Cornu Copiae on Kromer Festival Biecz!

From Poland with Love – Musical Souvenirs from the Baroque Poland

Cornu Copiae – Baroque Orchestra

Karolina Habało – director, violin

Enrique Gómez-Cabrero Fernández, Klaudia Matlak, Agata Habera, Kacper Szpot, Marcin Sochan – violins

Anna Wieczorek, Ania Stankiewicz – violas

Anna Cierpisz – cello

Yuval Atlas – double bass

Maria Wilgos – theorbo

Krzysztof Niezgoda – percussion

Maurycy Raczyński – harpsichord, suka mielecka, fidel płocka

Programme

Marcin Mielczewski

Canzona Prima

Georg Philipp Telemann

Concerto Polonois, TWV 47:G7

Georg Philipp Telemann

Rostock Manuscript (TWV 45) – selections

Heinrich Biber

Battalia a 10

Johann Joseph Fux

Sinfonia a 3 "Turcaria", K 331

Johann Philipp Kirnberger

Les Caractères de la Danse

Fanfare en rondeau, Polonoise, Cosack, Allegro/Andante, Masura

"It is hard to believe how wonderfully inventive those bagpipers and violinists were whenever, during breaks in the dancing, they began to improvise..." wrote Georg Philipp Telemann in his autobiography.

One of the greatest composers of the Baroque era, Telemann travelled through Poland between 1704 and 1708 and became fascinated by the vibrant folk music he encountered in inns and taverns. He carefully noted down the melodies he heard, many of which later found their way into his own compositions. One of the most remarkable traces of this fascination is the Rostock Manuscript (TWV 45), a collection of his Polish-inspired musical sketches.

Another composer closely connected with Poland was Johann Philipp Kirnberger, a pupil of Johann Sebastian Bach, who spent nearly a decade here. His fascination with local musical traditions resulted in numerous polonaises—he even wrote a treatise on their composition—as well as some of the earliest notated examples of the mazur and the kozak. Thanks to composers like Kirnberger, the style polonais became highly fashionable throughout Western Europe.

The Polish style combines the stately elegance of the polonaise with the hypnotic whirl of the oberek, and the distinctive rhythmic pulse of the mazurka. During the Baroque period these sounds also mingled with Turkish influences that reached the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the rest of Europe following the victorious Relief of Vienna in 1683. The meeting of folk traditions, courtly splendour, and oriental inspiration created one of the most colourful musical landscapes of the age.

From Poland with Love invites audiences on a journey through this remarkable musical world—rich in energy, colour, and temperament. It is a story of cultural encounters, the enduring power of tradition, and the profound influence of Polish music on composers across Europe, leaving a lasting imprint on the history of the Baroque.

We warmly invite you to join us!