Sebastian Szymanski - Music Geography

Sebastian Szymanski, born and raised in Warsaw, Poland from the year of 1982, has been composing music from the age of 10. He's never had professional tuition in music, but plans to in the near future.

Krakow

Szymanski's music has a strong bearing in religious themes. His pieces are instrumental, but often feature choral movements. Usually featuring in some part of each track, Piano is also a prominent part of his creations.

The music of Sebastian Szymanski is listed on his myspace page as visual; this is very fitting due to the above mentioned biblical symbolism, which gives the pieces a true sense of worth. This invaluableness is felt by the listener as an almost comprehensible structure; it feels as if the music really is saying something to you, the listener. Special tracks which pull away from the classical roots of Szymanski are Metropolis, which is a duo of Piano with Horn, and Song for Her -- a delicate composition on Piano.

Sebastian Szymanski's music is like the town he grew up in; it bears many stories, often sad; it is somewhat grave, but underlying all this is a profound beauty, that silently links itself to its listener.

Sebastian Szymański - Maria ("Passio Domini Nostri Jesu Christi") from Sebastian Szymański on Vimeo.


Click this link to listen to him on his myspace page.

 

Music Geography - Michał Jacaszek

Today on Music Geography we will explore the musical mind of another Polish genius, Michał Jacaszek

Jacaszek, born and brought up in 1972 Poland, began his creative career writing for short poems, later releasing a two disc CD in 1998, he has become most recognized for his more recent releases Treny and Pentral which are both wonderful. Although Treny is the easier listening experience, Pentral will leave you more moved as you progress through it. The main point to note is how each of his records have been recorded in such interesting ways; in church halls; from field recordings; and from various other sources. Have a look at this short documentary bellow, which though you may not understand due to it being in Polish, still is a lovely view of the production process Jacaszek has gone through to get his music to this high standard:

Jacaszek - PENTRAL-the sound of the interior from Michal Jacaszek on Vimeo.

It comes with little question that music affects mind states, as do all things in life; Jacaszek jumps on this fact, often pushing his music through differing moods of unrest, and then suddenly releasing the tension to near silence or atmospheres. Especially inTreny  can often be felt a sense of dread in its building anticipation.

The heart is kept in rhythm with the music's flow, and you start to feel something more grand with every fraction of a second that passes. You fear a sound's arrival, not knowing if the moment will ever come.

Watch this stunning video to hear what Jacaszek sounds like:

There are no others there is only us from Michal Jacaszek on Vimeo.

This track is taken from Treny:



click these two links to buy his releases on amazon:

Treny (download)

 Treny (audio cd)



heres a link to his oficial site

If you have any Polish artists you wish to recommend Music Geography, please do, and keep tuned.

Contemporary music from Poland

Music Geography begins with one of the finest contemporary Polish artists Zbigniew Preisner

A picture of the Zbigniew from enyxynematryx.wordpress.com

Zbigniew Preisner is a modern artist from Poland born in 1955 in the southern Polish city, Bielsko-Biała. He has written many various scores for Polish film director Krzysztof Kieślowski; because of the complementary moods they offer the films, the scores have brought the Polish musician much acclaim which has spread out of films and into solitary albums. The success has come not from a man formally trained in some private music school, but has come from a young boy with a keen ear for the musical effect. This boy practised and imitated other pieces which he was fond of; Now he's a man, and his music is of its own.

A view of the beautiful scenary of Bielsko-Biała that might have influenced Preisner.

A description of his compositions entails many grand ideas such as beautiful inter-weaved choral parts, drawn out organ sections, and both moody and gripping orchestrations. Zbigniew Preisner's music enters and leaves ideas in the most natural of manners. Good variety keeps the listener from boredom's grips yet the music turns back to basic premises often enough to keep each piece a whole.

If ever you wanted to get a good impression of the vast architecture of modern Poland, Zbigniew Preisner's music is as accurate as any picture; it towers at times far beyond the clouds, yet doesn't lack detail as such a great edifice.

You can find his work on the Amazon link bellow. Of his works, I would recommend Requiem for my friend and his most popular work for Three Colors Trilogy (Blue / White / Red)

Here are links to some of his releases: Bleu: Bande Originale Du Film

Requiem For My Friend - Preisner / Rewakowicz, Kasprzyk, Sinfonia Varsovia, et al

Watch this hauntingly touching video:



Stay tuned for Music Geography articles about artists from around the continent!

And click here: leaving Music Geography to reach his official site.

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Music Geography; an introduction to music of the continent!

Welcome to Music Geograpy! This is a blog for anyone looking for interesting music from anywhere around the world. It will be regularly updated, and will have continent specific information about different countries' traditional music and contemporary scenes. To begin with, Music Geography will focus on informing about the Slavic countries; First will be the music of Poland.

I hope everyone who reads this enjoys the information. Please feel free to comment on how I can improve Music Geography, and also if you have any music from around the continent that I should write about. Enjoy!!