Marek Dyżewski: Opus Magnum Andrzej Markowski - "Wratislavia Cantans" from 4.09

It is hard to imagine Polish musical life of the second half of the 20th century without Andrzej Markowski. due to the fact that He was the promoter of the latest Polish music, leading in the country and on the phase of the planet the primaries of works of specified artists as Kilar, Baird, Lutosławski, Górecki, Penderecki. He introduced the Polish audience to the music of Schönberg, Webern, Stravinsky, Boulevard, Messiaen, Ligeti, Varès and Xenakis. It was He who introduced to the philharmonic programs the absent masterpieces of medieval masters, Renaissance and Baroque. He was the first 1 – in memorable concerts of Krakow, where under his direction “Vespro”, “Orpheus”, “Combatimento di Tancredi e Clorinda” – he presented the beauty of Monteverdi’s music. And it was He who created the world-wide unparalleled institution of the global Oratory-Cantata Festival "Wratislavia Cantans".

This festival is simply a celebration of singing, a feast in which the oldest and top musical instrument – the human voice – resounds in all its glory. It is besides a festival of cantat, mass, passion, oratories, and thus works in which music rose to the heights of perfection and beauty. In its spiritual dimension, the festival created by Andrzej Markowski is simply a “temple” of sacral music. Here the psalmist’s word is fulfilled: “Let all the earth praise the Lord!” Here, in the ecclesiastical interiors, there is music of different religions and cultural prowess: the singing of Catholics and the singing of “older brothers in faith”, the singing of Protestants and the singing of Muslims, the hymns of Byzantium and the chanted prayer of Orthodoxy, the song of Hindu mysticism and the song of existential panic in the rhythm of flamenco. The festival brings you closer, teaches you an ecumenical attitude. “Who is my neighbor?” is the answer to this question from the Gospel: the neighbour is “other”, “from another parts of the world”, “another worshiper.” The festival’s music helps us to realize the fact that “the full earth that praises the Lord” is simply a large human family, a common home of fellow humans.

"Wratislavia Cantans" is undoubtedly the work of the life of Andrzej Markowski. A work focusing on what he experienced on various fields of his activity, and how he understood his purpose. Even the years he devoted to theatre music proved to be applicable to his festival. In the theatre, the subject of Markowski's fascination became the art of word and the full sphere of culture, which thanks to the word exists. Therefore, from the festival he created, he made Christmas Music and Word. He felt that the voice of Homer, Sophocles, Bible authors, Dante, and Shakespeare was as crucial in the oratories as the voice of Bach, Haendl, Honneger or Stravinski. He felt this due to the fact that he was not only a musician, but besides a large humanist.

Prof. Marek Dyżewski, pianist, journalist, animator of musical life, erstwhile Rector of the Academy of Music in Wrocław.
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FESTIVAL begins on September 4, 2025.

— 4:00 p.m. at the Tadeusz Museum exhibition about artists with archival posters and festival programs due to their 60th anniversary.

— 6:00 p.m. in the NFM building unveiling the bust of Andrzej Markowski, the chisel of an outstanding sculptor Bronisław Krzysztof.

— 7:00 p.m. performance beginning the festival.