Wrocław is a space where music from various eras and traditions creates a coherent narrative. Sacred and secular inspirations, humor and reflection, locality and universality intertwine here into one story of many voices. This is perfectly demonstrated by the choice of pieces for this programme. From Wacław of Szamotuły, through Salamone Rossi, to contemporary composers such as Paweł Łukaszewski and Per Gunnar Petersson. Their pieces will be performed during the NFM Choir Season Finale. The singers will be led by their artistic director, Lionel Sow, with Jean-François Zygel at the piano.

Romuald Twardowski, a native of Vilnius, was an artist deeply attached to tradition. He ironically described himself as a walking monument to history and defined his work as neo-archaism. The NFM Choir will sing his compositions from the 1970s – Old Town Market composed in 1979 with lyrics by Artur Oppman, and Two Joking Songs (Cuckoo and There Was a Granny), written seven years earlier. Next, we will hear a work by Salamone Rossi, an Italian artist of Jewish descent, active at the turn of the 17th century, at the boundary of the Renaissance and Baroque periods. In his choral works, he often drew on his native heritage, writing in Hebrew, making him a unique figure in his era. Kaddish is a setting of one of the most important prayers in Judaism, whose main theme is the exaltation of the name of God. Works by Wacław of Szamotuły, considered the most important Polish composer of the 16th century, will also be performed. He is a mysterious figure, as nothing is known about his education. It must have been thorough, and his technique was masterful. In te Domine speravi is an exquisite setting of a psalm whose central theme is trust in divine protection in times of trouble. Next on the programme is The Inkbottle op. 119 no. 5, a short, witty song by Charles Villiers Stanford – a notable Anglo-Irish composer, conductor, and teacher representing the era of late Romanticism.

Japanese composer Tōru Takemitsu will take listeners to a completely different world of sound. Sakura, composed in 1994, celebrates the beauty of cherry blossoms. Its basis is a widely popular folk song, arranged in such a way that a simple pentatonic melody is surrounded by clouds of dreamlike harmonies. After this composition, the artists will present Andrzej Koszewski’s Ad musicam, in which the choir builds a unique vocal orchestra: hisses, whistles, claps, and produces a variety of surprising sounds. Its composer is considered one of the leading authors of 20th-century Polish choral music. Paweł Łukaszewski is a renowned composer, conductor, and teacher of our time. His Hommage à Edith Stein, based on German liturgical texts, consists of three movements and dates from 2002. Just a year later, Per Gunnar Petersson wrote Omnia tempus habent. The title, meaning Everything has its time, comes from the Book of Ecclesiastes, where the emphasis is on patience and acceptance of transience.