Ryszard Osada is a Polish composer, born in 1972. Between 1990–1995 he studied at the Academy of Music in Wrocław (diploma with honours) under the supervision of Professor Leszek Wisłocki. In 2000 he began post-graduate composition studies under the supervision of Marian Borkowski at the Academy of Music in Warsaw. He graduated in 2002 receiving a diploma with honours.

Ryszard Osada is the winner of national and international composers’ competitions.

He is a member of the Association of Polish Composers since 2003, and a member of The Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry since 2006. From 2009 – Doctor of Musical Art in Composition.

He is a multiple scholarship holder of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland, The Society of Authors – ZAIKS, a scholarship holder of the Institute of Adam Mickiewicz – “The Polish culture worldwide”, scholarship holder of The ISCM Polish Section.

About the piece

Prism, for flute

The inspiration to write the piece was the optical phenomenon of dispersion of light passing through a prism. However, my intention was not to accurately reflect this phenomenon in the sound sphere, but to adopt a certain idea and symbolism. The idea is the exploration of the three lowest sounds of the instrument and their deformation and “splitting” in sonic structures derived from the basic tones and their overtones. The course of the composition (although it contains quite precise time markings proposed by the composer) does not have to be precisely implemented. The lengths of individual phrases depend largely on the performer’s interpretation. The piece can therefore be very “compact” in size (5-6 minutes) as well as have a more extensive structure. The composition was premiered by Alicja Molitorys on March 26, 2022. The concert took place as part of the CAMPGround22 festival in Florida