Paweł Łukaszewski, Symphony No. 2 'festinemus Amare Homines'

Ministerstwo Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego

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Paweł Łukaszewski

Symphony No. 2 'Festinemus amare homines'

for Two Sopranos, Two Mixed Choirs, Two Pianos and Orchestra

Publisher: PWM/Print on demand

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Cat. no. 10448

''Starting work on the Second Symphony Festinemus amare homines'' I realized that composing a vocal-instrumental symphony is following a path laid out by great artists. Writing a theoretical work about ones own composition is a certain challenge for composers; I am not especially active in this field. Following the demands of the procedures for habilitation, I focused on purely technical matters, craft, and not on aesthetics or philosophy. Despite quite a number of vocal-instrumental compositions, which form an important element of my creative work, I tried to approach this with full awareness of my responsibility for the appropriate display of the verbal layer in the composition, in its relationships with the wide-ranging performance forces. The result of reflection on this area was a revision of my previous experience with understanding the role of text in vocal-instrumental pieces and applying appropriate reduction techniques equally to form and texture. In addition to the text, another primary element in the Second Symphony is rhythm, whose role is highlighted in all movements, and which has its climax in the fourth movement. The function of rhythm throughout the whole piece takes on a form-making aspect; its variation, in conjunction with changing time signatures, is a conscious reference to the rhythms of Arabic cultural circles. Written in 2003-2005 to a commission from the International Festival of University Choirs Universitas Cantat, Symphony II Festinemus amare homines for two sopranos, two mixed choirs, two pianos and orchestra, has a dedication: Johannes Paulus II in memoriam. A short but very profound text by the recently deceased author, Fr. Jan Twardowski, conveys the meaning flowing from the teachings of the Great Pope in an extraordinary way: ''we constantly love too little and too late.'' Lasting about 25 minutes, the work consists of four movements: Festinemus (Let us hurry), Tempus (Time), Amamus (we love), Decedunt (They leave.) The translation from the latin was made by prof. Sylwester Dworacki. The premiere took place on June 25th 2005 in the hall of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan during the final concert of the Festival of University Choirs Universitas Cantat 2005 . The score of the Symphony II Festinemus amare homines was published in 2006 by Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne in Kraków. A recording of the premiere appeared on an archive CD by the International Festival of University Choirs Universitas Cantat. Paweł Łukaszewski