Jolanta Sosnowska – violin
Maria Gabryś-Heyke – piano

"I praise the dance!", wrote St. Augustine at the turn of the 4th and 5th centuries. Is there any other musical phenomenon more diverse but at the same time more universal? The second album in the Beauty Dancing series, with a selection of exceptional dances from different parts of the world, is my and Jolanta Sosnowska’s hymn of affirmation of life, expressed in different composition techniques but carrying the same message. Waltzes, tangos, bossa nova, rumba, minuet… The album features well-known pieces as well as many phonographic premieres: a kaleidoscope of dances absent from concert stages, discovered in library nooks, restored to life again.
"I praise the dance, for it frees people from the heaviness of matter and binds the isolated to community". Without losing any of its uniqueness, in dancing individuality finds common ground with community. A sense of belonging, of being part of a greater whole, triggers joy, is enlivening and introduces harmony. It may also become an element of interpersonal communication. With the help of gestures, dance steps, movement setting the entire body into vibration, we express ourselves without invading anyone else’s freedom. In the same way, in chamber music the violin and piano, instruments that are unlike in their sound, the way they are played and the role given them by composers, acquire new value as a duo; they complement and supplement each other, forming an indivisible whole.
"Dancing demands a whole person, one who is firmly anchored in the centre of his life, who is not obsessed by lust for people and things and the demon of isolation in his own ego". Alongside the aspect of communication and expressing our emotions, dance has another, cosmic dimension. Ritual, repeated elements inscribed into the age-old rhythms of nature and the universe, imitating the journey of the stars across the firmament, the mysterious thread linking the world and humankind – all this finds its deep, mystic dimension in dance.
"O man, learn to dance, or else the angels in heaven will not know what to do with you". Our musical proposal, which we are so happy to present to you, is the result of a long quest and sometimes difficult choices. Not all the pieces that we prepared are included on this album. Many musical gems are still waiting for their time, or perhaps the next album? As you listen to this music, may it give you as much joy and excitement as we felt when we were working on it. May the whirl of dancing, with its liberating and purifying effect, draw you in as well! Maria Gabryś-Heyke

Recorded February 13-15, 2020 in the Concert Hall of the Karol Szymanowski State Music School in Warsaw (Poland).
Recording, Mix & Master: Piotr Grinholc
Design: For Tune®
Cover photo: Konstantin Grishin/Depositphotos.com