Haiku N°3 - MARCEL CHYRZYŃSKI (Poland)
Haiku No. 3 for flute solo, written by Marcel Chyrzyński with a dedication to Natalia Jarząbek, draws on the original Japanese form. The manner of performance of the work’s various individual fragments and the mood created by the composer are clearly defined. For this reason, little room is left for the performer to make a personal emotional interpretation, as the music itself arouses a wide range of emotions in the listener. The composer conjures up contrasting images on the basis of the idea of the unending phrase and a constant search for the harmonic tonic, thereby underscoring the incessant flow of time.
Such a concept can be conveyed by the performer solely by using the technique of circular breathing, and it allows for disruptions of any kind to be avoided. Individual phrases, separated from one another by a meaningful silence, eventually find resolution in the harmonic tensions. The composer’s reflection is contained in the last fragment of the piece. It consists of an unending sequence of sextuplets which gains in pace, moving through various keys and harmonies, to finally arrive at the note D, which seems to be, like before, a resolution of the harmonic tension.
The composer does not end his idea at this point however, but adds one more arpeggiated chord that creates the impression of a question mark, of something unresolved, a symbol perhaps of man’s inability to predict the future on the basis of analyzing surrounding reality and the inexorable passing of time
ABOUT THE COMPOSER
Marcel CHYRZYŃSKI (*1971), obtained his Master’s degree (with distinction) from the Academy of Music in Krakow in 1995, where he studied composition with Marek Stachowski, orchestration with Krzysztof Penderecki and computer music with Marek Chołoniewski. He also studied with such Fulbright scholars from the United States as Richard Boulanger, Cindy McTee, and Rodney Oaks. He has gained valuable experience and training under the guidance of Paul Patterson, Sylvano Bussotti, Claude Lefebvre, Joji Yuasa, Bogusław Schaeffer, Lidia Zielińska and Hanna Kulenty. In 1998, he gained a doctorate in composition from his alma mater, and in 2010, a post-doctoral degree in musical arts.
He has been a member of faculty of the Music Academy in Krakow since 1994. In 2010, he received the title of Professor and four years later was appointed the director of the Institute of Composition, Conducting and Music Theory. He has worked as a visiting professor in Mexico (Universidad National Autónoma de Mexico in Mexico City), South Africa (University of Pretoria, University of Cape Town, University of the Wit- watersrand in Johannesburg), South Korea (Yeungnam University in Daegu, Inje University in Gimhae), Slovakia (Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava) and the United States (University of Southern California in Los Angeles, New York Conservatory of Music), as well as at the Takefu International Composition Workshop in Japan. His works have been performed in most European countries as well as in Georgia, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Japan, South Korea, USA, Canada, Mexico and Brazil.
His compositions have been published by PWM Edition and Edition Ferrimontana-Frankfurt, and have been released on 14 compact disc by DUX, PWM-DUX, ZPR Records, Acte Préalable, The Institute of Art, Polish Radio, Phasma- Music and Academy of Music in Krakow. Several of his works have been performed on Polish television and on Polish, Dutch, German, Finnish, Estonian and Australian radio stations.
