Paweł Łukaszewski: String Quartet No. 1: Quatuor à Cordes

The Strahcona String Quartet from Edmonton gave the first North-American performance of the ''String Quartet'' by a young composer Paweł Lukaszewski. It was undoubtedly a great event of the festival. Not only the sensational, passionate interpretation but, what is more important, the music itself made an immense impression. The New York composers present at the concert shook their heads with disbelief- ''How is it possible for someone so young to write such a fresh and original piece?'' What distinguishes Łukaszewski's ''Quartet'' from many works by other composers of his generation, and not only from them, is its author's ability to write lively and energetic music, with its syncopes and polyrhytmics creating a new and unique style. This style has nothing in common with pseudotonal, trivial games or banal sound effects. (Scott Godin , Ruch Muzyczny No 2, 26th January, 1997)