Łukasz Górewicz – The String Of Horizons (2015)

Łukasz Górewicz

Łukasz Górewicz - violin, other instruments

The String Of Horizons

BIG FLOW 02





By Adam Baruch

This is a very interesting solo album by Polish violinist/composer Łukasz Górewicz, a prolific figure on the local scene primarily known as a member of the Ecstasy Project ensemble, but also as author of and participant in many other ventures. On this album, which is performed solely by Górewicz playing all the instruments, he presents nine original instrumental pieces, the last of which is added as a bonus track.

The music is a beautiful mixture of diverse influences, ranging between Classical Music, improvisation and Ambient atmospheric vistas, resulting in a very introvert, deeply melancholic and minimalist pieces, which develop slowly and create a deep sensation of tension and even apprehension, in spite of their subdued intensity. In many respects this music sounds like a soundtrack of an imaginary horror film.

Górewicz plays mostly the violin, which is the most dominant instrument on this album, but he also uses the piano to create a frame of reference for the prolonged violin improvisations and electronics to create some rhythmic patterns and to extend the sonic range of the overall result.

This music needs quite a lot of concentration and attentive listening to expose all of its depth and hidden beauty. Although it tends to create a sensation of standstill and little development, in fact it moves along at all times, even when frequently slowed down and almost silenced to a whisper. This technique, which involves playing with the dynamics and changing the tempi, is extremely effective, although not always easy to follow or to enjoy at first.

This album is definitely one of the most ambitious and original statements on the Polish musical scene of 2015, but its complexity and intrinsic oddity will make it difficult to achieve a wide popularity, which is sadly the story of all valuable creations. Nevertheless Górewicz manages to make an uncompromising personal statement, which is here to stay and proves his maturity and obvious talent both as a virtuosic violinist and notable composer.

Although every Polish violinist who uses improvisation is almost automatically adopted to the famous Polish Jazz violin school, personally I think Górewicz, except for the slight similarity to Zbigniew Seifert, is not a typical Jazz violinist but rather a member of a new Polish Jazz violin school, which is much closer to Classical Music, like the two violinists of the Atom String Quartet for example. Overall this is an album definitely worthy of exploration and should delight ambitious music listeners, who have enough patience and open mindedness to embrace it.