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Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “Alone” was the inspiration for my first Piano Sonata “Alone”, op.39, written between 15 November 2006 and 25 August 2007. The piece was commissioned by Anna Górecka and dedicated to her. In 2021 I revised the sonata and this is the final version. The single movement format takes after Liszt’s Piano Sonata in B minor.
I imagined the sonata in a complex form with embedded motifs, in the spirit of Richard Wagner, one of my favorite composers whose steps I traced as I visited Bayreuth on a scholarship. These motifs sometimes coexist harmoniously but also strive against each other. They are autobiographical and reflect my mentality as I composed the Sonata.
The sonata starts with droplets of the first motif (AHCFEDCH), quickly followed by the second motif (FDBA). After the introduction comes the Agitato ma non troppo that reframes these motifs in E flat minor, the start of an intense emotion, at times angry and at times plaintive, sensitive.
In Poe’s poem he refers to being a misfit in the world, but also hints at the solitude as a gateway to his creativity – the “mystery which binds me still” to the mountain, to the sun, and to life. The sonata is at times resolute with forceful chords, signaling perhaps my desire to be alone both in my youth and middle age, a respite that allows me to tap into my creativity.
The piece isn’t without joyful emotion, as the E major lover’s theme asserts its significance before the Agitato resurfaces again.
In 2008, I recorded the original version of the sonata with Acte Préalable (AP0202). A performance by Anna Górecka was also recorded. The sonata has three alternative endings which were all recorded on the original CD and in the current version of the score. A pianist should choose the ending they prefer and make the sonata personal.
Tomasz Kamieniak
Berlin, 2022
Tomasz Kamieniak is a pianist and composer who enjoys playing the music of Franz Liszt and Charles Valentin Alkan as well as less known composers.
Tomasz graduated from the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music in Katowice in the piano class of Professor Joanna Domańska. He further developed his playing under Professor Rolf-Dieter Arens at the University of Music in Weimar, Konstantin Scherbakov (Piano Master Classes), Professor Zbigniew Raubo (postgraduate studies in Katowice), and Leslie Howard in London.
Kamieniak was awarded the special prize at the 4th International FRANZ LISZT Piano Competition in Weimar. He recorded piano works by Józef Wieniawski as the winner of the Grand Prix at the 4th Competition for a Recording Project “Forgotten Polish Music” organised by the Acte Préalable publishing house. A scholarship recipient, both from the Marshall’s Office in Katowice and the Wagner Society in Bayreuth, Kamieniak also received a prize presented by the Mayor of Tarnowskie Góry in recognition of his cultural achievements.
Highlights of Kamieniak’s solo performances include: the Alkan Concerto for Solo Piano at the Indian Summer in Levoca Music Festival, the Piano Extravaganza Festival in Sofia and during recitals given in Kiev, Weimar, London, Bayreuth and Świętokrzyska Philharmonic in Kielce, and the Alkan Symphony for Solo Piano in the Academy of Music in Katowice, as well as in Bielsko-Biała and Zakopane.
Tomasz gave recitals in Bayreuth and Venice organised by the Wagner Society. In 2008, during a three-part recital at the Steingraeber Haus in Bayreuth, he performed all Wagnerian transcriptions of Liszt on his piano from 1876. Tomasz also performed Liszt’s two-piano arrangement of the Faust Symphony with Leslie Howard in London. In 2021, he performed at the American Liszt Society Festival via recorded videos.
With orchestra, Kamieniak debuted at the Polish Youth Symphony Orchestra under Andrzej Affeltowicz with the Liszt Second Piano Concerto; played the Wieniawski Piano Concerto with the Koszalin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Monika Wolińska during the Polish Music Festival “Swego nie Znacie” and with Świętokrzyska Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Alexander Walker during the Świętokrzyskie Days of Music Festival; Górecki Concerto and Glass Tirol Concerto with the Nomos String Orchestra conducted by Mieczysław Unger during the New Music Festival in Bytom; Kilar Second Piano Concerto and Górecki Concerto with Maciej Tomasiewicz conducting Archetti String Orchestra in Jaworzno.
Tomasz Kamieniak is also a composer and his considerable opus earned recognition among performers as well as the audience. Kamieniak is the author of piano and harpsichord music, chamber music, vocal music and film music, as well as piano transcriptions of works by Kilar, Górecki, Glass, Preisner, Korngold, Prokofiev, Liszt etc. His works are performed by artists such as Anna Górecka, Gabriela Szendzielorz-Jungiewicz, Aleksandra Gajecka-Antosiewicz, among others.
His discography consists of an album with works by Józef Wieniawski (Acte Préalable), two albums of his own piano compositions (Acte Préalable), an album with works by Valentin Silvestrov (Brilliant Classics), and the first volume of a Liszt Polonicum collection (DUX)
Tomasz Kamieniak makes his home in Berlin.
