For Tomasz Sikorski is a fairly brief and deeply felt tribute to the late composer Tomasz Sikorski by his colleague John Tilbury, the extraordinarily sensitive pianist best known for his work with the seminal British free improv group AMM.
Tilbury and Sikorski met in 1961 when they were both studying at the Warsaw Conservatory but fell out of touch in 1965. Tilbury apparently kept tabs on his old friend, however, as the three compositions by his former friend played here were composed between five and 20 years after they lost contact. Tilbury says in the notes that the three pieces display the composers "unerring feeling for harmony and register; the 'minimalism' of these pieces was absorbed naturally, the repetitions never seem arbitrary."
The first part of the program is comprised of three of Sikorski's compositions for solo piano. Autograph, from 1980, is a wonderful stop-and-start affair, with expulsions and fragmented phrases interspersed with fair bits of silence, perhaps suggesting a signature in Sikorski's composing style. Rondo (1984) builds off that formula with longer phrases and more overt continuity but still falling to silence and returning to either introduce a new idea or revisit one already set out, even if not immediately preceding. Recurring arpeggios suggest a motif, although somehow the variations keep them from quite becoming one. Instead it becomes a sort of organic process in the music, as if to say you can never step in the same theme twice.
Zestreutes Hinausschauen, from 1971, is the earliest piece on the album and the most dramatic. It has a similar push/pull to the other pieces, but with extreme changes in dynamic. There's a lovely sort of echoing in the score — some notes seem to fall behind others — which Tilbury performs beautifully.
It would be reasonable to look at the 12-minute Improvisation for Tomasz Sikorski that closes the disc as an addendum, but that would only sell the performer short. The open, spacious performance was no doubt inspired by Sikorski's music, while the preparations to the instrument give it a resonance which sets it apart from the compositions. It's an effusive, emotive performance, a wonderfully heartfelt tribute and a wonderful example of Tilbury's talent as well.
The disc does leave the listener wanting more, which may or may not be a point in its favor. But either way it's a wonderful 35 minutes and 28 seconds of music.
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