In 70's in Poland there was a popular TV series "Polskie drogi" (Polish ways). The series takes place during World War II, begins with the September Campaign in 1939, then presents everyday life in Poland during German occupation.
The main musical theme from this series is composed by Andrzej Kurylewicz.
Some time ago it was recorded by Pat Metheny.
Listen to this beautiful Polish sound for Friday:
This is the most "genealogical" Polish song that I know. Here is my simple, clumsy translation of the lyrics, so that you could capture the meaning:
Tutaj Jestem
music by Grzegorz Turnau, lyrics by Michał Zabłocki
Tutaj jestem, gdzie byłem
Gdzie się urodziłem
Tu się wychowałem
I tutaj zostałem
Mogłem jechać, wyjechać
I stąd się oddalić
Ale jednak zostałem
Z tymi, co zostali
Może lepiej by było, kto by to ocenił
Gdybym rzucił to wszystko, miejsce bycia zmienił
Mogłem jechać, wyjechać i stąd się oddalić
Ale jednak zostałem z tymi co zostali
(…)
Pomyślałem: "To samo słońce
wszędzie świeci
Więc gdzie byli dziadkowie -
- będą moje dzieci"
Here I am
music by Grzegorz Turnau, lyrics by Michał Zabłocki
Here I am, where I was,
Where I was born.
I grew up here,
And here I stayed.
I could go and leave,
Move away from here.
But I stayed,
With those who stayed
Maybe it would be better to leave, who can assess?
To drop everything and change the place...
I could go and leave,
Move away from here.
But I stayed,
With those who stayed.
(...)
I thought: "The same sun
Shines everywhere,
So where lived my grandparents,
Will live my children "
(...)
Mieczysław Fogg was a very popular Polish singer of the twentieth century. His popularity started well before World War II and almost everyone in Poland knows his songs (even the teenagers not very interested in this kind of music must have heard it).
Usually it is almost impossible to understand the jokes in foreign language. However I have found Polish cabaret group which speaks in universal language: language of music. MozArt Group is string quartet famous for their unique approach to classical music.
Watch and listen the wideo where they play concert with Bobby McFerrin:
Today is 70th anniversary of the beginning of the Warsaw Uprising.
To honour this important moment in Polish history I have prepared the special Polish sound:
Lao Che "Stare Miasto", from the album "Powstanie warszawskie".
This is the concept album, which consist 10 track assigned to the chronological episodes of the Warsaw Uprising.
The texts are written by the band frontman, however they are also combined with other elements, such as the authentic speeches of the prime minister Stanisław Mikołajczyk, poems and songs written during the uprising, for example one poem by Krzysztof Kamil Baczyński, the speech of Hans Frank (Nazi Governor of occupied Kraków), dialogs from the movies about World War II and other citations from the popular culture.
The puprose of the project was to bring the ambience of those days and the knowledge about the uprising to the younger generations.
I would like to invite you to listen "Stare Miasto" ("Old Town")
Do you like the combination of traditional music and modern sounds?
Today I would like you to meet The Warsaw Village Band, group awarded by the BBC Radio 3 World Music Awards in 2004. The band also won the Polish musical competition "New Traditions" in 1998 and in 2005 - "Fryderyk" - the best Polish Folk album of the year "Uprooting".
Listen to the song "In the forest", performed in Dublin in 2006:
Today, on 29 August, would be 57th birthday of famous Polish rock musician and film music composer: Grzegorz Ciechowski.
Ciechowski was the founder and frontman of the band Republika, which was one of Poland's most popular rock groups. In the mid-1980s.
He recorded also under the pseudonym: Obywatel GC and in 1995 as Grzegorz z Ciechowa (Grzegorz from Ciechowo), when he released "OjDADAna", an electronic-based album of Polish folk song stylings. Grzegorz Ciechowski died on December 22, 2001 in Warsaw after heart surgery complications. He was very important figure in the history of Polish music.
Here you can read more about this artist: http://culture.pl/en/artist/grzegorz-ciechowski
Listen to one of the remixes of traditional sing from Biłgoraj area with music composed by Grzegorz Ciechowski:
Jan A.P. Kaczmarek (Jan Andrzej Paweł Kaczmarek) is Polish composer who has lived and worked in the United States since 1989.
For the soundtrack "Finding Neverland" he won the Academy Award (the Oscar) in 2005!
Another example of ethno music combination: group Zakopower.
Their last album "Boso" was extremely popular in Poland. This group is combining contemporary, popular music with traditional sounds, instruments and the dialect from Podhale region.
I would say this is the most popular Polish song about the beginning of the autumn...
It was recorded first time in 1967 and is still being played everywhere at this time of the year.
The text is the poem of Polish poet Julian Tuwim and the singer is Czesław Niemen: one of the most important and original Polish singer-songwriters and rock balladeers.
Today is the anniversary of the death of Andrzej Zaucha.
He was the prominent Polish jazz singer and entertainer, the alto saxophonist and percussionist, instrumentalist, actor, cabaret artist.
He was a self-taught musician.
Zaucha had a tragic death. October 10, 1991 the artist was shot dead, along with actress Zuzanna Leśniak in Krakow, by her husband - French director Yves Goulais. Motive for the murder was jealousy of his wife. The killer gave nine shots. Zaucha died on the spot, Zuzanna died in an ambulance.
Today Edyta Górniak celebrates her birthday. She is Polish pop singer noted for possessing a wide vocal range of approximately four octaves. She achieved the greatest popularity in 90's, especially after 1994, when she won the second place on the Eurovision Song Contest.
She is often being compared to Polish Whitney Houston or Mariah Carey, however despite efforts and her cooperation with famous producer Christopher Neil, she never became a big, international star...
Listen to her Dumka na dwa serca ("Dumy on Two Hearts") – theme from the Polish film "With Fire and Sword", which became the biggest Polish hit of 1999
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