09.11.2018, 7 p.m.
Rzeszów Philharmonic

Zygmunt Noskowski is one of the most important figures in the musical life of Poland in the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries. A student of Dobrzyński and Moniuszko, he continued his studies at the Berlin Academy of der Künste and remained faithful to the romantic style and was not very interested in the modernist trends that developed during his creative career. He was an excellent teacher, and his students at the Musical Institute in Warsaw included Melcer, Fitelberg, Szeluto, Szymanowski and Karłowicz, among others; he also headed the Warsaw Music Society, trying to raise the standard of musical life in the city with varying luck. His rich legacy includes numerous pieces for piano, chamber music, songs and operas, but his most lasting output is orchestral music, including three symphonies, the symphonic poem Step (regarded as the first work of this kind in Polish music) and the popular concert overture Morskie Oko – an echo of a youthful expedition in the Podhale region and an early example of his musical fascination with the majesty of the Tatra Mountains.
Mieczysław Karłowicz was lucky to grow up in an atmosphere of a happy and prosperous home, both materially and spiritually. His father was the famous ethnologist and linguist Jan Karłowicz, also a great musician, who recognized his son’s great talent early on and skilfully managed his development. Mieczysław attended violin and music theory lessons, studying privately at the Warsaw Conservatory, among others with Noskowski. In 1895, he began his studies in Berlin, initially hoping for a career as a violin virtuoso. However, when these plans did not come to fruition, Karłowicz focused on his composing studies with Heinrich Urban.
Towards the end of his studies, the ambitious artist began composing a piece which, according to the traditional principles of conservatory education of composers, was to be the final test of his skills – a symphony. He was fascinated by the idea of programme music (later realized in masterful symphonic poems). He understood it in psychological and symbolic terms, not in terms of “narrative”. It was not supposed to paint stories, places or characters with sounds, but rather to convey the states of the soul. The new work corresponds to the classic-romantic framework of the four-movement cycle, and its ideological basis is an extensive programme (probably written ex post) in the “Young Poland” style. It speaks of the anguish of the soul, which has lost its sense of existence (part I), its dreams of sunlight (part II), the madness of temporal pleasures (part III), and finally, of the awakening of the soul outside the “eternal watchword” and the triumph over adversity (part IV).   Nevertheless, Karłowicz’s Rebirth Symphony is perfectly communicative, even without the knowledge of the programme, it speaks to the listener with a great power of emotions and moods, varying between tragedy, melancholy, pathos, and euphoric joy. It was in this composition that Karłowicz’s individual style became fully crystallized, although he himself, always dissatisfied with his own achievements, also considered his wonderful symphony to be the fruit of his musical “apprenticeship” and did not intend it for print.
Sławomir Czarnecki’s “Liliowe Concerto” for Two Violins and String Orchestra premiered at the Warsaw Music Meetings Festival in 2002. At that time, the soloists were Krzysztof Jakowicz and his son Jakub (who were also the inspiration for the work and to whom it is dedicated) with the Concerto Avenna Warsaw Soloists ensemble, conducted by Andrzej Mysiński – the same musicians will present the work during the November concert. The author wrote in a commentary to the work: “The Liliowe Concerto is a three-part concerto for two violins and a string orchestra, which I composed at the special request of Krzysztof and Jakub Jakowicz (convinced by them that the only instrument more beautiful than a violin is two violins). […] It is located in postmodern aesthetics, recently close to my heart, where I try to find some musical elements with the use and processing of national elements (if someone is offended by this word, then it can be called ‘folk’), which are innate in the music of the Tatra and Sub-Tatra regions. [It] is my next piece, in which I would like the word ‘fascination’ or ‘enchantment’ to take on a special meaning, not only for me, but also for the performers and the listeners. The title Liliowe [Polish for “lilac-coloured” or “of the lily”] does not come from the colour, more from the name of a beautiful mountain flower (the Martagon lily), but mainly from the name of the famous Tatra pass separating the Western Tatras from the Granite Tatras, where I often rest, ‘fascinated’ and ‘enchanted’ with beauty, crossing the Tatra Mountains”.
Jerzy Salwarowski, a graduate of the Academy of Music in Krakow (among his masters were Krzysztof Penderecki and Henryk Czyż), the evening’s conductor, has a rich artistic output, which includes, among others, the first recording of the complete symphonic poems by Karłowicz. He was the artistic director of the Pomeranian Philharmonic in Bydgoszcz, philharmonics in Lublin and Częstochowa, as well as the Toruń Symphony Orchestra. He is also the artistic director of the Toruń Music and Architecture Festival. Admired on many stages in Poland and abroad, he has made many recordings and is also a respected teacher.

Performers:
Krzysztof Jakowicz | violin
Jakub Jakowicz | violin
Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra
Jerzy Salwarowski | conductor

Programme:
Zygmunt Noskowski “Morskie Oko”. Concert Overture for Orchestra op. 19
Sławomir Czarnecki “Liliowe Concerto” for two violins and string orchestra op. 41
Mieczysław Karłowicz Symphony in E minor “Rebirth” op. 7