Tabula rasa

Arvo Pärt and Krzysztof Penderecki are artists shaped by the experience of living in a part of Europe that was under the control of communist regimes in the second half of the 20th century — in Estonia and Poland, respectively. During the concert, the presentation of their music will be complemented by the premiere of a composition by Wrocław artist Mateusz Ryczek. The author himself will take part in it. Together with the NFM Leopoldinum Chamber Orchestra, Michał Micker and Wojciech Jeliński will also perform, and Christian Danowicz will not only lead the musicians, but also perform one of the solo parts in the work of the Estonian master.

All the works in the program of this event are united by the use of the form of a concert. The opening evening of the Sinfonietta per archi from 1992 is one of those items in Krzysztof Penderecki's catalogue that sum up his artistic journey. This is an author's transcription of an earlier String Trio. In dividing the musicians into competing groups, the composer refers to the tradition of the baroque concerto grosso genre. References to neoclassicism and the style of Béla Bartók are also legible here. Inspired by the audiosphere and the history of Wrocław, the Strings of the City of another Polish artist are referred to as a trombone concert. They were written by Mateusz Ryczek — an award-winning graduate of the Karol Lipiński Academy of Music, where he was educated under the guidance of Grażyna Pstrokonska-Nawratil, Cezary Duchnowski and Zbigniew Karnecki, among others.

The double concerto Tabula rasa by Arvo Pärt, which will be played after the break, is one of the most important instrumental works in the artist's oeuvre and became a turning point in the Estonian's career, as it introduced the tintinnabuli style characteristic of him to the ground of a great musical form. The composition was created in 1977 by order of Gidon Kremer. It consists of two contrasting parts: the dynamic, based on the Ludus variation technique, and the slow Silentium. The title “pure card” refers to a concept from ancient philosophy — already described by Aristotle of the human soul in the state in which it finds just after birth, not yet experienced by the railways of life.