MUSICAL REPUBLIC

Trio Fontes — an ensemble of early instruments composed of: Anna Firlus (harpsichord), Sulamita Ślubowska (violin) and Krzysztof Firlus (viola da gamba) — presents a program showing different faces of Polish music of the 17th and 18th centuries, from mature baroque to gallant style and early classicism.

A special place in the program is occupied by the works of Adam Jarzębski and Marcin Mielczewski — two of the most important Polish Baroque artists. Jarzębski's Concerto primo a due voci comes from his famous collection Canzoni e concerti from 1627, one of the most valuable examples of how the Italian style of concert music permeated the former Republic of Poland.

Mielczewski — musician of the royal band Władysław IV and composer also known outside Poland — develops this language in more elaborate forms. His Sonata a tre “La Pazza” and Canzona prima a due show the baroque tendency to contrast, imitation and dance pulse, and at the same time testify to how European Polish music of the 17th century was: rooted in local tradition but open to Italian, German and Central European patterns.

Stanisław Sylwester Szarzyński, active at the turn of the 17th and 18th century, and Marcin Józef Żebrowski, born in the 18th century, lead Polish music towards the next era — classicism.

photo: Igor Andruch