Polish music celebrated worldwide to mark Poland’s independence
PR dla Zagranicy
Alicja Baczyńska
11.11.2018 12:08
A hundred works by Polish composers are being performed in 22 venues both in Poland and abroad in a unique project marking the centenary of Poland’s regained independence on Sunday.
Photo: stevebp/pixabay.com/CC0 Creative Commons
The event's motto is 100 for 100. Musical Decades of Freedom.
The event started at 11 a.m CET in the city of Kraków, with the city’s Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus performing Karol Szymanowski’s Stabat Mater. The programme of the concert also included the Piano Concerto by Ignacy Jan Paderewski, with the American pianist Kevin Kenner as the soloist.
The music of Paderewski, who lobbied for the Polish cause and was among the architects of Poland's independence, features in many of the day’s concerts.
The foreign venues resounding with Polish music on Sunday include London, Vienna, Chicago, Milan, Paris, New York, Melbourne and Tokyo.
Each of the 22 concerts begins with Krzysztof Penderecki’s Fanfare, written especially for the Polish independence anniversary. Some of the concerts are being broadcast live by Polish and European radio stations. A series of CDs is planned, including all the works in the programme, showcasing Polish music of the last one hundred years.
Poland on Sunday, November 11, marks exactly 100 years since statesman Józef Piłsudski arrived in Warsaw after being held prisoner in Germany to announce Poland's independence after more than a century of partitions and foreign rule.
(mk/aba/vb)