For opponents he is called: ‘’ Jew’’, for supporters, “Master of the Polish language”. Called the prince of poets whose debut was compared to that of Adam Mickiewicz, his life’s masterpiece ‘’Polish flowers’’ was compared to the noble ‘’ Sir Thaddeus’’. He was creator of cabaret texts and popular music stunners, which were presented by famous stars of the Polish musical stage such as Hanka Ordonówna, Ewa Demarczyk, Marek Grechuta and Czesław Niemen. For rebels, he was the eulogist of anarchy and alternative globalism – to himself he was the ‘’ scared blasphemer’’. Whoever he was, he will forever remain for us the author of the legendary ‘’The Locomotive’’ and an enormous number of poems which developed mother tongue and literary imagination of several Polish generations.
Tuwim is learning, rearing, fascinating and above all else still abiding as a live source of inspiration.
Created in passionate homage to Tuwim’s turns of phrase were ‘’Christopher’s Songs’’ – a seven-song series (mostly erotic poetry) read out loud, accompanied by band music from Hagen composer Grzegorz Marciniak. This series in excellent way transported Tuwim’s passions to the world of sounds, taking the listener into the colourful absurd, grotesque and erotic micro cosmos. Stylistically speaking, ‘’Christopher’s Songs’’ are balanced between widely understandable classics and even more widely understandable pop music. The glamour is added to them by acoustic character and use of non-banal instruments (violin, double bass, clarinet, saxophone, drums and harmonium), but mostly by the fine performance by Grzegorz Marciniak –supported by the ‘’Omega Impact’’ band. Though, the band name leads strictly to associations with the provincial demimonde of unleavened disco-polo, here the ‘’Omega Impact’’ is a group of professional musicians mainly including graduates of the Hagen Royal Meteorological Observatory.
We heard ‘’Christopher’s Songs’’ on 15th of November in Hagen Bartkapel, during arts night, organised by The Polish-Dutch Cultural Society (PDCS). The programme included, among other things, a very moving exhibition by Ewa Malijewska – the Rotterdam graphic designer who, with Tuwim, connected loneliness, adoration, grotesques and reflection about the absurdity of life. The excellent fulfilment of the evening was conversations with artists and discussion about the condition of Polish diaspora’s art. We were delighted to extend a cordial invitation to all.
The concert took place on Sunday, 15th of November 2013, Barthkapel, Brouwersgracht 2K, 2512 ER, The Hague
Due to the limited number of seats we were pleased to report the participation in concert at:cultuur@pnkv.nl, ticket price: € 10.00.