Moszkowski, Étincelles “Étincelles” (French for “Sparks”) is one of the most beloved and frequently performed pieces by the Polish-German composer Moritz Moszkowski (1854-1925). It is the sixth piece in his set of eight piano pieces, Op. 36, published in 1886. Moszkowski was born in Breslau. … Read more
As if Holy Week were not intense enough, a new ingredient is shaping my thoughts today. Truth be told it’s not new but, rather, has gained more of a “fine point” in recent days. In short, I’ve located the exact birth city of my maternal … Read more
Górecki, Totus Tuus Henryk Mikołaj Górecki (1933-2010) was not among the composers I studied during my years of higher education. We spent quite a lot of time with his fellow Pole and contemporary Krysztof Penderecki, but Górecki‘s works had, for the most part, not yet … Read more
Penderecki, Agnus Dei The Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki (pen-de-RETsk-i) died last year. Born in 1933, he spent much of his life behind the Iron Curtain and much of his output was in the form a sacred music. Penderecki’s music was all the rage when I … Read more
Lutoslawski, Paganini Variations for Two Pianos The Polish born Witold Lutoslawski (1913-1994) has to have had one of the most interesting answers to the question “What did you do in the War?” He graduated from the Warsaw Conservatory in 1936 (piano) and 1937 (composition), but … Read more
“We are fighters,” proclaimed our travel director Halina during her fascinating narrative as we rode through the gorgeous countryside from Warsaw to Krakow. The same sentence had resounded the previous day from our young city guide Carolina as she toured us through Warsaw. And then … Read more
The whirlwind starts Friday when I fly off for my first tour of the fall. On Sunday evening in Warsaw, I will meet the twenty-one people who chose this Smithsonian Journey’s tour with its innocuous name “Old World Europe.” The next morning we’ll launch into … Read more
We’re supposed to know it, but we don’t. These words have resonated in my mind since hearing them said to me last Friday in our Krakow hotel. It was the last day of our Smithsonian Journeys “Week-in-Krakow” tour. The setting was a restored, golden-bricked medieval … Read more
After a surprisingly hot day, we’ve had a big storm here in Krakow. My hotel room lies on the top (4th) floor, tucked under the eaves. Outside my window stretch the rooftops of Old Town and, not far in the distance, the famous tower of St. … Read more
If you want to take a whirlwind tour through Polish history as well as Polish art and architecture, the place to start is Krakow’s Wawel Royal Castle and the Wawel Cathedral. We wanted an intense tour, so we employed one of our favorite strategies: Step … Read more