It derives from his adoration for trees, which, as he deeply believed, have magical powers. Andrzej Panufnik described the genesis of Arbor cosmica:
The long process of composing Arbor cosmica was full of joy and satisfaction for me. This piece originates from my love for trees, which I have cherished from my early childhood, when my grandmother used to take me for long walks in Warsaw parks. To this day I am deeply moved and fascinated with every tree's beauty, with their multitude of shapes and colours. Every time I feast my eyes on their branches dancing on the wind, I indulge my ears with their lilting sobs, sighs and rustle of leafs whispering their secrets. I am deeply convinced that beauty, harmony, power and order are aesthetic values, which are derived from the shape and life of trees. […] Besides the aesthetic experience and sensual delight which they evoke in me, it appears to me that there is some soul, some aura, emanating with inscrutable power. In order to transform those thoughts and feelings into music I had to start with designing the composition’s structure. Even though the foundations of my music were very mundane, human and organic, all the time I was coming back to the symbolic image of the cosmic tree, which is often presented in literature and visual arts with its roots directed towards the sky and its upper branches directed to the ground. (Andrzej Panufnik ‘Panufnik About Himself’, Warsaw 1990, p. 356)
The image of the tree symbolises the universe which, according to Władysław Kopaliński's famed Polish dictionary of symbols, ‘uses its roots to drain vital forces from the sun and than crumbles it onto the earth with a rain of leaves’, reflects the structure of Panufnik’s work. It consists of three elements: a three–tone sound cell c – d – eb symbolising the roots; transpositions of these three tones, which are the trunk, and sound landscapes derived from them, representing the leaves in the shape of a semicircle. Each of the twelve parts of the compositions, called evocations, has its own melodic line, composed in a different key (always major with augmented 4th step and minor 7th), and they appear in an order determined by the circle of fifths.
The melody is accompanied by consonances of the ‘trunk’. Evocations, put together on the basis of contrast and tempo, texture and colour, bring many different shades of mood and emotion: I – starting in a low register, evokes coincidences with a huge tree’s roots, bringing an aura of seriousness and heaviness, II – has a cheerful, dancing character, III – is lyrical and melancholic, IV – happy, V – dramatic, expressive, VI – by the means of rhythmic aleatorism, lack of bar–lines and indefinite breaks, it brings anxiety and mystery, VII – is calm and contemplative, VIII – fast, includes some rhythms typical for folk dances, IX – appeased, X – dynamic and motoric, XI – Slavic melody, full of grief and nostalgia, XII – rhythm dominates the melic, lots of quick repetitions, single motives and sounds.
The ideal mix of a precisely designed structure, multitude of musical ideas and diversity in expression, performed with a string ensemble only, made Panufnik’s Arbor cosmica a true masterpiece. The tone – alongside melody and rhythm – is the main element, constituting a multitude of moods and emotions. Furthermore, depending on the composer, the basic set of instruments – three primary violins, three secondary violins, three violas, two cellos and an upright bass, was expanded to 24, 36, 48 or even 60 instruments with the proportions kept. The piece also can be performed in a reduced form of 6 pieces, provided that the appropriate evocations are chosen in the original order.
Arbor cosmica had its preview on November 14th in 1984 in Merkin Hall, New York, played by the New York Music Today Ensemble under Gerrard Schwarz. A few days later, the composer himself conducted the European premiere – on December 2nd at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London with the participation of the celebrated ensemble of the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. One year later Arbor cosmica was presented to a Polish audience. Listeners and critics welcomed it with applause and the piece was awarded Grand Prix at the Warsaw Autumn 1985 festival.
Arbor cosmica is considered as one of the most popular pieces by Andrzej Panufnik, and has been recorded by the world’s best orchestras and published several times by celebrated recording companies such as DUX and Elektra Nonesuch.
Author: Anna Iwanicka-Nijakowska, July 2010, Translated by W.O.
