Catalogue

‘Legs are most precious thing. Those touched by the knife of war walk on the shoulders of those who have saved their legs. To go on – is the most important thing, not to stop, not to be locked up,’ runs the text recited by its author, poet and translator Tadeusz Sławek, while Oriental instruments (the oud, daf, and darbuka) are improvising in the background. The Near East’s musical traditions thus knock on the door of the West’s culture, in counterpoint with the soloists, choral parts, and the electronics. Krzysztof Knittel’s Canticum profugorum is an oratorio for soprano (Freszel), baritone (Godlewski), actor, children’s and mixed choirs, oud, percussion, orchestra, and electronic media.

What is that special world in which Adam Bałdych can meet Agnieszka Budzińska-Bennett? He is a violin virtuoso navigating his way between jazz and contemporary music. She is a singer, harpist, pianist, and musicologist, founder of Ensemble Peregrina early music ensemble associated with the famous Schola Cantorum Basiliensis early music academy. The world in which they have met is called Kras52. Rather than being a planet in a faraway galaxy, it is a Krasiński Library manuscript and one of the main sources of Polish medieval polyphony.

What is that special world in which Adam Bałdych can meet Agnieszka Budzińska-Bennett? He is a violin virtuoso navigating his way between jazz and contemporary music. She is a singer, harpist, pianist, and musicologist, founder of Ensemble Peregrina early music ensemble associated with the famous Schola Cantorum Basiliensis early music academy. The world in which they have met is called Kras52. Rather than being a planet in a faraway galaxy, it is a Krasiński Library manuscript and one of the main sources of Polish medieval polyphony.

On the CONNECTIONS album, you will find Szalonek’s selected compositions, from his oldest (his student work – 'Toccata polyphonica' for string orchestra of 1954, as well as the cycle that brought him international recognition – 'Confessions'. 'Triptych' to Words by Kazimiera Iłłakowiczówna for speaking voice, mixed choir, and chamber orchestra of 1959) to his last works (such as 'L’Hautbois mon amour' of 1999, the composer’s confession of his love for the oboe, written for a solo performer, here – NOSPR principal oboist Maksymilian Lipień).

The album SONGS OF SILESIA comprises a collection of the Silesian master’s vocal pieces, which perfectly reflect his broad horizons. Szalonek was a visionary and an innovator, but also an artist inspired by local folklore ('On Johnnie’s Cathy', 'Katowice Ballad', 'From Opole Region', 'Silesian Folk Ballad' for solo soprano and mixed choir) and by religious subjects ('Litany of Loreto – to the Blessed Virgin Mary', 'Miserere'). His music could be charmingly simple or extraordinarily complex. On this album, it is performed by Camerata Silesia Katowice City Singers’ Ensemble under Anna Szostak.

One of Poland’s most compelling jazz pianists, Kuba Stankiewicz has shared the stage with, among others, Jan Ptaszyn Wróblewski, Zbigniew Namysłowski, Artie Shaw, and Art Farmer. For many years he has explored the impact of pre-WWII film music on jazz, which has resulted in splendid releases of music by Victor Young, Bronisław Kaper, Henryk Wars, as well as their teacher Roman Statkowski. Stankiewicz’s variations on themes from Różycki’s works are the next stage of his journey in search for the sources of jazz.

A vaudeville is a humorous stage piece made up of light-style songs and dances, whose form and content are meant to put the audience in a good mood. The vaudeville composed by Aleksander Nowak, based on Marcin Wicha’s Nike-awarded book Things I Didn’t Throw Out, is no such thing, though. Wicha’s book is a mournful prosaic rhapsody on the prosaic nature of life and on death as its inseparable component. The author bids farewell to his deceased mother through the process of sorting out the stuff that she left behind.

When cinema’s great visionary Francis Ford Coppola is calling – the director of The Godfather and Apocalypse Now – who would hang up on him? Wojciech Kilar took up the offer of cooperation, which resulted in his soundtrack (now of cult status) for the tale of the Transylvanian monster whose love was a bit too strong. Years later, this pathetic-lyrical cantata for mixed choir and symphony orchestra has been turned inside out by pianist Piotr Orzechowski and saxophonist Kuba Więcek.