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Coming up in Philly music: The Polish Renaissance gets its local premiere
Tom Purdom
The Italians aren’t the only people who got to enjoy the art and turbulence of the Renaissance. The revival of learning and culture flourished in every section of Europe, but historians and art mavens have tended to neglect some of the outlying regions. For The Polish Connection, their final concert of the season, Piffaro will sample the music of the Polish Renaissance in collaboration with a Swiss vocal group led by a Polish musicologist.
The members of early-music groups like Piffaro have to be scholars as well as musicians, with a deep knowledge of the musical culture that produced the pieces they play. The members of Ensemble Peregrina are all performers with substantial scholarly credits, and their leader is a formidable figure in the field.
In addition to singing and playing the harp, Agnieszka Budzińska-Bennett teaches at universities all over Europe, lecturing and conducting courses on subjects like early medieval music notation, Gregorian chant, and early-music history and performance practice. Her linguistic accomplishments include Middle Latin, Old French, and various ancient Germanic languages in addition to several modern languages. As musicians, Budzińska-Bennett and the other members of the ensemble have been accumulating kudos since they gave their first concerts in 1997.
The playlist for their Piffaro appearance includes sacred chants, popular songs, and religious motets taken from 500 years of Polish history, from the 11th-century Polish state ruled by Duke Bolesław the Brave to the 16th-century Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Every item on the program will be a Philadelphia premiere.
Piffaro presents The Polish Connection with Switzerland’s Ensemble Peregrina on Friday, May 11, at 7:30pm at the Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral (23 S. 38th Street); on Saturday, May 12, at 7:30pm at the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill (8855 Germantown Avenue); and on Sunday, May 13, at 3pm at Immanuel Church Highlands in Wilmington (2400 W. 17th St., Wilmington, Delaware). Tickets ($29-$49; youth and full-time students free) are available online, by calling 215-235-8469, and at the door.
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