Thank You to Our Volunteers

neoclassical form. Without sacrificing her own strong sense of individual style, Bacewicz embraces the lateRomantic tradition with its gloriously lyrical themes and its inclusion of elements of folk songs and dances. The passion implicit in this work is evident throughout the piece. The commanding musical language which Bacewicz used for the quintet reflects the work’s classical form. In this complex work, Bacewicz’s technical skills and her utilization of the range of the instruments’ sonorities are evident. She tried to avoid classification of her style, even though it is largely neo-classical. She also attempted to appease the censors, who were always on the lookout to root out “formalistic” music after World War II, by following the recommended integration of Polish folk elements into her music.

Bacewicz begins the impassioned first movement Moderato molto espressivo, in sonata form framed by a haunting introduction and ending with a coda. The movement is spirited and sometimes even playful, with a forward drive. The outer parts express pathos, which intermittently explodes with dramatic exclamations. The principal idea of the main body, Allegro, is expressed by the unison strings whose brilliance and virtuosity articulate the fragment-like figures, which reappear in each movement of the work. A controlled line in the unison strings serves as a background for the more driving energetic piano motif, as the music wavers between extroverted and introspective power. The piano motif returns for the second subject, heard first in the viola against a piano line of arpeggios. The central section is a rhapsodic development of earlier ideas, while the coda brings back the terse introduction in a varied guise. Magnificent contrasts are highlighted throughout.

A second movement, Presto, a high-spirited vigorous scherzo-like movement with a fast tempo, is based on the stylized Polish round dance, the oberek, a dance that Bacewicz was particularly fond of and used in several of her other works. The oberek follows an ABA pattern as the piano sounds a declamatory statement and the strings answer with good spirits. As danced, the oberek includes short, quick steps (faster steps than the waltz) accents, lifts, and jumps. Here it appears with its characteristic syncopation and the persistent ostinato.

The slow movement, Grave, begins with a heavy, elegiac, wistful introduction. This movement is lyrical in a neo-Romantic expressionistic kind of way. The heart of the quintet features what sounds like a funeral march. Uniform chorale sounds from the strings and oscillating semi-tonal chords in the piano may have roots in Polish hymnody. As the piano texture increasingly thickens, the music builds to a passionate climax, after which the opening material returns as the funeral march sounds slowly fade.

The finale, Con passione, is, like the first movement, written in sonata form. Infused with the sounds of folk music, it is full of nervous energy. This movement’s life-affirming exhilarating music introduces the main theme fugally. Lyrical and introspective sections contrast with fast, energetic ones. The original string unison and a version of the initial piano motif from the first movement are reintroduced. The piece ends with a flourish, Grandioso.