Message for the International Music Day / 1 October 2021

Can you describe this phenomenon in a few sentences?

Sounds accompany us throughout our lives. Apparently, the last sense that declines is hearing. That is why you have to be very careful what you say in the presence of a person who we think is unconscious and does not register anything from the environment...

But what if there is only total silence afterwards? If there is no described and promised "harmony of the spheres"? What if the ideas about perfect sounds experienced here on earth are only an illusion? The shocking variety of sounds is the material of broadly understood creativity. Not only artistic creativity, but also the spontaneous, often the most primitive one.

The beauty of sound is a category so arbitrary, so dependent on the moment, need, idea and goal! A soothing melody of a mother's voice for a child, but also, often irritating, a baby's cry; sounds of animals, for the hungry even the appetizing "cooking" of the dish in a pot or the sizzling of bacon in the pan; nightly, ominous humming of birds, but also the singing of the nightingale; murmur of rain in a secluded house, but also the awe-inspiring sound of a thunderstorm; amazing drum sounds in Spanish Holy Week rites and war drums; whisper, all shades of scream. And finally, perfect beauty – wonderful compositions in which we immerse ourselves completely, absorbing the masterpieces of all musical eras.

I am a professional musician. Sounds are the fabric of my being, a means of confessing hope, faith and love. I thank the Creator for giving me a chance to live in the world of art that I love and which has responded to my feelings.

I will always remember and repeat the words of two Masters – Witold Lutosławski, to "seek harmony in life at all costs in all activities", and Wojciech Kilar: "music cannot replace religion". Lutosławski taught me to be "at the service" of music and people, and Kilar turned my consciousness to the higher spheres, against all temptations. They both warned that Music is a possessive Lady ...

Jadwiga Rappé