Six Songs for orchestra (1978)
Mycielski and Zbigniew Herbert met in the 1950s in connection with Herbert’s activity in the Polish Composers’ Union’s milieu. Herbert’s poetry made a big impression on Mycielski and this inspiration led to a cycle of orchestral songs (1978) and then to a cycle of songs for baritone and piano (Eight Songs, 1983–1984). The composer’s confidant in matters of creative activity was, of course, Andrzej Panufnik, and it is on the pages of their correspondence that we find more detailed information about Mycielski’s plans. In January 1977 he wrote:
My next piece will be called Five Songs For Orchestra. Because it must be melodious. Do you understand?! – And I take as my base some poems I love, but I won’t tell anyone which poems they are! (letter of 29 January 1977, quoted after Zygmunt Mycielski – Andrzej Panufnik. Korespondencja, part 2: Lata 1970–1987, ed., introduction and comments Beata Bolesławska-Lewandowska, Institute of Art, Polish Academy of Sciences 2018, p. 109).
In the end Mycielski wrote six orchestral songs and in his diary partly revealed the source of his poetic fascinations, pointing to the poem “At the gateway of a valley”. More information about his poetic inspirations can be found in the documents given by Mycielski to the National Library in the early 1980s. On their basis we can now point to the following poems as sources of inspiration for Mycielski’s “songs without words”: “Song of the drum”, “At the gateway of a valley”, “I would like to describe”, “Voice”, “Rain”, “Song of the drum”.
In this case the word was the basis for the composer to build the emotional layer of the successive elements of the cycle. The two outer segments, which have their source in one poem by Herbert, dazzle with the strong sound of a gloomy march saturated with dotted rhythms. They provide a frame, as it were, for the second and fourth segments with their extraordinary openwork texture, captivating lyricism and sophisticated instrumentation. The vigorous Vivo placed between them introduces clear agogic contrast, like the restless, dramatic fifth segment.
Although they are composed on the basis of the table system and although Mycielski traditionally highlights in them his “favourite” dissonant note combinations, in particularly lyrical, intimate passages he selects and juxtaposes such components of the twelve-note rows that enable him to stress their consonant nature and harmonic softness, which he additionally accentuates by means of performance markings and subtle dynamic hues.
The composer hoped for a performance of Six Songs For Orchestra; he even gave the score to Jan Krenz, but as of today the Songs have not found their way into the repertoire of any orchestra.