On the Rrail

Born in Lódz in 1984, Maciej Staszewski is a versatile artist who consciously combines his compositional interests with the career of an instrumentalist. He studied at the Grazyna and Kiejstut Bacewicz Academy of Music in the classes of Prof. Jerzy Nalepka (classical guitar) and Prof. Jerzy Bauer (composition). He has performed many times at renowned music festivals, including: at the Warsaw Autumn International Festival of Contemporary Music and at ISCM World Music Days. The title of the album comes from the latest piece by Maciej Staszewski - a miniature written in mid-2018 titled On the Trail. The ambiguity of this wording offers a possibility of multiple interpretations. An important motif connecting pieces from different years is inspiration with Polish mountains, as well as the rough lyricism of the melody, fondness for the quartal and secundal consonances, and complex rhythmic tissue, rich in irregular rhythms, variable accents, syncopations, and polymetric means.