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CANTICUM PROFUGORUM – Krzysztof Knittel’s oratorio about refuge and war on the latest album ANAKLASIS
2025-03-15
The theme of Krzysztof Knittel’s work is refuge and the uncertainty and anxiety about the unknown associated with it, as well as the other side of this topic, i.e. the need to provide help and shelter. The text of the oratorio is based on a poem by Tadeusz Sławek. The piece features singing, recitations, choral parts and improvisations based on the traditions of the Middle East. The album was premiered on 15 March during the 11th Festival of Premieres in Katowice.
The ways of the modern world have become refugee trails. Regardless of whether we think of the blue waters of the Mediterranean Sea, the forests and swamps of the Polish-Belarusian border, the railways or the highways winding from Poland to Ukraine - fear of the unknown is the node where all these routes meet. And in these routes, the most valuable and essential are the legs that lead to a safe place.
‘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. Its libretto and music deal with our present-day world, where comfort zones are long gone. Refugees have always been an integral part of our reality, and they are left to count on our help, understanding, and empathy. Knittel’s tale is about those forced to wander the world (forever?) and those who support them in their wandering. The work’s premiere, held on on 25 November 2022 at the Silesian Philharmonic in Katowice under the baton of Yaroslav Shemet, was recorded and has now been released on an album. ‘One world is enough for all of us,’ or so they say… But who, in our day, listens intently to the refugees’ song and tale?
This is another proposal from the ANAKLASIS record label released in the OPERA series, which presents outstanding vocal and instrumental works that go beyond the established musical genres.
The CANTICUM PROFUGORUM (ANA036) album is available in the PWM bookstore, in the best music stores, on the virtual shelves of the Empik chain and in streaming services.
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The theme of Krzysztof Knittel’s work is refuge and the uncertainty and anxiety about the unknown associated with it, as well as the other side of this topic, i.e. the need to provide help and shelter. The text of the oratorio is based on a poem by Tadeusz Sławek. The piece features singing, recitations, choral parts and improvisations based on the traditions of the Middle East. The album was premiered on 15 March during the 11th Festival of Premieres in Katowice.
Musicologists commonly call it “Kras 52” – after the former reference number it was given in the Krasiński Library. It is the most valuable Polish source of medieval polyphonic music, which shaped the soundscape of the court of the first Jagiellons and Kraków at that time. The manuscript is gaining new life now, thanks to a performance edition by Agnieszka Budzińska-Bennett and Marc Lewon. “Krasiński Codex” has just been published by PWM Edition with the support of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.
Frequent guest of the world’s most famous music venues (New York’s Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, London’s Royal Albert Hall and BBC Proms, Vienna’s Musikverein and Konzerthaus), in February 2021 Bomsori signed an exclusive contract with the prestigious Deutsche Grammophon label. As of this year, she also bears the honourable title of ambassador of Grażyna Bacewicz’s music, which she performs worldwide, promoting the legacy of Poland’s most important woman composer.
The 4CD album featuring songs and instrumental works by the Silesian master goes on sale as of 8 November. Released by the ANAKLASIS music label, it will be premiered on 3 December during a special PWM Edition concert held as part of the 12th International Days of Henryk Mikołaj Górecki at the Silesian Philharmonic in Katowice.
The esteemed American-Canadian jazz musician Michael Bates, his Acrobat Ensemble and the Lutosławski Quartet will perform three concerts in Poland in November. The repertoire will include material recorded by the musicians on the album METAMORPHOSES: VARIATIONS ON LUTOSŁAWSKI, released by ANAKLASIS in the REVISIONS series.
The artists have already successfully presented it at Lincoln Center and Barbès Jazz Club in New York. In autumn 2024 we will have the opportunity to hear them live for the first time in Poland: 14.11 - Krakow, 15.11 - Lublin, 17.11 - Wroclaw.
The Fryderyk Chopin Institute in Warsaw invites to the inaugural session of the biennial International Digital Musicology Conference, which will be held 23–25 October 2024, at the Fryderyk Chopin Institute in Warsaw, Poland. The conference focuses on the integration of digital technologies into musicological research, with a special emphasis on introducing digital tools and methods to the Polish academic community, where digital musicology has not yet been widely adopted.
Although Ludomir Różycki - one of the most important representatives of Young Poland - enjoyed spectacular success as a composer during his lifetime, his works are rarely included in concert programmes today. It is therefore worth remembering his exceptional art.
Aleksander Nowak continues his original cycle of compositions that enter into a dialogue with most recent Polish literary works. The album premiere of his opera based on Marcin Wicha’s Nike-awarded book Things I Didn’t Throw Out will take place during the AUKSODRONE festival in Tychy.
Musical themes from Coppola’s cult movie, as deconstructed and reinterpreted by this wayward duo, will be performed at a live concert accompanied by the premiere of THEMES OF DRACULA from ANAKLASIS on vinyl records.
It’ s like a game. The memory game, thanks to which you can look at a very ordinary family from an extraordinary perspective. ALBUM RODZINNY [Family album] – an opera by Jerzy Kornowicz with a libretto by Michał Rusinek – is another premiere of the ANAKLASIS label this year. This time, the record brand is expanding its audience to include the youngest listeners. The album will be released on 21st June.
