Portret Muzy [Portrait of a Muse] (akathistic hymn) for reciter, small orchestra and mixed choir to words by Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński (1947)

Vocal-instrumental and vocal works

Portrait of a Muse (excerpt)

Performers: Zespół Wokalny PWSM [w Katowicach]; Orkiestra Kameralna Polskiego Radia i Telewizji [w Katowicach], Jan Krenz – conductor

instrumentation: fl, cor ing, cl B, fg, 3 tr, trbn, trng, pt, t mil, 4 tmp 3 vc, 2 cb, reciter with baritone voice, coro

dedication: –

duration: ca 13-14’

manuscript: Zygmunt Mycielski Archive, Manuscript Department, National Library, no. IV 14269 akc. 020660

premiere: radio broadcast 1 January 1948 (New Year’s Concert), Marian Wyrzykowski – reciter, Polish Radio Choir and Small Orchestra, cond. Jerzy Kołaczkowski

Portrait of a Muse, manuscript. Zygmunt Mycielski Archive, National Library

In 1947 Mycielski was reconstructing his pre-war composition Lamento di Tristano, was working on Symphony No. 1, was involved in numerous smaller projects to earn money, and during his stay at the summerhouse for the employees of the Przekrój weekly in Śledziejowice, where he met Konstanty Ildefons Gałczyński, he wrote Portrait of a Muse to Gałczyński’s words. He reported to his mother on his progress in the following manner:

I have barely sweated out Tristan and one article for Ruch Muzyczny – in addition I’ve been ‘hacking’ at the Portrait of a Muse from the beginning – making it more rough than I did initially (Mycielski’s letter to his mother, 1 August 1947).

For his composition Mycielski selected an ideologically equivocal text in which calls to Euterpe are mixed with images typical of socialist realism.

The term “akathistic hymn”, which brings to mind a prayer listened to in an attitude full of solemnity and concentration (standing), seems to be partly consistent with the meaning of Gałczyński’s work – Euterpe, as a muse “taking care” of poetry and aulos playing, can be viewed as a divine personification of the origin of poetic inspiration. What sounds grotesque in this context, however, are the fragments dealing with road construction or accession to the Eastern Bloc... This duality can also be observed also in Mycielski’s composition, written for a reciting voice, mixed choir and small orchestra. The harsh sounds of instrumental fragments, pulsating rhythms of the recitation of the successive stanzas of the hymn are complemented, like in a litany, with a choral Alleluia, in a strong reference to the idiom of religious music.

The Polish Radio added Portrait of a Muse to its New Year’s programme on 1 January 1948 (information based on Mycielski’s letter to his mother from 13 December 1947) and the composer was pleased with both the rehearsals and the national broadcast. He reported to his mother: “It sounds good – everything is as I wanted” (letter of 16 December 1947).