The famous Serenade from Miloš Forman’s film

Hadelich / Piemontesi / Music of the masters from the banks of the Seine

Stars up close! Today, Augustin Hadelich is a world-leading violinist who conquers the world's stages and performs with the best orchestras, including the NOSPR. He returns with a chamber programme, in duo with the versatile piano virtuoso Francesco Piemontesi. Their concert, which will be dominated by French music, is designed in a modern way. There is no shortage of the canon of violin music, represented by Franck's striking, emotional, late Romantic sonata and Debussy's subtle, intimate sonata. They are accompanied by a third, wonderfully melodic sonata by Francis Poulenc. Both predecessors will shine through, as Poulenc's sounds focus their qualities like a lens because our perception changes with the context. Old French music (by de Grigny and Rameau) will indicate the roots of the work of the masters from the Seine banks mentioned above. György Kurtág's handful of short musical gestures, meanwhile, will allow us to pause for a moment to take a fresh look at what we already know. Adam Suprynowicz Concert duration (intermission included): approximately 90 minutes

From the Thames to Lake Wörthersee

From the Thames to Lake Wörthersee

AUKSO / A film fantasy

Film music arranged by Hadrian Filip Tabęcki for piano and string orchestra from films including Frantic, Pirates of the Caribbean, Gone with the Wind, Underground, Ladies, Gladiator, Star Wars, Ghost in the Shell, Colonel Wolodyjowski, Brute, and many others.Have you ever wondered where the phenomenon of film music concerts came from? Or is enjoying melodies that we associate with pictures and action nothing new? The music of the Baroque or Romantic periods is full of representations of the stories, legends and myths that society lived by at the time. When we find symbols familiar from epic stories or passionate romances in the music, the emotions we experienced when we followed the story for the first time return. Film music offers us a mind-boggling kaleidoscope of sensations in this regard. At the October concert, we will be presented with the best of the last eight decades of the genre. All this in an excellent performance by AUKSO musicians under the conductorship of Marek Moś and with guest appearances by composer and arranger Hadrian Filip Tabęcki and vocalist Anna Ozner. Szymon Maliszewski Concert duration: approximately 90 minutes

Turicum Quartet / Menuet of the witches

Joseph Haydn has been called “Papa Haydn”, both affectionately and pejoratively. Meanwhile, he was a composer whose mastery and unpredictability went hand in hand. Let us appreciate the emotional glimmering of the music, its surprising turns, sense of humour (the “menuet of the witches” quite unlike the court dance), or the finale inspired by music of the Romani people living in the borderlands of Austria and Hungary, where the composer spent most of his life. The spirit of Austria-Hungary is also referenced – already after the fall of the dual monarchy – in the modernist parodying miniatures by Erwin Schulhoff, who enhanced them with motifs of his native Czechia. Even though Szymanowski knew the capital of Austria-Hungary, he did not like it; his String Quartet No. 1 represents a different direction, as Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz wrote: “Never before has any of his works breathed such a scorching air of the South; not the heat of the Sicilian south or the mourning of the Greek heat, in which Pan’s flute kills hearts – but the juicy and ripe heat which smells like the crops of Ukraine.” Adam Suprynowicz Concert duration: approximately 60 minutes

