Kazimierz Machala

. I. Goldenrod|II. Meadowsweet|III. Juniper|IV. Foxglove|V. Rowan|VI. Lavender|VII. Hawthorne Lore
For all those Celtic souls out there ready to indulge their love of the ancient fringes of Europe, these seven sketches for orchestra by Polish composer Kaz Machala will not disappoint. The music has immediate appeal and communicates instantly yet there are also many subtleties in these scores which will sustain repeated performances through often surprising shifts in key and harmonic colouring applied to a seemingly endless flow of melodic invention.
For all those Celtic souls out there ready to indulge their love of the ancient fringes of Europe, these seven sketches for orchestra by Polish composer Kaz Machala will not disappoint. The music has immediate appeal and communicates instantly yet there are also many subtleties in these scores which will sustain repeated performances through often surprising shifts in key and harmonic colouring applied to a seemingly endless flow of melodic invention.Each of the seven movements presents a fresh and contrasted landscape, the composer, (himself a former world class horn player) painting with a wide range of colour onto the full orchestral canvas. There is something here to suit every mood, from the atmospheric harmonies and melodic lines of Goldenrod and the bagpipe echoes of Meadowsweet, redolent of the Scottish Highlands' bare mountains and ancient woodlands, all the way to the energetic, dance-like Juniper, a reference perhaps to the Irish style of dancing popularised by Riverdance, though here punctuated by cross-rhythms that would challenge the fleetest feet.In the pastoral Lavender the vocal feel of the melodic lines meander against the sound of the Celtic harp and, whether Irish or Welsh in origin, one cannot fail to locate this unique strain of melancholy in the Celtic character. This emotional aspect will be found throughout all of the movements, culminating in Hawthorn which feels like the optimistic culmination of a journey through rushing torrents, waterfalls and heroic vistas.These Celtic Scents are neatly designed to fit into that versatile genre of contemporary classical music which would sound equally at home in the concert hall, on radio playlists, as an accompaniment to contemporary dance, as backdrop to film or simply recorded and listened to as befits the modern era through ear buds on some energetic trek through a Celtic landscape!(Notes by Rod Paton)

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