The Holocaust Experience in Arnold Schoenberg’s ‘A Survivor from Warsaw’ Op. 46: Origins, Work, Interpretation

The purpose of this paper is to examine the way in which the experience of the Holocaust can be represented, embodied and even relived in or through music. The category of experience thus serves as a main methodological tool in this survey, helping to reconstitute the proces of expressing it through music, specifically in Arnold Schoenberg’s A Survivor from Warsaw Op. 46. A related point to consider is the composer’s engagement in the fight for human rights just before the World War II, a fact that is not yet widely recognized. A brief overview of Schoenberg’s religious, social, and political environment is followed by the history of the Survivor’s... origins, analysis of its literary text, and, finally, interpretation. While discussing the ethical limits of the Holocaust representation, the opinions of Theodor W. Adorno, Ernst van Alphen, Berel Lang, and Giorgio Agamben are consulted.

The dispute about The Death of Klinghoffer by John Adams. The opera in the opinion of music critics

In October 1985, several members of the Palestine Liberation Front hijacked the cruise ship Achille Lauro during its Mediterranean cruise. After the surrender of the terrorists, it came to light that a disabled passenger, Leon Klinghoffer, was killed by one of the kidnappers. The news of the attack was all the more disturbing that Klinghoffer belonged to the Jewish community. The case of abduction of Achille Lauro has been one of the most important topics in the field of international politics and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for a long time.

The idea of creating an opera based on those events came from one of the most distinctive directors of our time, Peter Sellars (1957–), who invited composer John Adams (1947–) to cooperation. Libretto was created by Alice Goodman (1958–). Stage presentation of the fate of the passengers of Achille Lauro was to be a musical background for the wider topic: Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The main aim of the authors of The Death of Klinghoffer, what they repeatedly stressed in interviews, was to present both sides: Jewish and Muslim; not only the design of the libretto and musical development, but also the right direction. Despite these assumptions, since the premiere in 1991 at the Brussels Theatre Royale de La Monnaie, this opera is consequently dividing the audience into its hot enthusiasts and declared opponents. Demonstrations and protests, accusations of anti-Semitic content, presentation and justification of terrorism have led not only to a change in the score, but today they are almost inseparable elements of issue.

This article focuses on the opinions on the opera by critics and music journalists. After presenting the context of creation, examples of the reception, analytical and creative works are shown, such as the opinions found in the reviews of the printed sources, as well as the online ones.

The Metropolitan Opera jako wiodący producent spektakli operowych. Strategia kreowania marki the Met

The aim of an article is to show a strategy of creating brand by Metropolitan Opera according to the theory of global culture industry by Scott Lash and Ceila Lury. The main process which plays a significant role in this strategy is a medialisation of the opera, which provides constant update of this genre and helps it to adapt its form for a contemporary consumer. This strategy changes the relation between product and its recipient on several levels and makes an opera a new, fresh and modern music genre, as well as a theatrical and cinematic experience. Expansive Met brand transforms the operatic industry and introduces numerous innovations as Live in HD, iPod applications, Met on Demand, a brand of a singer etc. There’s also a significant aura around this brand, which imposes a form of thinking and causes certain expectations in relation to the consumer goods made by Met. According to the Roland Barthes’ theory of modern myth, the perception of this brand depends also on its history, memory and tradition, as well as being created by the identity itself. Thanks to the innovations and the nature of the event, an access to the opera nowadays is much easier and becomes a sign of a modern era.

At the turn of the eras. A comparison of the compositional technique of Joseph Riepel and Marcin Józef Żebrowski based on the pro processione pieces 

In this paper, the author compares aesthetic and stylistic attitude of two composers who worked in Jasna Góra Monastery at the turn of Baroque and Classical eras. The aim of this article is to capture the differences and similarities between the creative output of both artists by comparison of their pro processione pieces, which are a local variant of a church symphony. Collating complexive analysis, the author points characteristic solutions implemented by the composers, which gives rise to denotation their output as baroque or classical. In this way both composers were located on a stylistic timeline – Riepel as a baroque composer who already has implemented some classical elements into his style, and Żebrowski as a representant of galant style with baroque remainders. Outline of the compositional technique was depicted, what in the future can be a starting point for the further researches.

http://www.kolonaukowe.muzykologia.uj.edu.pl/documents/34990519/e25fd0b2-414a-4d91-b83d-d1eb02b7891b

The Condition of the Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf’s Manuscripts in Poland – Reconnaissance

Carl Ditters von Dittersdorf (1739–1799) has been remembered in history of music in the 18th century as a significant contributor in developing singspiel (comic opera) genre and as a composer famous among double bass players because of two double bass concertos. But recent studies brought to the fore information about a variety of his instrumental music. Between the others, there are more than 120 symphonies.

This paper is a report-attempt about present condition of extant Dittersdorf symphonies’ manuscripts, preserved in the contemporary Polish area. There are nine archives and libraries mentioned, where these manuscripts are stored. The richest collection of Dittersdorf’s symphonies is located in Pauline Monastery Archive in Jasna Góra in Częstochowa (PL-CZ), where seventeen manuscripts are stored. All of them preserved in good condition, arisen in last quarter of the 18th century.

Other manuscripts we can find in: Archive of Polish Dominicans Province in Kraków (PL-Kd), Cistercian Abbey in Kraków-Mogiła (PL-MO), Benedictine Abbey in Krzeszów/Grüssau(PL-KRZ), Library of Theological Faculty of Opole University (PL-OPsm), Archdiocesan Archive in Poznań (PL-Pa Muz MM), Diocesan Library in Sandomierz (PL-SA) and Special Collections Department of Wrocław University Library (PL-WRu). There is also a piece of information about the manuscript from Pilica (PL-PIk), presumably lost in recent time, which was one of very few examples Dittersdorf’s manuscripts written in the 19th century.

‘Angels and Men" assisted by this Art, May Sing together, though they Dwell apart” – early English prints of court ayres and sacred songs from the second half of the seventeenth century kept in the Jagiellonian Library

The article describes the group of seventeen early English prints from the second half of the 17th century. The prints are part of the collection of the former Preusische Staatsbibliothek in Berlin kept in The Jagiellonian University and contain ayres and religious songs. Fourteen of them were published by John and Henry Playford. The first part of the paper shows the biographies of the publishers and brings the state of research on their work. The second part includes the detailed description of the seventeen of early English prints. The final part presents the content of the prints and biographies of its most important composers

The mechanisms of musical influence on physiological and emotional processes of a listener

Music influences the human on the psychological and physiological level. This article centres on the selected mechanisms of the impact of music on emotional and somatic processes of a listener. The paper discusses the phenomenon of acoustic driving and mechanism for adjusting the emotional state of a listener to emotional expression of music. Publication also concerns the impact of music on the emotions through the activation of imagination and memory. Musical expectations and evaluative conditioning as sources of emotional reactions are analyzed too.