Toccata “Legnicka” (2001)

Marian Sawa (1937–2005) — Toccata “Legnicka” (2001) for organ

“Toccata ‘Legnicka’” (2001) was written as a required piece for competitors in the 4th Competition of 20th Century Polish Organ Music, which took place as part of the organ festival in Legnica, Poland. As is the case in many of Sawa’s works, the basic harmonic structures are built from extended harmonies where the dissonant tritone is substituted for the more consonant fourth or fifth in chords. Structurally, the short toccata is animated by a development of the opening “signal” motive and a traditional toccata-like texture of fast passagework.

The Polish composer, organist, and teacher Marian Sawa (1937–2005) wrote approximately 800 pieces in various genres. His several hundred organ solos make him the most prolific organ composer in Polish music history by a large margin. As a sought-after specialist in improvisation, Sawa taught the subject for many years at several conservatories, most notably the Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw. Building in a modernist manner on the Polish romantic musical tradition of Surzyński and Nowowiejski, Sawa continued their integration of fragments and phrases from Polish church hymns and folk music into works of serious concert music. Sawa’s personal style thus draws strongly upon traditional Polish music and Gregorian chant; to this is added influences from the Polish avant-garde, including block formal structures and improvisatory ideas of developing variation. Sawa’s personal vocabulary makes his music instantly recognizable, and the wide range of expression achieved across his output marks him as arguably the greatest Eastern European organ composer of the 20th century.

Published by the Marian Sawa Society (https://mariansawa.org)