Chopin University Press – Kalevi Aho: Accordion Sonatas (2022) [FLAC 24 bit, 48 kHz]

Chopin University Press – Kalevi Aho: Accordion Sonatas (2022) [FLAC 24 bit, 48 kHz]

Aho began his interest in music at the age of ten, when he discovered a mandolin in his home and began to teach himself how to play it. He soon was taken under the tutelage of Martti Loikkanen, the boy’s 4th grade teacher and founder of a local youth mandolin ensemble in Forssa. After learning how to read sheet music, Aho immediately started composing. Aho progressed so fast on the instrument that Loikkanen suggested he study the violin as well, with Loikkanen giving him private lessons. Aho also began to learn violin at an incredible speed, with him later recalling, “Martti taught me at home for free until I started skipping him out of my playing skills and he suggested changing teachers.” Aho’s parents were quite supportive of his musical hobby, encouraging him to compose and giving him a piano at the age of 15.

Chopin University Press – Polish Piano Music of the 20th Century (2023) [FLAC 24 bit, 96 kHz]

Chopin University Press – Polish Piano Music of the 20th Century (2023) [FLAC 24 bit, 96 kHz]

Many volumes have already been written about the Polishness of Chopin’s music and about his influence on composers of various nationalities active in the Romantic and later periods. In this text the author looks at how Chopin was viewed by 20th-century Polish composers regarding two aspects: 1) how they interpreted his music in the context of its links to Polishness and 2) whether and how they took on his musical concepts in their own oeuvres. This will allow to shed some light on the reception and resonance (to use the terminology of Mieczysław Tomaszewski, a distinguished expert on Chopin and 20th-century Polish music) of the figure and music of Chopin in Polish music of the previous century. There will be examined an extremely patriotic public speech given by Paderewski in 1910, as well as Szymanowski’s opinions from the 1920s. Moreover, the politically driven celebrations of Chopin Year in 1949 will be recalled. The special attention will be put on the musical genres associated with Chopin: preludes, mazurkas, etudes, and piano concerto.