An absolute work / The Goldberg Variations

The Goldberg Variations are described as an absolute work of art. The commission is said to have come from count Hermann Carl von Keyserlingk, suffering from insomnia during his time at the Viennese court. The piece was intended to be performed by the very young harpsichordist Johann Gottlieb Goldberg, a musician of the count’s own court, whose playing helped the aristocrat while away the sleepless hours. The composer found variations to be the best form for night-time music-making. And that was how the aria with thirty variations, which over time became a synonym for musical innovativeness, came to be. The work Bach created is eclectic in its every aspect, showing a skillful use of various musical elements, such as counterpoint, virtuosity, and musical rhetoric. The leitmotif, however, is not the melody of the aria, but… the bass line! What is more, the composer created a work of unbelievable singability, which can be heard in the entirety of the cycle. There is no other keyboard composition of Bach’s that adheres to the idea of the cantilena – a singable and smooth melody, highly engaging for the listener – to such an extent. The Goldberg Variations stood the test of time and continue to delight listeners. Their influence on further generations of composers and the development of pianistics cannot be overstated. Centuries after the work’s creation, numerous renowned artists, such as Glenn Gould, proposed interpretations as controversial as they were groundbreaking, often crossing the borders laid out by the composer, perceiving the piece not only as a technical challenge, but predominantly as a source of deep musical knowledge. The contemporary grand piano performances represent another innovative trend, which constitutes a significant departure from the composer’s original imagination and concept. While the piano is indeed different from the harpsichord, it does, however, enable even more depth and complexity to be found in the masterpiece, thus showing the richness of its sound and the unsurpassed skill of its composition in all their glory. [Alexandra Kozowicz]Concert duration: approximately 90 minutes

West Side Story / The Hexatonic’s concert

With one reed or two – the soft sound of the „wood”, i.e. woodwind instruments, is indispensable in orchestral music. Bringing together the related sounds of the oboe, the clarinet, the bassoon, and the saxophone, also has its deep tradition in chamber music. And what was not written for these instruments, can be arranged for them, thanks to the breadth of opportunities they offer. The hexatonic scale present in the name of the ensemble, i.e. that with six notes per octave, is also known as the blues scale, without which there would be no jazz. Hence the sentiment for music by Debussy and Ravel, in whose pieces a similar scale can be found. Not to mention the composing oeuvre of Leonard Bernstein, for whom jazz was as important an influence as the great European classics. While all these tropes may be traced down in the programme of the Hexatonic concert, one thing remains certain: a sound that caresses the ear. Adam Suprynowicz Concert duration: approximately 90 minutes

Silesian String Quartet / British Fantasy on the 110th anniversary of the birth of Andrzej Panufnik

“Music is the expression of emotions and feelings. I hold as my ideal a piece in which poetic content is combined with excellence of musical craftmanship. Poetry alone does not determine the musical value of a piece, just as craftmanship alone risks falling into a pitfall of using worn-out formulas. Enduring beauty is only born from a balance of both” Andrzej Panufnik (1952) Silesian String Quartet – 45 years of experience, more than 150 first performances of chamber works, thousands of concerts in the world's most famous concert halls, more than 60 albums, more than 20 nominations, 10 ‘Fryderyk’ statuettes and the most important – the ‘musical Oscar’, i.e., the Gramophone Classical Music Award. The ensemble specialises in the discovery, promotion and recording of Polish music and is famous for its first performances under the guidance of composers. Ditching the traditional hierarchical model of performing music, the ensemble emphasises exchange and collaboration with other musicians. This season, the artists will introduce the work of Sir Andrzej Panufnik on the 110th anniversary of the birth of the only Polish composer to be awarded a title of nobility by Queen Elizabeth II. The programme will be complemented by works by native British artists, i.e., Ralph Vaughan Williams and Edward Elgar. It includes one of the most beautiful chamber works of the 20th century – Edward Elgar's Piano Quintet in A Minor. Imbued with mystery, the piece was inspired by the charming yet somewhat murky atmosphere of the woods surrounding the cottage at Flexham Park in Sussex, near Brinkwells, where Elgar created his compositions. The impact of this setting is perceptible in the music, which impresses with its richness of expression and power of sound. The late Romantic style of the piece adds to its unique character, full of deep, dark tone, enhancing the impression of mystery and longing. [Alexandra Kozowicz]Concert duration (intermission included): approximately 120 minutes

Silesian String Quartet / British Fantasy on the 110th anniversary of the birth of Andrzej Panufnik

