NOSPR / Klauza / Nizioł / The American Dream - NOSPR

The (co)creators of the works to be presented in this concert share an American connection. Bach’s Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, written for the organ, was arranged for an orchestra by the exquisite conductor Leopold Stokowski, who spent most of his life in the United States, leading such ensembles as the famous Philadelphia Orchestra. In 1940, it was with them that he recorded the soundtrack for Walt Disney’s Fantasia, which has since become a legend, having prepared the symphonic version of the famous Toccata and Fugue in D minor for this purpose in particular (he was awarded an honorary Oscar for his achievements). Allegedly – due to the similarity of their surnames – he was often mistaken with Zygmunt Stojowski, who left Europe for the States at the beginning of the 20th century and remained there until his death in 1946. On the other side of the pond, the latter was chair of the piano department at the New York Institute of Musical Art, also teaching at the Von Ende School of Music. The Violin Concerto in G minor, Op. 22, is an early composition of his, created at the end of the 19th century. Unusually expressive, it is imbued with the Romantic spirit, its violin part glimmering with brilliant virtuosity. Henryk Wars – known in the States as Henry Vars – is predominantly recognised in his homeland as a pioneer of Polish jazz, composer of film music, and author of such smash hits as Miłość ci wszystko wybaczy, Umówiłem się z nią na dziewiątą and Zimny drań. His outstanding symphonic pieces were only discovered in the late 1990s. Among those, there was the exquisite Symphony No. 1 (1949), which blends the late-Romantic sense of drama, flawless instrumentation and a cinematic scope.

Agnieszka Nowok-Zych

Concert duration (intermission included): approximately 90 minutes