Wojciech BŁAŻEJCZYK (b. 1981)
General Theory of Relativity
#NetworkMusic for voice, ensemble and live electronics (2017) [14:00]
General Theory of Relativity (2018) for clarinets, percussion, piano and violin (2018) [12:45]
M.A.D.(Mutual Assured Destruction) for ensemble (2007/20) [8:17]
Angels of Peace for double bass, oboe, French horn and bass clarinet (2017) [15:15]
Aether for ensemble and live electronics (2020) [8:59]
Holger Falk (baritone), Andreas Harrer (technician)
Klangforum Wien/Johannes Kalitzke
Partial text of #NetworkMusic included in booklet
rec. January and February 2021, Wiener Konzerthaus, Vienna, Austria
KAIROS 0015111KAI [59:20]
The Polish composer Wojciech Błażejczyk occupies that increasingly crowded corner of contemporary music where science, electronics, and ensemble writing collide—sometimes productively, sometimes not. This Kairos release, handsomely recorded at the Wiener Konzerthaus with the reliably outstanding Klangforum Wien under Johannes Kalitzke, presents five works spanning thirteen years. The results are uneven.
General Theory of Relativity exists in two versions here: the 2017 “#NetworkMusic” for voice, ensemble and live electronics, and a 2018 reworking for clarinets, percussion, piano and violin. The earlier version features baritone Holger Falk navigating taped speech whose inflections are cleverly mirrored by instrumental rhythm and pitch in the manner of Steve Reich or Peter Ablinger—though Błażejczyk lacks Reich’s rhythmic inevitability and Ablinger’s conceptual rigor. The electronic processing, overseen by technician Andreas Harrer, adds layers of granular shimmer that sometimes clarify the texture, sometimes merely gild it. When Falk’s voice emerges from the electronic fog—his diction is characteristically impeccable—the effect can be striking. But at fourteen minutes, the piece overstays its welcome.
The 2018 instrumental version proves tighter, more focused. Without the vocal scaffolding, Błażejczyk’s writing reveals genuine contrapuntal skill, particularly in the dialogue between the two clarinets. The piano part, however, feels perfunctory, as if added to meet ensemble requirements rather than musical necessity.
M.A.D. (Mutual Assured Destruction), revised in 2020 from a 2007 original, announces its political intentions with all the subtlety of a hammer. The piece builds from nervous, scurrying figures—think Ligeti’s micropolyphony filtered through post-minimalist anxiety—to a climax of aggressive fortissimos. One understands the Cold War reference. One wishes the musical argument were less schematic. The Klangforum plays with ferocious precision, which only emphasizes how predetermined everything feels.
“Angels of Peace” offers something different. Scored for the unlikely quartet of double bass, oboe, French horn and bass clarinet, this fifteen-minute meditation achieves moments of genuine mystery. The oboe’s fragile high notes against the bass clarinet’s chalumeau register create an eerie, unstable sound world—think Nono’s late works, though without that composer’s harmonic intensity. The double bass, often relegated to textural support, gets some genuinely interesting material here, pizzicatos that seem to question rather than affirm. This is Błażejczyk at his most patient, willing to let sounds unfold rather than forcing them into predetermined shapes.
Aether, the most recent work, returns to electronics. At just under nine minutes, it’s the shortest piece here—and benefits from the compression. Błażejczyk creates a genuinely uncanny dialogue between acoustic instruments and their electronic shadows, the live processing creating not simply amplification or distortion but a kind of parallel sonic universe. The piece ends with a long decay, instruments and electronics bleeding into each other until you can’t quite tell where one stops and the other begins. It’s effective, even haunting.
The performances are excellent throughout—Klangforum Wien brings their customary blend of technical mastery and musical intelligence to scores that don’t always repay such attention. Kalitzke’s conducting is clear and committed. The album captures both the intimate chamber textures and the more aggressive outbursts with admirable clarity, though I sometimes wished for a bit more air around the instruments in the denser passages.
Błażejczyk is clearly a skilled composer with a genuine ear for instrumental color and an intellectual’s fascination with Big Ideas—physics, politics, technology. What’s less clear is whether he has something urgent to say through music rather than about it. Too often these pieces feel like illustrations of concepts rather than musical arguments that stand on their own terms. “Angels of Peace” suggests he’s capable of the latter. The rest of the disc suggests he’s still finding his way.
For specialists in contemporary European ensemble music, this is worth hearing. For general listeners, approach with caution.
