Jan Ekier (1913–2014) is an extraordinary figure with versatile abilities and interests, enormous artistic achieve-ments, and exceptional merit for Polish art and culture. Thanks to his special skills and extraordinary personality, Ekier made his name as an outstanding concert pianist (prizewinner of the 3rd International Chopin Piano Com-petition in 1937), a music editor (editor-in-chief of the National Edition of the Works of Fryderyk Chopin), an excellent teacher (from 1953 to 2000 professor of the Higher State School of Music in Warsaw, later the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music ), and, last but not least, a composer. This album is the first complete recording docu-mentation of the preserved piano oeuvre of Jan Ekier, whose 110th anniversary of birth falls in 2023.

Ekier’s compositional output falls mainly on the youthful period (1933–1951) and is charac-terized by a romantic and lyrical idiom stemming from, among others, his fascination with the oeu-vre of Fryderyk Chopin and Karol Szymanowski as well as with folklore. Jan Ekier’s piano music is highly original; it has its own expressive musical language. These features make it possible to mention his music alongside the works of such artists as Antoni Szałowski, Tadeusz Szeligowski, Michał Spisak, or Roman Maciejewski, but also Witold Lutosławski, whose oeuvre does not feature many piano pieces; however, the number of his piano works is compara-ble to the number of those composed by Ekier. The piano compositions by the author of the Hu-moresque and Toccata have their place in the development of Polish music of the first half of the 20th century and should not be considered merely a musical trivia from the rich life of a pianist, teacher, and music editor, but as a full-value oeuvre with an indivi-dual stylistic feature.

The presented complete piano works, in the subtle interpretation of Agnieszka Przemyk-Bryła, reveal simplicity, harmonious sounds, and original choices in terms of musical language.

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Data premiery: 29.11.2023