"My Sacred Music the Composer’s Credo" by polish composer and choir conductor Dr. Paweł Łukaszewski (Poland)

                                                      Paweł Łukaszewski, nace el 19 de septiembre de 1968, Częstochowa, Polonia.

Over the past two decades I have written a few dozen sacred compositions, including works for unaccompanied choir and large-scale vocal-instrumental compositions of various kinds, from miniatures to cyclical forms. I would like to mention Two Lenten Motets, the cycles Antiphonae, Beatus vir and Responsoria Tenebrae, Veni creator, Lamentationes, Stabat Mater, Vesperae pro defunctis, Via crucis, Missa de Maria a Magdala, Gaudium et Spes, Magnificat, Miserere and three Symphonies. 

 

1. Work

Religious themes have long been in the focus of my creative interests. As the human voice is in my view the most wonderful instrument, it is assigned the most prominent role in the majority of my compositions

Vesperae pro defunctis (Requiem Vespers) for two mixed choirs, two organs and orchestra had its first performance in the Jasna Góra Basilica – the Black Madonna Shrine in Częstochowa during the ‘Gaude Mater’ International Festival of Sacred Music. In writing the piece, I paid utmost attention to the selection of texts. The work blends elements of contemporary music with the centuries-long tradition of liturgical singing, and the Gregorian chant is interwoven into the neo-tonal sound fabric. I have resolved to make a thorough analysis, on the basis of the documents of the Roman Catholic Church, of the theological meaning of the text and of the message of the funeral liturgy. 

As early as the third century A.D., Saint Cyprian of Carthage wrote that one should neither weep over those who passed away nor don black clothes, as the dead were given white robes in heaven.[1] For angels will come out of heavenly Jerusalem and take your soul to Paradise, where it will be received by the martyrs, to the accompaniment of the choirs of angels.  

The message of the funeral liturgy is as follows:

• hope of eternal life
• proclamation of faith in the Resurrection
• reunion in the Lord’s Kingdom

 

Via crucis, which I wrote ten years ago, was the basis for my doctoral dissertation at the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. 

The work lasts about 60 minutes and consists of seventeen sections, preceded by a prologue. The ensuing Stations I-XV are followed by a coda.  The formal design of the piece is based on a continuous development of the musical material, with the climax reached in Stations X (Jesus is stripped of His garments), XI (Crucifixion) and XV (Resurrection). As death is the beginning of a new life, the point of departure in the composition is linked to its finale. Hence, from the formal point of view, the work can be described as a rondo, with refrains and couplets.  

For a variety of reasons, I have opted for a frugal use of timbral and rhythmic devices, as well as for relatively small performance forces. The woodwind group, for instance, comprises only four musicians but eleven instruments. There are no trumpets in the brass section. All members of the woodwind group (with the exception of flute) also play the 11 ocarinas (only in Station XII). 

The percussion includes the altar bells in Station XV. Station XV also employs the organ (an instrument which remains silent on Good Friday and Holy Saturday).  

Apart from the choir, the vocal forces comprise only male soloists, who perform the dramatis personae and are therefore assigned the prominent role in the composition. 

Via Crucis has a profusion of elements testifying to the archaisation of the compositional idiom, such as bourdons, chords without thirds, recitatives, melo-recitations, references to antiphonal chants, rhetorical figures and hidden quotations; all of which help achieve the intended austerity of the sound-world.  These features, coupled with the specific performance forces (male voices, ocarinas, organ,  campanelli da messa), constitute a set of symbols which are located, as it were, at different levels of the perception of the listener or the participant in the Way of the Cross service. 

 

2. My musical language     

It can be said that a sparing use of compositional devices has long been the hallmark of my music.  Such an approach requires a selection of sharply-defined musical means in terms of structure, texture, style and overall architecture. This is the foundation of my creative path, which had been charted by such composers as Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, Marian Borkowski, Arvo Pärt and John Tavener. Their music has served as a source of inspiration for me but I do not feel a formal link with any group of composers. A total creative freedom, which has always been my ultimate goal, has its roots in the inspiration derived from the sacrum.  In my view, a far-reaching reduction in the number of compositional devices (also when using large performance forces) is not an obstacle to writing music of great expressive power. I would describe my works as an ‘aural’ speech in which the reduction and simplification of the technical means manifest themselves as follows: the phases and mini-phases of a piece are very short and compact and follow one another in a violent manner.  I avoid expanded developmental work while my sound-world is imbued with a strong emotional expression. 

 

3. Inspirations – goal – credo

In conclusion, I would like to present my observations and reflections on the intentions and inspirations of composers of sacred music. It seems to me that even though an excellent command of compositional techniques is indispensable in the creative process, it is only a means to achieve the goal but not an end in itself. It may be that the goal – which is the sacrum – begins where the compositional craft ends. This is likely to be the case because an excessive concentration on technical matters prevents a composer from reaching to the deeper level of the music, something that lies beyond the musical orthography, so to speak. I would not like therefore to limit myself to matters connected with the functioning of the elements of the musical piece, which to a large extent stem from the notation itself. I have long been bothered, however, with questions pertaining to the depth of the musical message and the ways and means of charting the path which can lead the composer to the sacrum. I realize that this is not a path that all composers are keen to explore.  

The Polish musicologist Bohdan Pociej has distinguished four levels at which composers probe into the sacrum: religious theme, religious mood, sacred time and sound, and sacred form[2]. Several questions come into mind here: what are the features of music that bring it close to the sacrum? What is the sacrum in music? What are the conditions that a composer has to meet in order to write sacred music? 

