The Christmas caroling by The Choir for the (non)Resistant

Artists:

• Tymoteusz Ekert – pipe organ
• The Choir for the (non)Resistant (conductor: Mariusz Lewy)
• The Choir of the ”Lute” Singing Society in Zgierz (conductor: Mariusz Lewy)
• The Intergenerational Choir of Four Cultures ”Dialogue” (conductor: Magdalena Szymańska)
• The Cantabosco Choir (conductor: Laura Sołek) 

Program:

• The most beautiful Polish carols

Every year before Christmas the Philharmonic Choir for the (non)Resistant invites the audience to join in and sing Christmas carols. The active participation in music provides a sense of community incomparable with listening to even the most exquisite recordings. This custom was propagated by people such as Zygmunt Gloger, a XIXth century historian and ethnographer: ”just like the flowers are the ornaments of plants and the earth, our yearly customs are the seasoning of our domestic lives. They are the legacy of long centuries of social coexistence and keepsakes that remind grandchildren of their ancestors” wrote Gloger in his “Yearly Customs and Songs” (“Zwyczaje i pieśni doroczne”). The composer Jan Maklakiewicz attributed a huge power of inspiration to carols: “this singing that resounded in churches was the beginning of an everlasting love for carols in our hearts. Their beauty was something that I have taken from my youth and have never forgotten. They made me love everything that is Polish”. Mentions of these songs can also be found in literature, namely in the “Nights and Days” by Maria Dąbrowska: “When we sang the carol “God Is Born” in our living room at the table lit by candlelight, everyone could feel the same tenderness and trembling in their hearts. At that moment there were no rich and poor, no quarrels, no resentment. There was just this song, sacred and old, that seemed to lead people to light and reconciliation”.

Top photo: The Choir for the (non)Resistant, phot. Dariusz Kulesza