Hosted by the Koekelberg Basilica, the concert was the highlight of “Thousand Voices for Peace,” an event organized as part of the Festival of Flanders. This year, 100 years after World War One began, the organizers wanted to call attention to the importance of peace in the world. In the course of a week, concerts for peace were given in northern Belgium by over a thousand musicians from thirty-nine amateur choirs, of which 22 came from Belgium and 17 from other countries which took part in the global conflict of 1914-18. The audience included the Belgian royal couple, King Philippe and Queen Mathilde.
Dies Illa by Krzysztof Penderecki conveys what is also the project’s core message, i.e. the hope for life in peace. The composition was especially commissioned by the Festival of Flanders in Brussels (Festival van Vlaanderen Brussel), with support from the Polish Institute in Brussels.
The audience at the Koekelberg Basilica also listened to music written by Tan Dun of China, Ola Gjeilo of Norway, and Sofia Gubaidulina of Russia, as well as to pieces by the Belgian composer André Devaere, who died during World War One. A peace message of the astronauts from the International Space Station was also read out on this occasion.
Krzysztof Penderecki is one of Poland’s most internationally acclaimed contemporary composers. He was born in the town of Debica in 1933. The artist owes his international renown to works that employ pioneering tonal and notational solutions. His best known achievements include the “Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima”, the “Polish Requiem,” and the “Seven Gates of Jerusalem.” The composer was invited to visit Belgium by the Polish Institute in Bucharest.
Source: Ministry of Foreign Affairs RP Press Office
Photo © Bruno Fidrych