MOZART K.300 VARIATIONS
solo accordion (1999-2000) with or without electric bass
by Jeff Kowalkowski [1999-2000/2002]

 

Jeff (*1967) lives in Chicago, his hometown.  His music is a melting pot of different cultures and listeners have described his music as “eclectic” from his earliest works as a teenager.  In his scores there are graphic elements and traditional notation, performance and theatrical activities are often essential components of his music, atonality shifts to sugar-sweet, cheezy wellness-jazz-breathed on kitsch-tone, often unexpected classic-romantic textures, mixed up in a bizarre way with memories of sentimental pop-music, everything vacuum-imbued by avantgarde-sounds. All these facets of artistic expression skills bubble relaxed and easygoing out of him. Fondly we gave him the title MASTER OF BAD TASTE.

 

MOZART K.300 VARIATIONS ist the second accordion solo piece Jeff has written for Sven with the obligate electric bass part after CUT UP OR SHUT UP, ANCHOR, #372, WESTBETH und PROOOOSLA the sixth piece for IP.

 

He wrote about his piece:

 

The Mozart K.300 Variations for accordion solo with an added electric bass part [in 2002], is a piece which was written in close collaboration with Sven Hermann during his visit to Chicago in the summer of 1999. The intent is to play these fantasy impromptu, highly deconstructed versions of the Mozart movements in- between the original. Thus, the first movement of Mozart is played and then the first of Kowalkowski is played, the second movement of Mozart followed by the second of Kowalkowski, etc. Hearing the original before the veiled version, with its dense 10 note accordion chordal passages (which often span several octaves!) will make the experience very interesting, perceptually. This is a unique and fulfilling example of composer-virtuosic performer collaboration at the highest level.