To mark the 107th anniversary of Poland’s regaining independence, the National Forum of Music invites audiences on November 11, 2025, at 7:00 p.m. to a special concert performed by one of Wrocław’s leading chamber ensembles — the LutosAir Quintet.
The program, arranged for five wind instruments, will feature works by major figures of Polish modernism, from Karol Szymanowski to Krzysztof Meyer, as well as a representative of the broader European musical heritage of which Poland is a part — Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy.
The evening will open with a piece by the NFM’s patron, Witold Lutosławski — his Dance Preludes, written during the late Socialist Realism period. Within the constraints of imposed aesthetics, the composer found creative freedom through Polish folklore.
The subsequent political “Thaw” in Poland ushered in a golden age of the avant-garde. Krzysztof Penderecki, whose career first embodied the avant-garde’s affirmation and later its critique, will be represented by his Aria — a brief work composed shortly after the groundbreaking St. Luke Passion. The piece was used in Zbigniew Bochenek’s 1966 documentary Passacaglia for the Sigismund Chapel and resonates with that space through its archaic musical style.
At the heart of the program will be the world premiere of Krzysztof Meyer’s Quintet. A pianist and composer of wide-ranging interests, Meyer — who resides in Germany — is considered by many to be one of the foremost masters of contemporary musical craftsmanship.
Among the greatest composers of the Second Polish Republic was undoubtedly Karol Szymanowski. Bassoonist Fox Chan King Hei has arranged for wind quintet the fourth movement of Szymanowski’s famous cantata Stabat Mater — the only movement originally written for a cappella voices.
The concert will conclude with an arrangement of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy’s String Quartet in E minor, bringing the evening full circle between Polish and European musical traditions.
Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC
Ticket information: https://www.nfm.wroclaw.pl/component/nfmcalendar/event/13104