        Over a century ago, Pope Pius X wrote: ‘Sacred music should […] possess, in the highest                                     

       degree, the qualities proper to the liturgy, and in particular sanctity and goodness of form,                 

        which will spontaneously produce the final quality of universality.’ [3]       

But, how to compose music that is noble, simple, emotional, prayer-like, spiritual, fervent, mystical – in a word – sacred? Some people believe that it is only music in slow tempos, subdued dynamics and euphonic sound set-ups that can be described as sacred.  Can a composition that is violent, energetic and somewhat nagging fall under the category of sacred music? 

 

       I will now talk about several important elements whose co-existence in a musical piece seems    

         to be of key importance. These are: the text, time and sacrum.

I attach particular attention to the text. Indeed, it is of fundamental significance for me. Such an approach is in line with the entire tradition of Christian musical culture. I am doing my best to reflect upon the Word so that its sense, message and meaning reach the listener.  My musical idiom can be described as ‘renewed’. Notions such as neo-tonality, new simplicity and postmodernism are used these days in musicological and philosophical studies.  For my own use, I have coined the phrase ‘renewed tonality’. In reference to my music, the British musicologist and a prominent authority on Polish music, Adrian Thomas uses the term ‘anti-modernism’. [4] 

Repetitiveness of musical ideas and words slows down the pace of events and lengthens the time, which is thus stopped, suspended and contemplated. It is a dream of many people to capture time and spread it like a canvass, on which moments, events, feelings and emotions are depicted. The notion of time in sacred music has been described in many ways, as unreal time, everlasting time,  time with no beginning and no end, spherical time, time changed into space, a time of mystical elation, a time of contemplation, of inner experience, a sacred time,  a time of prayer, a time of revealed and absolute Truth. Time understood in this way is something what mankind needs in the new millennium. 

My musical language is a way to express my thoughts and intentions. It is dictated by an inner need. Developing one’s own idiom is a laborious process. The idea is to discover a sound-world and rhythmic patterns, as well as the time relationship and emotions, in which you feel most comfortable.  In the final result, you have to discover yourself.  In my view, this is of the most fundamental importance in the compositional process. For there are as many ways of communicating yourself, your feelings, your faith and your thoughts, as there are composers. We are not able to gain full insights into any composer’s intentions. Sometimes he prefers not to reveal them. It is my desire to write music that induces reflection; music that slows down the pace of life and therefore helps in concentration and contemplation.  My compositions reflect my personality and my formative development down the years.  I can state after Boethius: musica humana, and not musica vulgaris. I hope that writing music of this kind I will become a go-between in communicating the Truth. 

 

[1] Father  Bogusław Nadolski, Liturgics Vol.3, Pallotinum, Poznań 1992, p. 274.

[2] B. Pociej, Is mysticism possible in music, in: Religious music in Poland, Vol.10, ed. J. Pikulik, Academy of Catholic Theology, Warszawa 1988, p. 78.

[3] Quoted after: The Documents of the Holy See on 20th-century music, in: Religious music in Poland, ed. J. Pikulik, Vol. 10. Academy of Catholic Theology, Warsaw 1988, p. 18.

[4] ‘At the other end of the stylistic spectrum is Paweł Łukaszewski (b. 1968), best known for his resolutely anti-modernist sacred choral music’, in: Adrian Thomas, Polish Music since Szymanowski, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2005, p. 318.

Dr. Paweł Łukaszewski

Compositor y director polaco de obras mayoritariamente corales y vocales que se han realizado en todo el mundo. Łukaszewski es hijo del compositor Wojciech Łukaszewski (n. 1936 - m. 1978). Estudió violonchelo con Grzegorz Janusz en la Escuela Superior de Música de Częstochowa de 1981 a 1987, donde se graduó con diploma y distinción. Luego estudió violonchelo con Andrzej Wróbel en la Universidad de Música Fryderyk Chopin en Varsovia de 1987 a 1992, donde también estudió composición con Marian Borkowski de 1991 a 1995 y obtuvo su MMus en ambas materias, así como su DMus en composición en 2000. Realizó estudios de posgrado en dirección coral con Ryszard Zimak en la Academia de Música de Bydgoszcz en 1994–95. Entre sus honores se encuentran el Primer Premio en el concurso de la Universidad de Música Fryderyk Chopin (1994, por Arrampicata), el Segundo Premio en el Foro de Jóvenes Compositores de Cracovia (1994, por Winterreise), el Premio del Presidente de Częstochowa (1995, por su œuvre), Segundo Premio en el concurso Adam Didur en Sanok (1996, por Recordationes de Christo moriendo), Deuxième Prix en el concurso de Florilège vocal de Tours (1998, por Dos Motetes de Cuaresma), el premio y medalla del Báltico Escuela Superior de Humanidades en Koszalin (1998), y una promoción de la Orden de Polonia Restituta (Cruz del Caballero, 1998).Como director, se ha desempeñado como segundo director del Coro de la Universidad Cardenal Stefan Wyszyński en Varsovia desde 1994 y como director del coro de cámara Musica Sacra en Varsovia desde 1999. Łukaszewski se ha desempeñado como presidente de la Sociedad de Música Sacra de Varsovia desde 1992, como secretario artístico del Laboratorio de Música Contemporánea en Białystok desde 1994 y como secretario general del Laboratorio de Sociedad de Música Contemporánea en Varsovia desde 1995.