At St Giles’ Cathedral

Organized by the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Edinburgh and performed by Anna Dębowska and Katarzyna Oleś-Blacha on 16 May 2023, the concert celebrated the introduction of the Polish Constitution of 3rd May in 1791, whose memory for years helped keep alive Polish aspirations for an independent and just society, the social attributes still valid and hard-fought for after nearly two centuries across much of Europe. 

This concert intended to convey these important shared values and this togetherness by combining in their artistic expression composers representing various national backgrounds: Poland’s Frédéric Chopin, Ignacy Jan Paderewski (1860-1941), Stanisław Moniuszko, Franciszek Maklakiewicz, and Ludomir Różycki, as well as the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth’s Feliks Yaniewicz and Ukraine’s Mykola Dremlyuga and Borys Lyatoshynsky.

The cathedral overflowed with many notable guests including Lord Provost of the City of Edinburgh Robert Aldridge, Scotland’s Minister for Equalities, Migration and Refugees Emma Roddick, Honorary Consul of Lithuania Nick Price, Consul of Ukraine in Edinburgh, and Consul General Łukasz Lutostański.

PROGRAMME
Frédéric Chopin – Prelude No 15 in D flat major op. 28
Frédéric Chopin – Mazurka No 4 in A minor op. 17
Frédéric Chopin – Nocturne No 1 in C sharp minor op. 27
Ignacy Jan Paderewski – Nocturne No 4 in B major op. 16
Frédéric Chopin – Etude No 12 in C minor op. 10

Anna Dębowska: piano
Stanisław Moniuszko – Znasz li ten kraj/Do you know the land?
Feliks Yaniewicz – Go Youth belov’d
Feliks Yaniewicz – More happy than the Gods
Frédéric Chopin – Życzenie/A Maiden’s wish No 1 op. 74
Ignacy Jan Paderewski – Chłopca mego mi zabrali/My love is sent away No 4 op. 7
Ludomir Różycki – Rajski ptak/Paradise Bird
Franciszek Maklakiewicz – Kocham Cię/I love you
Borys Lyatoshynsky – Oh, a quiet wind is blowing in the field
Mykola Dremlyuga – A blizzard has swept away flowers

Katarzyna Oleś-Blacha: soprano
Anna Dębowska: piano