[seen 18/03/15]
The above video describes far more eloquently the second performance I saw on Wednesday night than I’m going to be able to. Further to the above video, there were also fast ones. As Polish musician Marcin Masecki explained: the Polonaise is Poland’s national dance form – much as we might associate the waltz with Austro-Hungary, for example. But more so. Marcin went on to observe that no one in Poland is actually *doing* anything with the form any more, however, so he formed the ten-piece band Polonezy to change all that. “Polonaise is a French word.” he concluded, with no small amount of le ironie.
And modern the thing is, the programme copy suggests Chopin played by Thelonius Monk accompanied by a self-ironic [sic] swinging military band. I’d have gone with one of those big bands that get used in Tarantino films playing a version of Shostakovich rewritten by serialists, there are bits of everything from John Adams or Philip Glass back to those early 20th century innovators like Bartok or Schnitke, while their relation to this dance form is kinda like that of those famous Glenn Gould jazz recordings of Bach.
But, yeah, I’m hardly a music critic, so maybe just Google around and enjoy.
The above video describes far more eloquently the second performance I saw on Wednesday night than I’m going to be able to. Further to the above video, there were also fast ones. As Polish musician Marcin Masecki explained: the Polonaise is Poland’s national dance form – much as we might associate the waltz with Austro-Hungary, for example. But more so. Marcin went on to observe that no one in Poland is actually *doing* anything with the form any more, however, so he formed the ten-piece band Polonezy to change all that. “Polonaise is a French word.” he concluded, with no small amount of le ironie.
And modern the thing is, the programme copy suggests Chopin played by Thelonius Monk accompanied by a self-ironic [sic] swinging military band. I’d have gone with one of those big bands that get used in Tarantino films playing a version of Shostakovich rewritten by serialists, there are bits of everything from John Adams or Philip Glass back to those early 20th century innovators like Bartok or Schnitke, while their relation to this dance form is kinda like that of those famous Glenn Gould jazz recordings of Bach.
But, yeah, I’m hardly a music critic, so maybe just Google around and enjoy.
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