Here it is, quite an unusual album of contemporary music yet deeply rooted in the past: two Armenians using folk themes, a Frenchman stylizing his composition into Spanish music, a Pole referring to works of an Italian violinist, an Italian paying musical homage to a Russian. Yet music has no boundaries. The first piece is written by two Armenian composers and pianists. It is rare for such an individual work to be created collectively, particularly in a small band such as a duet. Yet, they were successful, the piece Festive makes an impression of a limited entity. Not only were both composers of the same origin and age but they were also affiliated to the so called Mighty Handful, a group of five composers under the auspices of Dmitri Shostakovich and Aram Khachaturian. Shostakovich described Alexander Arutunian's music as “wonderfully pure”. Khachaturian named him one of the most promising authors on the cusp of the 1940s and the 1950s. Shostakovich also valued Arno Babajanian as a brilliant piano teacher. The mutual work of Arutunian and Babajanian, relates not only through its themes to the folklore of Caucasus but one can also hear the reminiscences of jazz and typical for Shostakovich grotesque approach to music as well as a specific orchestration (the combination of pianos and percussion). It is commonly accepted to regard contemporary music as deprived of melodiousness. The last pieces with catchy tunes were composed by Richard Strauss, Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Igor Stavinsky, Karol Szymanowski, Sergei Prokofiev. Meanwhile, Witold Lutosławski proved with his Variations on a Theme of Paganini that one can write the piece entirely contemporary yet having the features of a concert hall hit. Of course, the Polish composer made things easier and used the popular Paganini's theme. His version for two pianos, with constantly changing phrases, gained great popularity and delighted the audience. Lutosławski`s work was composed in extremely difficult conditions during the German occupation. He earned his living by playing in Warsaw cafés, in a piano duo with another great Polish composer of the 20th century, Andrzej Panufnik. Variations were based on Paganini's authorial Variations. The switch from violin into two pianos created a totally new quality, enriched with musical solutions that were not known in the times of the greatest violinist of all time. Lutosławski and Panufnik’s duet similarly scored about two hundred pieces which were the part of their repertoire. Variations on a Theme of Paganini was the only piece which survived the destruction of Warsaw after the Warsaw Uprising in 1944. At the end of the first decade of the 20th century Maurice Ravel often used Spanish folk, mainly in Alborada del gracioso from the piano suite Miroirs (Mirrors) or in the opera L`heure espagnole (The Spanish Hour). In 1907 he created orchestral Rapsodie espagnole (Spanish Rhapsody). The first performance in Châtelet on the 28 March 1908 brought ambiguous success. Some critics did not accept the composition but under the influence of the audience's applause the orchestra played the second movement (Malagueña) for an encore. The most distinguished Spanish composer of that time and an unquestionable authority figure in music was Manuel de Falla. He highly valued Ravel`s artistry, emphasising the fact that the work of his French colleague had nothing to do with a facile emulation of Spanish folk. It created Spanish atmosphere through the usage of rhythms and ornamentation typical for music of the Iberian peninsula. Consequently he remained himself, a subtle impressionist who truly completed the melody, as if painting with a thin brush creating pastel images of the night somewhere in Andalusia - because it is at night when the whole Rapsodie espagnole begins. Nils Rohwer has played the percussion since he was 13. He graduated from Detmold University of Music (Germany). He is known for being an innovator in teaching percussion instruments as well as an author of a few tutorials. His students achieved great amount of success. As well as playing music and teaching, he also fulfills himself as a composer writing chamber pieces and film music. Jens Schliecker is a pianist, teacher, arranger,composer and producer. He also works in the field of film music, writes audiobooks and advertisement music in which he combines jazz traditions with chanson, pop and folk. He has performed in a duet with Rohwer under the name Piano meets Vibes for 20 years. Together, they composed pieces for piano and percussion instruments (suite Four Seasons) and achieved great success. Antonio Amoroso is a musician connected both with his native Italy and with Germany, where he settled in 1975. It is said that his compositions avoid any classifications, therefore not confined to any stylistic framework. He creates percussion pieces both for school and practising purposes. He cooperates with a symphony orchestra in Warendorf,which has Amoroso's piece Love Letter in its repertoire, his music can be heard on the radio and TV mainly in Germany. Not accidentally does Stravinsky in Marcia refer to the music of the great predecessor, one of the most important authors of 20th century music, Igor Stravinsky. Stravinsky`s music is closely connected to folk in the early period (Petrushka) and neoclassicism in the second period (Pulcinella). He was a pioneer in the new way of using the piano as well as combining the sound of this instrument with percussion. Thanks to these four gentlemen from Percussion and Pianos Ensemble we can immerse ourselves in these incredible sounds.