Kaleidoscope / 75/50 – Aleksander Lasoń and Benjamin Britten - NOSPR

Does music have to tell a story? Not necessarily. Sometimes, rather than leading the listener from beginning to end, it offers something different – an experience of constantly changing sound, colour and energy. This time, the Kaleidoscope series introduces us to two composers who knew how to challenge our imagination.

Aleksander Lasoń and Benjamin Britten speak different compositional languages, yet both reveal a fascination with musical material – its structure, energy and colour. In Chamber Music No. 5 ‘The Four Seasons’, contrary to what the title might suggest, Lasoń neither paints landscapes nor depicts the changing natural world. Instead, the successive Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter become a point of departure for observing the constant transformation of sound. The instruments pass musical motifs and energy from one to another, creating a work full of contrasts yet retaining an inner balance and an intricate, compelling form. Perhaps this is why, when audiences at the Warsaw Autumn first heard the work, they simply did not want to let the musicians leave the stage.

Britten’s Sinfonietta takes us into an entirely different realm. This year, together with other admirers of his music, we mark the 50th anniversary of the composer’s death. Written at a very early stage in Britten’s career, the work draws on established forms and takes inspiration from masters of the genre, yet is already mature and assured, staking its own claim to a place among works of genuine musical merit. Nearly a century has passed since it was written – by an 18-year-old student at the Royal College of Music. It can be seen as a highly auspicious beginning: published as Op. 1 and dedicated to Britten’s teacher Frank Bridge, it opened the sequence of works that would go on to become part of the world’s musical treasure trove.

This concert, symbolically celebrating Aleksander Lasoń’s 75th birthday while also paying an anniversary tribute to Benjamin Britten, invites us to listen closely and immerse ourselves in the music. There is no need to search for a hidden narrative or look for meanings beyond the music itself. We need only follow the changing relationships between the instruments and observe how a few sounds can give rise to a world of remarkably rich expression.

9.30 am concert – older preschool children and pupils in grades 1–3
11.30 am concert – pupils in grades 4–6

Tickets on sale from 23 October 2026 at 2.00 pm.

Tickets will be available exclusively from the NOSPR box offices.

Telephone reservations: +48 32 73 25 312, +48 32 73 25 320 and +48 32 73 25 321.

Tickets cost PLN 15 per pupil and PLN 1 for group leaders.

Concert duration: approx. 60 minutes

Please see the information on parking in the Culture Zone:
Important parking information