The fourth edition of the Jewish Music Days in Szczecin will include extraordinarily international programs. Jewish culture will be a pretext to show numerous traditions and styles.
After all, this is what Szczecin has been known for - both nowadays and throughout its history. We had the Slavic, Pomeranian, Swedish, French and German periods in it ... Culture has always arisen within various streams here, and the best ideas emerged on their borders.
So how has Jewish music been connected with many other cultures in Szczecin? The first important date of this story is 1812, when the King of Prussia, Frederick William III, issued an edict recognizing Jews as the citizens. Four years later, the Jews of Szczecin founded the Society, which in 1856 was transformed into the Synagogue Community. It became an extraordinary centre of thriving cultural life. In 1873, the construction of a magnificent New Synagogue was started at Zielony Szaniec Street. Mention should be made of an art patron Nathan Marx, a print artist Lesser Ury, a painter Julo Levin, an organist Robert Lehmann, a cantor Abraham Lichtenstein and numerous rabbis and teachers. These highly educated people of great artistic taste were contributing to the landscape of Szczecin until 1933. After 120 years of continuous development, Jewish music in Szczecin began to die down rapidly. Not forever.
As part of this year's Jewish Music Days in Szczecin, we again invite you to two concerts at the hospitable halls of The National Museum in Szczecin. On Saturday evening, a truly international program will be presented by flutist Anna Karpowicz and pianist Marek Bracha. On Sunday, a further show of the Music of the New Synagogue program will be presented. This time, Isidoro Abramowicz and Jakub Stefek will present the profile of Abraham Lichtenstein, a Szczecin cantor of the mid-nineteenth century. His melodies found in manuscripts in the New York archives and edited by Adam Porębski will have their world premiere.
Tickets at PLN 40.- for one day and PLN 60.- for two days may be purchased HERE>>>
We kindly inform you that, according to sanitary restrictions, only 20 people can participate in the concert in the courtyard of the Museum. This limit does not apply to those who are vaccinated. Before entering the room, you will be asked to sign a relevant declaration on this matter.
MUSIC OF THE LOST HOME
Saturday, September 11th 2021, 7:00 P.M.
Courtyard of The National Museum in Szczecin - The Museum of Regional Traditions
ul. Staromłyńska 27
Anna Karpowicz – flute
Marek Bracha – piano
You must have felt a kind of sadness or nostalgia for many times while listening to Jewish music. This has been mainly because we perceive it through the prism of the tragic events of the last century. However, it is not entirely the case that the whole emotionality of this music is marked by the terrible fate of Jewish communities during the last war.
Longing for the lost home is a motif in art that dates back to antiquity. Its symbolic beginning is Psalm 137, which begins with the words "By the rivers of Babylon - there we sat and cried when we remembered Zion. We hung our harps on the poplars of that land". It describes the emotions of the Jews during the Babylonian exile in the 6th century BC.
Following epochs and centuries brought home losses for the further generations of this nation. Wanderings, in many cases long ones, became their attribute over time. Also, by following the lives of musicians and composers, one can come to the conclusion that frequent - forced or voluntary - changes in the place of residence connect their biographies and works. The topic of the concert makes us reflect on this especially in Szczecin. So many of us also remember lost houses, and old buildings and tenements also remember their former inhabitants.
Pieces for flute and piano by Erwin Schulhoff, Mieczysław Wajnberg and Aaron Copland will be performed by a duo: Anna Karpowicz - winner of Polityka's Passport 2020 in the Classical Music category and Marek Bracha - one of the most versatile pianists of his generation.
MUSIC OF THE NEW SYNAGOGUE: ABRAHAM LICHTENSTEIN
Sunday, September 12th 2021, 7:00 P.M.
Courtyard of The National Museum in Szczecin - The Museum of Regional Traditions
ul. Staromłyńska 27
Isidoro Abramowicz – cantor
Jakub Stefek – organ
Chór Dziecięcy Zachodniopomorskiego Uniwersytetu Technologicznego DON DIRI DON (Children's Choir of West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin)
Dariusz Dyczewski – director
Including: Abraham Lichtenstein / Adam Porębski – "Synagogen Melodien” (world premiere)
"(…) his teacher Felix Schmidet told about him that Lichtenstein's voice had never been paralelled in scale and melody before. The famous Szczecin composer Carl Loewe is said to have frequently listened to this talented cator's singing in the old synagogue."
This memory was noted by Jacob Peiser in his "Historia Gminy Żydowskiej w Szczecinie (The History of the Jewish Community in Szczecin)”. Abraham Lichtenstein (1806-1880) was the most famous and the most valued cantor of all times of the Szczecin synagogue. He performed there in years 1833-1847. Both Carl Loewe and a famous composer of that time Louis Lewandowski left memories of his outstanding voice. "With every single note sung by Mr. Lichtenstein, the admiration of the public was growing and until he sang Veshameru [they shall keep the Sabbath] nobody even dared to breathe."
In another passage it has been recorded that Lichtenstein was an extraordinary artist of great knowledge which enabled him to transform old decorative synagogue singings into spiritualised melodies. Powerful expression in singing, vigorous and warm-hearted temperament and honesty of feelings heard in the music were said to attract to the Szczecin synagogue even followers of other religions every Shabbat. Will we be able to recapture what happened in the hearts of the listeners?
We managed to obtain several surviving manuscripts with the songs composed and performed by Abraham Lichtenstein. We asked composer Adam Porębski from The Karol Lipiński Academy of Music in Wrocław for scoring five of them. Melodies by Lichtenstein have been enriched by organ accompaniment and choral parts. We invited DON DIRI DON Children's Choir of West Pomeranian University of Technology in Szczecin directed by Dariusz Dyczewski to perform them. In this way, after nearly two centuries, the music of Szczecin's most renown cantor will return here!
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EVENT CO-FINANCED BY THE CITY OF SZCZECIN
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