15 August is a special day in Poland – not only because of the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, but also the Feast of the Polish Armed Forces. A few days later falls the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the Second Silesian Uprising, therefore the concert played that day by the musicians of the Silesian Philharmonic as part of the series "Hear us at the Silesian Museum" will present an appropriate programme.
The Silesian Philharmonic Choir, conducted by Jarosław Wolanin, will perform uprising, military and patriotic songs. We will also hear fragments of Broad Waters, Op. 39 by Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, a series of songs based on traditional songs from the collection of Jadwiga Gorzechowska of that title and from Jadwiga Gorzechowska and Maria Kaczurbina’s What It Used to Be Like in Kurpie. The Symphony Orchestra of the Silesian Philharmonic under the baton of Jarosław Wolanin will perform Symphony No. 100 in G major 'Military' by Joseph Haydn, Etude in E major, Op. 10 No. 3 by Fryderyk Chopin in an orchestral arrangement and film music by Wojciech Kilar.
A special part of the evening will be the concert premiere of Three Warsaw Polonaises by an unknown 18th-century author, arranged for chamber orchestra by Szymon Laks, the bandmaster of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Orchestra. In the Nazi camp, performing and listening to Polish and Jewish music was forbidden, but the prisoners, risking their lives, violated this prohibition. In the inhuman conditions of the camp, being in touch with native art gave at least a substitute for humanity. Three Warsaw Polonaises were recorded last year by the New Music Orchestra conducted by Szymon Bywalc, who will also stand on the conductor's podium on 15 August. The recording was made with the financial support of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Victims Memorial Foundation and under the patronage of the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum in Oświęcim.
Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.
More information at: https://filharmonia-slaska.eu/production/sezon-letni-1508/