Hastiludium

for piano trio (2018)

The title refers to the Latin term for tournament: the struggle of armed knights between a real life and death struggle and sports competition.

The history of Poland and the spirit of its people bring to mind such ambivalence.

In particular, our independence seems to require constant redefinition in a more or less competitive context.

According to such assumptions, when recalling Chopin, the individual lines of texture of a work, not only in the form of instrumental parts, but also of both hands of the pianist, are in a state of continuous melodic, harmonic and rhythmic search for unity.

The composition was created in autumn 2018, on commission by the "Friends of Chopin Australia" association, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of independence.

Performance history:
PREMIERE: November 15, 2018; 'Rising from the Ashes' A Commemorative Concert to Celebrate the Centenary of Poland's Regaining Independence