SACRUM / PROFANUM is Adam Bałdych and his quartet’s most recent project, recorded for the prestigious German label ACT Music.
SACRUM / PROFANUM attempts to place sacral music from various eras in the contemporary context, with all its rich sounds, interpretative freedom and expression. Until now, the pieces composed by the medieval mystic Hildegard of Bingen, Gregorio Allegri’s “Miserere”, which was kept secret in the Vatican for many years, and the works by contemporary avant-garde composer Sofia Gubaidulina, have all been performed with profound reverence and attachment to their form. Any attempts to modify their original arrangement or interpretation were forbidden. Bałdych, however, a keen follower of the changing trends in today’s world, bravely undertakes this challenge.
Following the incredible success of The New Tradition recorded with Yaron Herman, Antiphona – Psalmy Syryjskie or Brothers with Norway’s Helge Lien Trio, Bałdych has now turned to music with a highly spiritual edge, yet performed with unbridled improvisation, using contemporary artistic means: surround sound with visualisations. Bałdych creates conceptual music, yet remains in constant dialogue with the listener. His most recent project, Sacrum / Profanum – Adam Bałdych Quartet, was recorded in cooperation with Poland’s foremost jazz musicians – Krzysztof Dys (piano), Michał Barański (double bass) and Dawid Fortuna (drums) – and is set to be released in the spring of 2019.