw, teaching and conducting despite increasing Nazi persecution. Mendelson was killed in 1943 by the Gestapo during the Warsaw Uprising. Only five of his compositions survive, revealing a distinctive synthesis of French and Viennese musical influences.

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Grażyna Bacewicz (5 February 1909 – 17 January 1969) was a Polish composer and violinist of Lithuanian origin. Educated in Łódź, Warsaw and Paris, she studied composition with Kazimierz Sikorski and Nadia Boulanger and violin with prominent teachers including Carl Flesch. She achieved early recognition as a performer and later devoted herself primarily to composition and teaching. Bacewicz produced a substantial body of neoclassical music, with particular emphasis on violin and string repertoire, including seven violin concertos and seven string quartets. Her works received numerous international and national awards.

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The Silesian String Quartet, founded in 1978 by graduates of the Karol Szymanowski Academy in Katowice, is an ensemble renowned for championing Polish contemporary music. After studying with members of leading international quartets, the group gained recognition through competition prizes and performances during Poland's cultural liberalization in the 1980s. It has since developed an active international career, performing at major venues and collaborating with prominent musicians. The quartet has recorded extensively, particularly works by Polish composers including Górecki, Bacewicz, Penderecki and Weinberg.

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