Olga Rusin, Sinfonia Varsovia, Grzegorz Wierus

To be a rebel or to remain faithful to tradition? – this question has accompanied creators for centuries. It helps them to determine their artistic identity and aids future generations in defining trends in art. The answer to it, however, does not come easily. It takes years of studying and artistic experiments, and even then it’s not declared for life – it’s rather a temporary decision that gives the poet, painter or composer the chance to perfect their current style. In his autobiography, Siergiej Prokofiew outlined four lines of change that occurred in his works. It is not surprising, since he was known as one of the composers who never stopped searching. The first line – which he called “classical” – is best represented by the Symphony No.1 Op.25 in D major, which is also referred to with this epithet. Blending tradition with modernity was an important part of the works of the Italian composer Ottorino Respighi. Born in the 1880s, Respighi drew inspiration from the rich heritage of the Renaissance and Baroque works written by his forefathers. One excellent example of musical stylings is a suite entitled The Birds from 1928, in which the artist attempts to render the voices and behaviors of birds with sound. The world of nature, originally captured by folk songs of Poland’s Kurpie people or traditional music from other parts of the world, is also present in the pieces by Karol Szymanowski and Luciano Berio. This is particularly visible in Berio’s song cycle, in which each piece is sung in the original language (English, French, Occitan, Azeri, Armenian and the Genoese dialect, among others) with the accompaniment of a rather unusual set on instruments.

Malina Sarnowska

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