I'm sure that regular readers of this blog are getting sick of hearing about my Missa 'Musica Sacra'. But, yesterday we gave a special performance of this work in a grand Anniversary Mass marking the 20th year since the Warsaw diocese was split in two and the Praga Cathedral was named the head of this new, 2nd unit. The division was made by Pope John Paul II, the Polish Pope. The Warsaw-Praga diocese alone serves over 1 million catholics. It was a great honor for me to have my Missa performed on this very special occasion.
(Translation: 20th Anniversary of the Dedication of the Warsaw-Praga Diocese)
(Translation: Holy Mass of the Church Diocese; Holy Mass Celebration presided by the Cardinal of Metropolitan Warsaw; singing Musica Sacra Warsaw-Praga Cathedral Choir, conductor and music director, Paweł Łukaszewski; Douglas Pew "Missa Musica Sacra" premiere)
The service was presided over by a cardinal and the 2 archbishops who head each of the 2 Warsaw dioceses. Our choir did a very nice job with the music. The Missa sounds much more at home in the high ceilings of the cathedral where it can reverberate and fill the acoustic space. Since I'm a 1st tenor, I couldn't help but compose a few nice tenor moments in the Missa which were so much fun to sing in that great space. Letting the sound go full-bodied in a big dramatic musical moment with a wonderful acoustic to send the sound soaring into is such a treat!! It was also a real treat for me on a personal level to share my spiritual feelings through music with other faithful Christians. In this day and age, we could use a lot more unity between the Christian churches and I feel very happy to do my part musically.
2. Concert Review (Łukaszewski)
Last Saturday, 17 March, was the final concert in a series of the 2011/12 season featuring Paweł's music at the National Philharmonic; he is the current composer-in-residence. It was a choral concert organized by the National Philharmonic Chorus. The concert paired some of Paweł's works with those of Polish composer Józef Elsner, who was Chopin's teacher. The idea of the concert was very interesting, they performed "Ave Maria", "Nunc Dimittis", "Veni Creator", and a Mass setting by both composers. The "Ave Maria" and "Nunc Dimittis" of Elsner were quite nice with solid harmony and some delightful melodies. However, the Elsner "Veni Creator" and "Msza F-dur" were forgettable, especially the "Msza". Chopin certainly inherited a good harmonic foundation from his teacher, but he far surpassed his mentor in invention, development, and color. It was always so refreshing to transition from Elsner's late Classical-period aesthetic to Paweł's sumptuous "renewed-tonality" harmonies. This was most noticeable with the "Nunc Dimittis" hand-off. Somehow that little piece, made up of quite simple materials but compiled superbly, glows with harmonic warmth. Whenever I hear it, I never want it to end. I was also very impressed with Paweł's "Veni Creator", it was my first hearing. It displayed a side of him with which I was not familiar, a more agressive and somewhat avante garde style. But it was a effective combination of dissonance, consonance, driving rhythms, and choral color as the 2 choirs tossed the musical materials back and forth creating interesting sonic events.
One of the delights of attending this concert was the opportunity I had to sit with Paweł's teacher, the great, Professor Marian Borkowski.
Professor Borkowski has been the most important teacher of composition in Poland for the past 40 years. He is a very kind and generous man who has a vast, seemingly unending amount of musical knowledge and wisdom. In the mid-1960s he spent 2 years in France studying with the most famous teacher of conducting and composition of the 20th century, Nadia Boulanger. One of his fellow students was Sir John Eliot Gardiner, the uber-famous British conductor and early music specialist. He also studied composition with Olivier Messiaen, Stockhausen, Ligeti and Xenakis. If you're not familiar with these names, they are some of the most important names in contemporary composition from the 60s and 70s. I felt very honored to be able to add him to my lineage of composition teachers.
Also attending this concert were many of the members of the Musica Sacra choir and other friends and family of Paweł's. It was great to see him get so much well-deserved attention. When I went to find him during intermission, he was busy signing autographs. A good friend of mine and fellow Fulbright-er, William (Bill) Helmke and I are beginning a project in which we will be analyzing and writing about Paweł's music. We plan to create a detailed Wikipedia page, a YouTube page and to have multiple articules published in North American journals of choral music in addition to sizable contributions to a book that the Chopin University is organizing about his music. We are just getting started, but we are excited to be able to work towards getting Paweł's name and music into the hands and hearts of many more performers and music lovers. He is very flattered by our interest in analyzing his music and always asks us, "is there anything to analyze?" We spent about 2 hours discussing just one little choral piece the other day. Yes Paweł, there is quite a lot to analyze, and we hope to get it spread around for many more to enjoy.
(Musica Sacra Choir performing during the service.)
