Opera Omnia 07

The seventh part of the series presenting the complete works of Witold Lutosławski includes this outstanding Polish composer’s songs for children performed by the NFM Boys’ Choir and NFM instrumentalists conducted by Andrzej Kosendiak. The album includes, among other features, song lyrics and sheet music with melody lines.

Album premiere: 2018

Publishers: National Forum of Music, CD Accord

Conductor: Andrzej Kosendiak

Performers: NFM Boys’ Choir, Lutosławski Quartet, LutosAir Quintet, Instrumentalists of the NFM Wrocław Philharmonic

Art historian Jacek Woźniakowski once asked – half-jokingly and quite seriously – whether an artist is allowed to marry. One can go a step further and ask whether an artist is allowed to have children – ‘and when they do’, what does this mean for art? (…)

Like songs from the area of popular music, works for children are associated with the Polish Radio, the main incubator of musical creativity of all kinds in the post-war years. The radio was, of course, state owned, like almost everything else in the ‘People’s Republic’ of Poland at that time. Even children were state owned. However, there are no political posters or intrusive didactics in the lyrics; apart from the Straw Chain, which is a popular lecture on multiple uses... of straw. There is an admonition to treat living creatures, especially birds, well. (Although insects are only suitable for birds’ dinner.) There is some absurd humour, a handful of micro-scenes or portraits, a lot of delicate, slightly pale lyricism, sometimes – especially in Tuwim’s works – interspersed with a clever humorous concept, as in the punch line of the song about Little River. There are no black-and-white characters or a clear triumph of Good over Evil: the romantic but egocentric Mr. Nightingale will limit himself to short apologies; quarrelling vegetables will end up in the soup regardless of what they did, and bird gossip culminates in a truly Gombrowicz-esque tangle that makes all the masks drop and reveal the truth. (…)

There is a saying among artists writing for children that their profession requires even more work and talent than writing for adults, ‘because a child is a demanding recipient and cannot tolerate falsehood’. This is partially true. On the one hand – as Danton says in Büchner – “drunks, children and lunatics tell the truth”, but on the other – children, especially in institutional settings, can feign interest and act well just to be on the safe side. (…)

The maxim ‘just like for adults, only better’ is therefore important. Lutos’ miniatures must be performed with impeccable, perhaps even over-expressive diction, more than consistent intonation, perfectly capturing the rhythm and accent, vigilantly differentiating harmonic deviations and colourings. One needs to find a way to voice acting, emphasise the character’s voices in an unobtrusive but distinct way, set the punch line well, but, on the other hand, not overdo it with ‘effects’. (A musician who knows rhetoric would be useful – maybe a baroque specialist?) And one should avoid the impression – unfortunately common, especially among children’s choirs – that everything sung is very sad. A difficult task, but it should pay off. (…).”

Rafał Augustyn

The series ‘Witold Lutosławski. Opera omnia’, released by the NFM and CD Accord, is a project presenting all the works of this outstanding Polish composer. The albums in this series are exclusive in terms of performance, production and editing.