The Saragossa Manuscript - NOSPR

Krzysztof Penderecki and Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, stars of the avant-garde 'Polish school' in the 1960s, turned to the classical music tradition in the following decade. The compositions present in the concert programme, however, do not involve this evolution of styles – they are simply stylisations. Górecki's Three Pieces is a masterwork response to the then head of the PWM Edition, Tadeusz Ochlewski's accusation that avant-garde composers cannot write melodies. Penderecki's suite is made up of compositions for two films: Passacagliato the Sigismund Chapel, directed by Zbigniew Bochenek (1968) and The Saragossa Manuscript by Wojciech Jerzy Has (1964).  

Andrzej Panufnik's Arbor Cosmica was born out of a love for trees. The composer viewed them as the embodiment of aesthetic notions of beauty, harmony, strength and order. How eco-friendly and up-to-date it sounds! 

Adam Suprynowicz 

Concert duration: approximately 100 minutes