Krzysztof Meyer's latest piece is inspired by the verse of Adam Zagajewski. The four poems that form the basis for the Symphony deal with the subject of the persecution of the Jews following World War II: "Jedwabne","Nienapisana elegia dla Żydów krakowskich" / "The Unwritten Elegy for the Kraków Jews","Dożywocie" / "Life Sentence" and "Persephone".
Krzysztof Meyer explains how he came to tackle such a heavy topic:
I worked on the "Sinfonia da requiem" during the years 2008/09. The idea behind this work originated a good deal earlier. However, during the 1990s, when I considered whether it would be possible for me to write a work relating to the subject of anti-Semitism and persecution of the Jews. Since my childhood, after all, I had been taught that anti-Semitism is a particularly shameful prejudice. I have unfortunately come across it repeatedly during the course of my life and still do, even in people whom I consider to be cultured - as if they did not want to find out anything about it, about pogroms, the ghetto and the annihilation of the Jews.
The general form of the Symphony took shape when I became more closely acquainted with the oeuvre of the outstanding Polish poet Adam Zajaweski. From his many poems dealing with this subject, I selected four with contents that especially appealed to me. The Symphony was written for choir and symphony orchestra and has five movements. The second movement, forming a musical commentary on the city of Jedwabny, is exclusively instrumental.
The National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra is accompanied by the Polish Radio Choir from Kraków and The "Camerata Silesia" Ensemble of Singers of the City of Katowice. The performance is conducted by Michail Jurowski who worked with Krzysztof Meyer on many occasions.
The second part of the concert presents "Symphony 'Mathis der Maler'" by Paul Hindemith and some selected pieces from the I and II Suite of the Siergei Prokofiev's ballet Romeo and Juliet ("Juliet", "Montecchi and Capuletti", "Masks", "Tybalt's Death").
Before the concert, at 18:45, The Association of Friends of the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra host a talk by Lilianna Moll on the concert's programme (room no. 411 in The Centre for Culture in Katowice).
That same day, the Academy of Music in Katowice is hosting a panel discussion entitled Krzysztof Meyer's Eighth Symphony "Sinfonia da Requie", based on texts by Adam Zagajewski, ahead of its world premiere by the PNRSO. Panelists include Krzysztof Meyer, Adam Zagajewski, Leszek Polony, Władysław Malinowski and Marcin Trzęsiok. The discussion is jointly curated by the Laboratory for Musical Thought and the Department of Composition, Conducting and Theory at the Academy of Music in Katowice.
The premiere of Krzysztof Meyer's Eighth Symphony "Sinfonia da Requiem" performed by the PNRSO and conducted by Michail Jurowski takes place on January 14, 2011 at 19.30. During the performance at the G. Fitelberg Concert Hall, the concert is also to be broadcast live on Polish Radio Two.
Source: polmic.pl, www.nospr.org.pl, www.sikorski.de