Jacaszek — Pentral

Polish electroacoustic musician Michal Jacaszek has been creating electronic, ambient and modern classical music since 2004.  “Pentral” is the 2009 release on Gusstaff Records.  To give a bit of background; Pentral is Latin for temple, inside or spirit.  Jacaszeks goal was to use sound to describe the interior of a gothic church (He recorded sounds and instruments in three historic churches in Gdansk).

Songs are listed as 1-10 not to make the titles inferior, but to place emphasis on the music and the mood created rather than a distinct title.  Once listening we find many moods described, and within that we also are able to imagine the architecture and presence of the gothic church Jacaszek wanted to capture.

Some pieces seem rapturous and ecclesiastical (not too hard to imagine given the setting), some austere in composition but no less descriptive, even at times being hauntingly celestial.  The harmonic and dissonant sound of bells resonates here and there; with a thunderous organ interrupting moments of silence.  Sweet angelic vocals are intertwined with cold ambient effects.  The atmospheres range from peaceful, somber, pensive, foreboding and at the end, hopeful.

The genius here is that we are transported into that very church Jacaszek wished us to see.  We actually see the cold masonry and worn stained glass windows.  We feel the quiet reflective power of stillness and the ominous sound of supernatural noises.  We are not only transported to this place, but the churches in which it was recorded in becomes an instrument of its creation as well.