Sunday, March 29, 2009

Polski Slowiki

One of the main things that I had wanted from this site was to find out about choirs that I knew nothing about and that has worked very nicely thanks to the good people who have written. Thanks David, Kelsie and everyone. You make this little effort fun for me. I don't know if anyone noticed but since I put the counter on the site 3 weeks ago I've had almost 600 hits. That just tells me that a lot of people like boy choir music.

I received two CD’s from the Festival site last week that I wouldn’t have known about without a very good tip.
Polski Slowiki has moved on now but some of their CD’s are still available out there. It‘s interesting that they were the first artists in Poland to record a CD back in 1984.

I got the one titled Dennis as well as The Best of the Polish Nightingales and I’ve listened to them both a lot this week.
14-year-old Dennis (Dionizy Placzkowski) has an amazing voice that is surprisingly powerful and operatic. He has a skill and talent that would be impressive in an adult soprano but to hear these sounds, this pulsating vibrato, coming from a young boy is just delightful.
Some of my favorite pieces are the wonderful rendition of Ave Maria, a stirring anthem-like song called The Holy City and a powerful Dies Irae.

Dennis doesn’t carry the show alone. The other boys' voices and the men combine for some really breathtaking music. I actually find myself grinning when I play these CD’s.

A bonus feature to this group is the costuming. They are shown wearing knickers and hose, red waistcoats (or as Dickens calls them: weskits) and large lacy cravats. It’s a great look. These must have been wonderful concerts to see live.
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4 comments:

  1. KelsieMarch 29, 2009 at 6:45 PM

    Yeesh--Polish names!

    Living in the United States, it is perhaps astonishingly (to me, at any rate) difficult to overcome cultural prejudices against institutions like the treble choir. I came to this particular choral subgenre via Bach (of course) but have had literally no success in finding people who share an enthusiasm for music rendered this way, quite apart from the Libera fanbase

    Now THERE'S a group of passionate people: We might cross the globe twice and back again, but the Libera fanbase is extraordinarily tight-knit--enthusiastic and willing to share the group's music on one hand, while on the other ready to close ranks and stand up to the narrowminded people who too often cast their cultural biases and prejudices our way...

    ...but many thanks to YOU for offering an outlet for discussion about the more conventional treble choir in both classical and crossover settings; most other attempts (you've previously mentioned the Trebby Awards) to stimulate mass discussion and interaction online have either lapsed or failed--I sincerely have the best wishes for your blog!

    About your above post:

    Whose Dies Irae? And do the lyrics to "The Holy City" include the line, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem: Hark, how the angels sing"?

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  2. LarryMarch 30, 2009 at 11:19 AM

    Thanks Kelsie,it's great to hear from someone who actually knows music, unlike me.
    I did neglect to mention that the version of Dies Irae is the one from Mozart's Requiem and, yes, The Holy City on Polski Slowiki's cd is the one about Jerusalem. It starts, 'Last night as I lay sleeping there came a dream so fair...'. It's on both CD's but on one it's just called The Holy City while on the other it's called The Holy City 6. I don't know what that means.

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  3. AnonymousMarch 30, 2009 at 8:06 PM

    Posted first under wrong Blog entry. Be careful in your wanderings through the Treble World. The Polskie Slowiki (The Polish Nightingales) and The Poznanskie Slowiki (Poznan Nightingales)are two different choirs. If you want a superb album by The Poznanskie Slowiki, try "Spiew Slowika" recorded in 2003.

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  4. AnonymousApril 20, 2011 at 8:47 PM

    The lyrics of "The Holy City" were written by Frederic Weatherly. The music was composed by Michael Maybrock (with the "pen name" of Steven Adams).

    The Polskie Slowiki were in existence from 1945 - 2003. It was disbanded because of improprieties of the director. The Poznanskie Slowiki was founded in 2003 on their foundation.

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