Time 19:00
The Palace on the Isle in the Royal Łazienki Museum in Warsaw
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The concert is part of the celebrations of Miłosz Year.
The year 2024 was announced by the Senate of the Republic of Poland as the Year of Miłosz. This is a tribute to the Polish winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, who – quoting the text of the resolution – “in his works […] crosses the boundaries of cultures, genres and languages.” The universality of his poetry is expressed in the songs it inspired written by both Polish and foreign composers.
Zygmunt Mycielski wrote the song cycle Ocalenie (“Salvation”) shortly after returning from the German POW camp in 1946. In Miłosz’s poetry, he found a reflection of his own experiences – not only related to the tragedy of war but also to personal loss. In a touching way, he poured his own deep grief onto music paper and was later embarrassed by the extremely intimate nature of the cycle.
Milosz Songs from 2006 is the second attempt of the American composer John Harbison at the poetry of the Polish Nobel Prize winner. The cycle originally written for soprano and orchestra will be performed during the concert in a chamber version for voice and piano prepared by the author. The musical version of Miłosz’s selected poems leaves the listener in silent delight, and the first stanzas of the final song are in fact a “post-epilogue” for the experiences of the 20th-century man enchanted in words and sounds:
Jasności promieniste,
Niebiańskie rosy czyste,
Pomagajcie każdemu
Ziemi doznającemu.
Light off metal shaken,
Lucid dew of heaven,
Bless each and every one
To whom the earth is given
Paweł Łukaszewski takes the listener to completely different dimensions of contemplation. The gentle sound of the piano and the nostalgic melody of his Dwie pieśni do słów Miłosza (“Two songs to Miłosz’s words) emphasize the wistful nature of the poetry, vividly depicting landscapes constructed with memories.
The concert will end with the song A Green Lowland of Pianos by Samuel Barber, written in a light grotesque style. The work is a tribute to Miłosz as an excellent translator of poetry – in this case, he was the author of the English translation of a poem by Jerzy Harasymowicz.
PROGRAM
Zygmunt Mycielski (1907-1987)
Ocalenie – five songs for baritone and piano to lyrics by Czesław Miłosz
Ty, którego nie mogłem ocalić…
To, co wzmacniało mnie, dla ciebie było śmiertelne
Oto dolina płytkich polskich rzek
Czym jest poezja, która nie ocala narodów ani ludzi?
Sypano na mogiły proso albo mak…
John Harbison (b. 1938)
Milosz songs (2006 version for soprano and grand piano)
Prologue: from Lauda
What Once Was Great
So Little
When the Moon
On Old Women
Epilogue: from Winter
Post-epilogue: Rays of dazzling light
Paweł Łukaszewski (b. 1968)
Dwie pieśni do słów Miłosza for baritone and grand piano
Gdy wiatr powieje
W mojej Ojczyźnie
Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
A Green Lowland of Pianos from the cycle Three songs op. 45
PERFORMERS
JUSTYNA STĘPIEŃ SOPRANO
WITOLD ŻOŁĄDKIEWICZ BARITONE
DAGMARA DUDZIŃSKA GRAND PIANO
Duration: approx. 50 mins
The seats in the auditorium are not numbered.
