Jun 30, 2017
This first full-length album of music by Mark Nowakowski affords a deeply affecting experience: the fusion of the composer’s Polish heritage and that country’s defiant survival of historical upheavals, his American upbringing, the influence of Catholic philosophy and mysticism, masterful playing by the Voxare String Quartet, and an ingenious use of mixed media. Raymond Bisha introduces Nowakowski’s sound world, as represented by two string quartets, a lullaby arrangement, and a haunting piece for solo violin and electronics with a disturbing provenance.