Paweł and I were asked to speak to the archbishops afterwards. We were invited to the sacristy, where the high authorities meet together after the Mass and where they keep their vestments, and spoke with the archbishop of the other Warsaw diocese. He was very kind and complimentary of my music and our performance. Then, the choir was invited down to the catacombes for lunch. We have had similar lunches before and are usually asked to serve ourselves from the large buffet tables. However, this time, we--Paweł, his wife, and myself--were asked to sit at the tables with the bishops and other important people. We were served a large, 3 course meal. It was delicious. Pawel said that in his 10 years of being invited to these lunches after special Masses, this was the first time he had been invited to sit and eat with the VIPs. He said it was because of me, but I don't believe that. I think they are starting to realize what a great asset he is to their cathedral. It was great fun sitting and talking with Paweł, his wife, and the new head bishop and dean of the cathedral. The archbishop from our diocese also asked to see me to offer congratulations. He was very kind and said that he enjoyed my music. At the end of the 2 and a half our Mass service, he publicly thanked the choir and thanked me for composing the music for their special event. He also announced that I was a British composer. But, I didn't mind, I would love to be a British composer. They are so spoiled in the UK with all of those magnificent choir. I aspire to be a British composer.
(Left to Right: Łukasz Farcinkiewicz [organist, pianist, composer extraordinaire]; Paweł Łukaszewski [herr-maestro-doctor-professor, master-composer, almighty-conductor]; Douglas Pew-szewskiewicz [wanna-be])
For me, the nicest compliment of the day came from a nice older lady I met after the Mass as we made our way to the catacombs. Her husband had once been a famous organist and they stopped Paweł to talk for a minute. When he introduced me, the lady, who didn't speak English said, "Kyrie" (that's the first movement of my Mass) with great feeling, demonstrating with her facial and gestural expressions, how much she enjoyed it. Then, she said the same, but with more feeling about another movement, "Sanctus, oh Sanctus". I could see in her eyes and by the way she said the titles of the pieces that she was really moved by these pieces. This made me very happy. I'm so please that this music can be meaningful and affect strong emotions from people on a spiritual level.
It was also very nice to have a handful of LDS friends attend the service, including the Jensen's, a couple who is on a mission in Warsaw from Alpine, UT. They invited me over for dinner tonight and we talked at length about music and the creative process. They were both so very kind with their comments.
It was also very nice to have a handful of LDS friends attend the service, including the Jensen's, a couple who is on a mission in Warsaw from Alpine, UT. They invited me over for dinner tonight and we talked at length about music and the creative process. They were both so very kind with their comments.
2. Concert Review (Łukaszewski)
Last Saturday, 17 March, was the final concert in a series of the 2011/12 season featuring Paweł's music at the National Philharmonic; he is the current composer-in-residence. It was a choral concert organized by the National Philharmonic Chorus. The concert paired some of Paweł's works with those of Polish composer Józef Elsner, who was Chopin's teacher. The idea of the concert was very interesting, they performed "Ave Maria", "Nunc Dimittis", "Veni Creator", and a Mass setting by both composers. The "Ave Maria" and "Nunc Dimittis" of Elsner were quite nice with solid harmony and some delightful melodies. However, the Elsner "Veni Creator" and "Msza F-dur" were forgettable, especially the "Msza". Chopin certainly inherited a good harmonic foundation from his teacher, but he far surpassed his mentor in invention, development, and color. It was always so refreshing to transition from Elsner's late Classical-period aesthetic to Paweł's sumptuous "renewed-tonality" harmonies. This was most noticeable with the "Nunc Dimittis" hand-off. Somehow that little piece, made up of quite simple materials but compiled superbly, glows with harmonic warmth. Whenever I hear it, I never want it to end. I was also very impressed with Paweł's "Veni Creator", it was my first hearing. It displayed a side of him with which I was not familiar, a more agressive and somewhat avante garde style. But it was a effective combination of dissonance, consonance, driving rhythms, and choral color as the 2 choirs tossed the musical materials back and forth creating interesting sonic events.
One of the delights of attending this concert was the opportunity I had to sit with Paweł's teacher, the great, Professor Marian Borkowski.
Professor Borkowski has been the most important teacher of composition in Poland for the past 40 years. He is a very kind and generous man who has a vast, seemingly unending amount of musical knowledge and wisdom. In the mid-1960s he spent 2 years in France studying with the most famous teacher of conducting and composition of the 20th century, Nadia Boulanger. One of his fellow students was Sir John Eliot Gardiner, the uber-famous British conductor and early music specialist. He also studied composition with Olivier Messiaen, Stockhausen, Ligeti and Xenakis. If you're not familiar with these names, they are some of the most important names in contemporary composition from the 60s and 70s. I felt very honored to be able to add him to my lineage of composition teachers.
Also attending this concert were many of the members of the Musica Sacra choir and other friends and family of Paweł's. It was great to see him get so much well-deserved attention. When I went to find him during intermission, he was busy signing autographs. A good friend of mine and fellow Fulbright-er, William (Bill) Helmke and I are beginning a project in which we will be analyzing and writing about Paweł's music. We plan to create a detailed Wikipedia page, a YouTube page and to have multiple articules published in North American journals of choral music in addition to sizable contributions to a book that the Chopin University is organizing about his music. We are just getting started, but we are excited to be able to work towards getting Paweł's name and music into the hands and hearts of many more performers and music lovers. He is very flattered by our interest in analyzing his music and always asks us, "is there anything to analyze?" We spent about 2 hours discussing just one little choral piece the other day. Yes Paweł, there is quite a lot to analyze, and we hope to get it spread around for many more to enjoy.
lo felicito por su obra hermano el señor le bendiga saludos
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