The Voice of Suka

This is a remarkable album. Maria Pomianowska is a Polish fiddle player who collaborates with musicians all over the world; she has made recent recordings with musicians in Pakistan, Senegal and Tunisia. But this recording is purely Polish. Having learned to play sarangi in India, Pomianowska specialises in playing and reviving old Polish upright fiddles – like the Płock fiddle and suka – played with the fingernails in a similar way. A 16th-century six-string fiddle was discovered in 1985 in the town of Płock and she plays on a reproduction of this. Different suka fiddles have been reconstructed based on 19th-century illustrations. Here Pomianowska is joined by fellow suka players Aleksandra Kauf and Iwona Rapacz plus percussionist Patricia Napierala. They also add wordless vocals on occasion. The 12 compositions are by Pomianowska and have single-word titles – ‘Rainbow’, ‘Ocean’, ‘Forest’ – although none of them are particularly illustrative; they are more like moods, textures or flights of fantasy. Some are extraordinarily beautiful, like the lyrical ‘Wind’ underpinned by vari-pitched drumming, or the ethereal ‘River’, inspired by folk melodies. This is inventive, beautiful music that could work at a classical, folk or world music festival.