PAWEL SZYMANSKI'S PARTITA IV AND HIS 'UTOPIA OF THE DOUBLENESS OF MUSIC' (Partita IV Pawla Szymanskiego i jej 'utopia podwójnosci muzyki')

As in the case of Partita No. 3 of the same year, the architecture of Pawel Szymanski's Partita No. 4 (1986) may be seen as a dual form, in which two sharply contrasting yet dovetailing sections are dynamically interrelated, stemming as they do from the same musical material that is based on a pre-composed model. This model's contrapuntal structure (a three-part fugue in Partita No. 3 and a four-part circular canon in Partita No. 4) is a starting point for a heterophonically textured second section of the piece, whereas the first section extrapolates the model. The continuous presence of the model as the deep structure of the piece generates an elusive feeling of the musical narrative's two-layered character. This technique enables the composer to achieve his goal of 'double' music, rejecting the traditional notions of linearity and teleology. This aspect is further underlined by the piece's temporal structure, in which different types of time can be observed (e.g. spiral and ramified time). The authoress of the essay also discusses the Partita in light of the historical implications of the genre, drawing analogies with compositional concepts of Witold Lutoslawski, György Ligeti (in his Lontano), and Krzysztof Penderecki (in the Partita).