“I want to be part of a larger family”

The first big challenge for Andrzej Ojczenasz was the term “family”, which is the theme of this year’s Murten Classics Summer Festival and was also intended as a starting point for the commissioned composition. “Of course, the obvious associations immediately came to mind. But I wanted to look for something deeper that was also related to tension.” It took him almost two weeks. At first, he wanted to use his music to create a reference to “The Shining”, Stanley Kubrick’s film based on the Stephen King novel, but soon found that he didn’t like the idea. “I realised that, with my music, I wanted to explore something that was exciting and profound but had a less depressing message. The disintegration of the family, as depicted in the film and book, leaves no hope. But I wanted to create a piece that ended with something positive.”

An image as inspiration

Andrzej Ojczenasz then searched for “something meaningful and not so obvious, something that would make you think and move you”. He used mental maps as a tool, writing down many words associatively and then making connections between them. “In the end, a kind of cloud of connected words emerged. I used it to search for suitable films, literature and paintings, which Google Images works well for, because you can enter a lot of words and the search results are very interesting.” In the course of his search, the Polish-born artist, who studied in Zurich, came across the dramatic oil painting “Vicious Circle” by Jacek Malczewski (1854–1929), a Polish Modernist and Symbolist painter.

This painting became the inspiration for Andrzej Ojczenasz’s composition of the same name. “It radiates an enormous amount of energy and I was very moved. I thought, yes, there is a boy, overwhelmed and perhaps even depressed, caught between the forces of imagination and history. And when you think of family, that’s my mental connection to my piece of music. It’s about children in general.”

You can also imagine Andrzej Ojczenasz in the picture, surrounded by turbulent life. “In a way, yes. I want to be part of a larger family: a society, a nation, a culture – part of a cultural circle, as we perceive Western culture, for example, with common values and a common way of life. Of course, there are many differences, but there are also similarities. As an adult, especially in these demanding and challenging times, the question of how to approach society arises: do you contribute or do you just take?”

Different realms of expression

Andrzej Ojczenasz rightly describes this painting as very dynamic, dualistic and symbolic. The question is whether and how he has translated the characteristics of this picture into music. “Music and painting are different realms of expression. And I believe that the music should be independent. Even if someone doesn’t know the context of this picture and the inspiration, it should still be interesting and enjoyable to listen to. But, of course, I made some allusions. These are ideas that I thought of when I noticed certain phenomena in the picture. First of all, I wanted to create something calm but powerful, with a lot of tension under the surface. That’s why the piece begins with this quiet chord, which keeps gaining strength – a crescendo. In addition, the piano lines rise upwards. But there’s both an ascent and a descent.”

So, it’s about the boy on the ladder, around whom different forces revolve symbolically. “That’s why I wanted to create a circular motion in the music. As you can hear, there is a horizontal motion with tremolos, but also a certain up-and-down movement. There is also a crazy dance in this circle of different characters, a metaphysical vision. It starts with this party from Greek mythology and then transitions into decay – poor people being sent to Siberia. I introduced this dense melody, which also changes and becomes increasingly asynchronous. And I helped out a little bit to show that it turns into this chaos and this general heaviness of faith. So, I also wanted to create this transformation, as the painting shows, from a very pleasant way of life to these experiences, which are quite difficult to bear, to this decline, to this sadness and this suffering.”

Drawings and symbols

With this mighty superstructure, one has to assume that the way from the idea to the music was long and arduous. But Andrzej Ojczenasz calmly and dispassionately recounts the process of composing, explaining that at first the piece only existed in his head and there were no notes. “First, I prepared and reviewed my notes. Then I created some chords representing certain scales, which helped organise the sound material. Then I drew up a general plan for the composition, in which I made some sketches for the form, using drawings and symbols as well.”

Andrzej Ojczenasz explains that the piece was in fact more of a graphic composition initially. “Only then did I use the piano and look for chords to fill this form with a musical context, a musical colour, to give it a character – the one with the atmosphere of the piece. And then I had this overarching form, the starting point from which I could walk the path of this piece. Then, of course, I had to make connections, insert pauses and compose and combine these specific microformal elements.”

Open to different interpretations

The renowned composer David Philip Hefti accompanied Andrzej Ojczenasz in the composition process as a mentor. “He was very helpful and encouraged me the entire time. Specifically, he recommended that I make some changes to the instrumentation to add another level of complexity. He also noticed things that I didn’t notice. It’s extremely valuable to have someone with another set of eyes and a different perspective at your side who can share their experiences and their way of thinking with you. But I was completely free; he didn’t pressure me in any way.”

After the completion of the score, the music was first performed in rehearsals with the ZHdK ensemble Tonflug. The question of interpretation also arose: How much freedom did Andrzej Ojczenasz give the musicians? “The most important thing is how we perceive the music and how all the elements interact. So if something doesn’t work, I’m very strict. But I’m also open to different interpretations. I love it when the musicians express themselves fully. I think this is necessary to really bring music to life. I believe the musicians have found a really precise way of expression.”

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