Mark Nowakowski
Naxos American Classics 8.559821

Emily Ondradek-Peterson (violin) (3)
Voxare String Quartet (1-2, 4, 5)
Rec. 2-4 february 2013
Dekelboum Concert Hall, University of Maryland, Maryland, USA
9 June 2017
55:35
The people of Poland have lived through often impossible conditions over the last three centuries, and this album is Polish-American composer Mark Nowakowski’s tribute to their spirit of survival.
“Songs of Forgiveness” is both a meditation on anger and grief and a lamentation on the stark realities of a society riven by tragedy.
“Blood, Forgotten” is a multimedia memorial for the victims of Nazi and Soviet aggression during World War II, the electronic soundtrack using sounds from an instrument that survived one of the concentration camps.
Partly written as a memorial for Henryk Gorecki, “Grandfather Songs” also includes the surreal element of a recording of Nowakorski’s family singing the war song “Hej Ulani.”
These deeply moving works are a highly personal tribute to the spirit of the people of Poland.
 
Streichquartett Nr. 1 "Songs of Forgiveness" (2010) 20:14
1. I. Unmoved movement 10:51
2. II. ...So soon to leave 9:23
3. Blood, Forgotten für Violine solo und Elektronik (2005) 11:32
4. Streichquartett Nr. 2 "Grandfather Songs" (In memoriam Henryk Górecki) (2011) 19:35
5. A Usnijze mi, usnij (Lullaby: O sleep for me, sleep) (2012) 4:14