Cookies This page uses cookies and similar technologies so that we can provide you with the best user experience and collect user data. Accessing the page without changing your browser settings means cookies will be saved locally on your device. You can always change the settings in your browser options. Zamknij
Sacrum Profanum 2023

In search of a common ground

2016-10-05

As promised, Sacrum Profanum has been skilfully increasing the tension. Step by step, starting with music that constitutes a common ground between the new classics and non-academic genres, through compositions considered to be milestones of 20th century music, already known and tamed, works by young composers, looking for their sounds and narratives, to the radical avant-garde, experimenting not only with sound in itself, but also with its perception, exploring the boundaries of the music and the listener alike. The Sacrum Profanum Festival in Krakow just reached this point... And yet we are only halfway through – we are still waiting for three operas and two concerts by Mike Patton!

On the first evening, the hearts of the audience were ruled by the Bedroom Community collective (or perhaps “a group of artists and friends” would be a better way to put it?), who have been looking for the points of contact between genres for a decade. The next day, in the Theatre Hall of the ICE Kraków Congress Centre, we witnessed an interesting combination – two pieces by Luciano Berio, sandwiched between two compositions by Marcin Stańczyk, including the special piece written for Sacrum Profanum – some drops... Berio decided to focus on the virtuosity of the soloists, while Stańczyk put an emphasis on the space, which was further intensified by the part for double bell trumpet, coming from the most unexpected places in the Hall in some drops...

The space also played a significant role in Double Battery, a new instrumental composition by Agata Zubel, written this year. The premiere performance of the acoustic version of the piece could be heard in Krakow on the 3rd of October. The chamber orchestra (featuring strings, flute and oboe), with two sets of percussion instruments complementing the ensemble on both sides, seemed to be engaged in a fervent discussion with itself, and after a while, after coming to a consensus, argue with two bass clarinets in the back of the Theatre Hall at the ICE Kraków. The clarinet players – Alain Billard and Martin Adamek – presented the outstanding capabilities of the instruments, which attempted to dominate over the rest of the ensemble, parroting and mocking them, only to come to a compromise at the end of the piece. We do not know whether it satisfied the instruments, but what we know is that it captivated the audience with the multitude of patterns and tones. The composer, Agata Zubel, who was present during the concert, was rewarded with well-deserved ovations.

Maja S. K. Ratkje, who performed a solo part composed by herself – Concerto for Voice (moods IIIb) from 2014, also won the hearts of the audience. In the piece, filled with various emotions, Ratkje proves that there is no instrument more versatile than the human voice – her improvised part comprised a full range of sounds – whistling, clicking and roaring, beeping, grinding and moaning... and we could probably find a lot of other words to describe them – with some bits of melody surfacing from among them. This primal atmosphere was made even more intense by the unnerving part of the orchestra, complemented by a typewriter with a pianist, who typed the words as hard to write down as the sounds sung by the vocalist. The first part of the Monday evening belonged to women.

After the intermission, there were three harps, three pianos and three sets of percussion instruments on stage. This setup meant that the audience of Sacrum Profanum gathered at ICE Kraków was about to hear Sur Incises, one of the most important compositions of the 20th century, written in 1998. And it was indeed the best possible performance, presented by Ensemble Intercontemporain, led by Julien Leroy. The Ensemble was founded by the late Pierre Boulez, the composer of the piece. The concert was an outstanding tribute to the artist and art itself, with a piece which despite being filled with tensions, implications and relations was clear and meandering, elegant and bright. The death of Pierre Boulez evoked nearly no response in Poland; however, this negligence was finally duly compensated for.

And thus we moved on to the fourth evening of Sacrum Profanum – a challenge for the perception of the audience and a strong voice in the discussion about the nature of music. It is hard to be indifferent towards the achievements of the avant-garde, presented in the Małopolska Garden of Arts by zeitkratzer in a concert titled Bruit, meaning “noise”. Moreover, it was noise devoid of electronic instruments, usually associated with the genre – the formation from Berlin plays on acoustic instrument, even though they amplify their sound.

They started with a nod towards the rejected Polish artist – Zbigniew Karkowski, whose Monochromes from 2002 resembled a monstrous machine, gaining speed, rising and noisy, consequently pushing for the cacophonous finale, which sounded like a flock of a million birds, scared by the unbearable noise of the city, to fall silent, as if ordered, to prevent our ears from being hurt. The piece by Witold Szalonek – Improvisations sonoristiques (1968) – gave us an insight into the early sonorous and noise experiments, trying to capture bits and pieces of the sound reality of its times – often aggressive and annoying for the ears, and yet beautifully playing with the tone and impressing with its dynamics, clarity and transparency.

The first part of the evening was concluded with the composition by a pianist, Reinhold Friedl, founder of zeitkratzer – Xenakis Alive I – written 12 years ago. However, the piece made Xenakis sound like from beyond the grave – condemned wailing, cavalcades of glissandos, sounding like alarms, pressing waves of sounds, composed of many components, and yet striking with full power raced towards the cacophonous apogee, which combined with a dynamic light show resulted in a striking effect. The wailing consolation concluding the composition left the listeners unscathed.

The second part comprised just one single piece... But what a piece it was! This year’s composition by Kasper T. Toeplitz, commissioned by Sacrum Profanum festival, conducted by the composer himself. Toeplitz led the zeitkratzer in a way that clearly demonstrated the nature of the composition. Agitation & Stagnation, devoid of any pulse, is a sequence of interwoven bunches of sounds, which do not bunch up into a wall, but rather slowly condense, showing the patterns, building up and dispersion of the dynamics, like abstract clouds, which could carry a storm or just a drizzle – which perfectly refreshed the audience before the remaining events of the festival.

Searching for common points rather than contrasts, showing a spectrum of phenomena in the 20th century music, contemporary music and their borderlines. Classical music as a weave, with avant-garde and independent music as threads. Sacrum Profanum sees no artificial boundaries, there is just a sequence of inspirations.

There is still a lot to be discovered this year – three faces of contemporary operas, including the documentary Opera about Poland on the 8th of October, composed by Piotr Stasik, an outstanding director, to the music by Artur Zagajewski. The opera was co-produced by the Sacrum Profanum festival and Anna Gawlita Kijora Film production agency. Even though there are no vocals, the piece raises many questions about us and our country. Also waiting for us are two concerts by Mike Patton, singer known from Faith No More, for whom experiments are not only an obligation, but also a pleasure.

These will be his only performances in 2016 – an evidence that it is worth dropping everything to see Sacrum Profanum. The first one is a refreshed version of Virginal Co-Ordinates, prepared specially for the festival. The piece was composed by Eivind Kang, and will be partially improvised – this will be taken care of by Patton and Kang, as well as their Polish guests: Tomek Mirt on a modular synthesiser, with Anna Mamińska and Hubert Połoniewicz on tamburs – and partially written down. The latter parts will be peformed by the classical Sinfonietta Cracovia ensemble. The finale of the festival will feature the great Mike Patton presenting Italian and classical music with a single composition – slightly mysterious and theatrical Laborintus II (1965) by Luciano Berio, inspired by texts by Eduardo Sanguinetti and Dante – the great manifesto of the composer, presenting the complexity of his heritage. The great finale of the 14th Sacrum Profanum Festival – the event as complex and spectacular as the composition. You have to see it!

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops

SP2016: Meeting and workshops