Andrzej Krzanowski: Relief IX (‘Scottish’): Cordes (Ensemble)

Despite the rich palette of colours and articulation, Relief IX is a static work, and its slowed narrative creates the impression of being stretched out over time, thereby leading the listener into an unreal, unfamiliar world. This composition has often been described as a surrealistic and contemplative work. As Andrzej Chłopecki wrote: ‘[Relief IX] directs its expression towards sur-real realms, departing from the composer’s previous strategies’. This work was written to commission for the Polish Realities festival in Glasgow (hence its nickname: Relief IX (‘Scottish’). The tape component was recorded in collaboration with David MacKenzie of Glasgow University’s Electronic Music Studio. That is also where the work was first performed, by the Paragon Ensemble and BEAST group under the direction of David Davies, on 19 November 1988. The first Polish presentation of Relief IX was given by the Silesian Quartet on 16 September 1989 during the 32nd ‘Warsaw Autumn’ International Festival of Contemporary Music. Relief IX was dedicated to Józef Patkowski, who founded Polish Radio’s Experimental Studio, and to the ‘Warsaw Autumn’ festival. Grażyna Krzanowska translated by John Comber