Scholarly record

IMPULSES BEHIND THE MUSIC OF NOWOWIEJSKI, PANUFNIK AND KILAR. A TRANSDISCIPLINARY APPROACH

I. H. Swidnicka

Abstract

With different disciplines of culture, art and science increasingly merging, transdisciplinary approach to phenomena and works of art seems nowadays to be not only a matter of fashion but a necessity. Overlapping of scientific areas in certain points of interest provides for new research fields and forms. Therefore, an act of creation may be viewed as an idea prompted by an impulse, although defining what a creative impulse actually represents (a physiological phenomenon, a chemical reaction, a philosophical thought?) is rather difficult. For example, Nowowiejski’s cycle Roses for Sapphowas triggered by psychological impulses marked by the composer’s sense of rejection, discrimination and solidarity with the author of the poem, Maria Pawlikowska-Jasnorzewska. Panufnik composed his cantata Universal Prayerto Alexander Pope’s poem under a religious impulse –the need for a common prayer of people of all races and religions in the turbulent times of the 1960s. Finally, the impulse behind Kilar’s September Symphonywas the terrorist attack in New York on 11 September 2001. Wishing to express his horror, opposition and solidarity with the American people, the composer began to write his symphony on the day of the attack. These three composers may serve as an example of creators whose works of art, rather than resulting from an artistic inspiration, were triggered by a sudden impulse perceived as more reminiscent of a stimulus, illumination or reflection of reality.

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