“Music is the expression of emotions and feelings. I hold as my ideal a piece in which poetic content is combined with excellence of musical craftmanship. Poetry alone does not determine the musical value of a piece, just as craftmanship alone risks falling into a pitfall of using worn-out formulas. Enduring beauty is only born from a balance of both” Andrzej Panufnik (1952) Silesian String Quartet – 45 years of experience, more than 150 first performances of chamber works, thousands of concerts in the world's most famous concert halls, more than 60 albums, more than 20 nominations, 10 ‘Fryderyk’ statuettes and the most important – the ‘musical Oscar’, i.e., the Gramophone Classical Music Award. The ensemble specialises in the discovery, promotion and recording of Polish music and is famous for its first performances under the guidance of composers. Ditching the traditional hierarchical model of performing music, the ensemble emphasises exchange and collaboration with other musicians. This season, the artists will introduce the work of Sir Andrzej Panufnik on the 110th anniversary of the birth of the only Polish composer to be awarded a title of nobility by Queen Elizabeth II. The programme will be complemented by works by native British artists, i.e., Benjamin Britten, Ralph Vaughan Williams and Roxanna Panufnik. It includes Britten's composition Phantasy, op. 2, from which this year's entire cycle of the Silesian String Quartet concerts takes its name, i.e., British Phantasy. The piece is a fascinating example of his early work, as Britten was only 19 when he wrote it. Yet, it is already a reflection of both his personal musical experiences and the broader cultural context of England at the time. The composition was an artistic expression of his individuality and, simultaneously, a rebellious gesture against academic constraints. It was composed for a one-movement composition competition organised by Walter Willson Cobbett, a well-known chamber music lover, and draws on English music tradition from the 16th century. The programme will be complemented by Ralph Vaughan Williams' Quintet in D major and a work by Andrzej Panufnik's immensely successful daughter Roxanna, the string quartet Second Home, commissioned for the Festival of Premieres in 2007. Concert duration: approximately 100 minutes

Silesian String Quartet / British Fantasy on the 110th anniversary of the birth of Andrzej Panufnik

“Music is the expression of emotions and feelings. I hold as my ideal a piece in which poetic content is combined with excellence of musical craftmanship. Poetry alone does not determine the musical value of a piece, just as craftmanship alone risks falling into a pitfall of using worn-out formulas. Enduring beauty is only born from a balance of both” Andrzej Panufnik (1952) Silesian String Quartet – 45 years of experience, more than 150 first performances of chamber works, thousands of concerts in the world's most famous concert halls, more than 60 albums, more than 20 nominations, 10 ‘Fryderyk’ statuettes and the most important – the ‘musical Oscar’, i.e., the Gramophone Classical Music Award. The ensemble specialises in the discovery, promotion and recording of Polish music and is famous for its first performances under the guidance of composers. Ditching the traditional hierarchical model of performing music, the ensemble emphasises exchange and collaboration with other musicians. This season, the artists will introduce the work of Sir Andrzej Panufnik on the 110th anniversary of the birth of the only Polish composer to be awarded a title of nobility by Queen Elizabeth II. Composed in 1987, the sextet for strings was named Train of Thought by Andrzej Panufnik. However, the Polish title translation does not fully reflect the composer's intention. Indeed, his concept considers the ambiguity of the word 'train', which can mean both train as a means of locomotion and flow of thought. Hence, it has come to be accepted that the Polish title of this work can be roughly translated as The Flow of Thought. This composition was inspired by Panufnik's experiences during a train journey, the monotonous rhythm of which induced a train of thoughts. The piece's distinctive rhythmic element was based on the train wheels hitting the rails. Nevertheless, Panufnik's work differs significantly from Honegger's Pacific 2.3.1; instead, it presents a metaphor of picturesque and mysterious landscapes and thoughts passing through a person's mind, just as the ever-changing images seen from the windows of a train pass through. The programme will be complemented by works by native British composers Gustav Holst and Joseph Holbrooke. [Alexandra Kozowicz]Concert duration (intermission included): approximately 100 minutes