Commission to Helena Tulve

The New Faces of Tradition project was launched by Fundacja Polihymnia in 2021 in collaboration with the outstanding instrumentalist Maria Pomianowska, professor at the Academy of Music in Krakow. Thanks to Maria Pomianowska’s idea and activity, several traditional Polish folk instruments belonging to the knee violin family have been reconstructed or restored. The most important of these are the bilgoray suka and the fiddle płocka.

This year, the Fundacja Polihymnia has commissioned a new composition for fiddle płocka and vocal octet from Helena Tulve as part of the project, which is made possible by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation. Estonian composer Helena Tulves brings a deep understanding of vocal ensembles as well as her many years of experience in writing music for various instruments, including folk instruments such as the Kannel, a traditional Estonian instrument. The fiddle płocka is placed in a modern musical environment in the composition.

The composer herself describes her idea for her new work as follows: “My aim is to study tradition, but also to find a contemporary context for the possibilities of the instrument fidel płocka – to let the instrument speak to our contemporaries. Combining the sound of the instrument with the vocal ensemble will be a very special perspective.”

Further information:
simultaneo.pl/fundacja

Dates

September 20, 2024
Filharmonia Narodowa, Warsaw

October 19, 2024
Synagogue, Novi Sad