This post was written by Timo Andres, one of Metropolis Ensemble's featured composers in Spring 2010, for the upcoming Reverb concerts at (Le) Poisson Rouge.
The title of this concert, Reverb, seems especially meaningful to composer Jakub Ciupinski. "I absolutely love churches for their long reverb. Very often in my music I use a thin, hocket-like texture full of single, short notes that almost never overlap. Harmonic structures can only emerge through reverb or the listener's memory." Jakub favorite musical space is an abandoned salt mine near Cracow, in his native Poland, where "irregular shapes create the most smooth and perfect reverb I've ever heard."
Le Poisson Rouge is also underground, but seems better suited toward one of Jakub's other obsessions: electronics. Many of his recent works are written for acoustic instruments augmented and supported by electronic textures ("like the back row of an orchestra"). His approach to writing this kind of music is architectural, focusing on soundscapes, timescales, and overall continuum rather than the details of a notated score.
Electronica provides more than just a backing track - it also informs content and structure. Jakub's music is built on "loops": short musical phrases that repeat, layer, and evolve - and, like electronic dance music, it often has a very strong groove. This tended to be a source of discord with his composition teachers when he was studying at Juilliard. "For traditionally-oriented composers, having a regular 'beat' seems too casual, [like a] profanation of high art." On the other hand, he appreciates New York's artistic pragmatism, which is refreshing. In Poland, he says, artists are more appreciated for being "original and sometimes weird."
Jakub's art testifies to his easygoing demeanor. He's been straddling musical cultures for several years now, and perhaps realizes it's just as well not quite fitting into any of them. Instead, he strives for "acoustic experiences. I try not to think or analyze." That's not to say he has no time for craft; quite the contrary. "Writing quasi-minimal music... is about finding these little unique jewels with potential so great that even after many repetitions they sound equally fresh... they can resist the destructive power of time."
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