The sounds of all musical instruments that humanity has created since the dawn of time cannot be compared to human singing.
Because singing is a reflection of the whole fullness of the human soul. That is why singing accompanies, as if accompaniment, the historical procession of all humanity from the very beginning to the present day.
Adam Mickiewicz, not without reason, calls the song “the ark of the covenant between the old and the new years”, gives it the name of a treasury in which people place a bundle of their thoughts and “the flowers of their feelings”.
Because when everything collapses, the song will escape unscathed …

(…) And yet the loss of this song and music would be a simple disgrace for us (…)
(…) people standing at the top of spiritual civilization, such as Mickiewicz, Chopin, Moniuszko, refreshed themselves with this homeliness, drew inspiration from folk song and music (…)

These moving and true words were written by Zygmunt Gloger in the introduction to the book “Does the Polish People Still Sing”, published in Warsaw in 1905, which was a passionate appeal for… collective work by the Polish intelligentsia to protect and preserve in our people its ancient, native and indigenous Slavic-national songs and music…

The true and holy words of Zygmunt Gloger written a hundred years ago became a signpost for the action taken in Białystok in 2005 by the founders and creators of the Music Society “Słopiewnie”.

Festival “Old Songs – Young Voices”

“Old Songs – Young Voices” in Waniewo on the Narew in 2007

The year 2007 was a breakthrough in the Society’s activities. Thanks to the joint efforts of the members and the involvement of the Sokoły Commune Self-Government and the management of the Provincial Cultural Animation Centre in Białystok, the 1st Festival “Old Songs – Young Voices” took place on July 29, 2007 in Waniewo, a town located in the Narew National Park. The project’s implementation date refers to the traditional parish holiday in Waniewo – the indulgence of St. Anne.

On that memorable day, Mayor Józef Zajkowski announced the opening of the 1st Festival “Old Songs – Young Voices” in Waniewo on the Narew River, in a historic town where there used to be a crossing on the trade route from the Kingdom of Poland, from Mazovia to Podlasie and further to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. And since then, young musicians, singers, instrumentalists from Podlasie, Mazovia, Kurpie and Suwałki Region have been coming to Waniewo on St. Anne’s Day and presenting the wonderful songs of our ancestors.

… Singing in Polish, Ukrainian, Belarusian and Lithuanian. “In their own way” – that’s how people used to sing – or more recently. All – from the bottom of my heart… This is how editor Aneta Dzienis began her report “Other worlds in Waniewo, or grandson sings with grandfather” from the 2nd Festival “Old Songs – Young Voices” – Waniewo 2008, published in Gazeta Wyborcza.

And it all started in Kazimierz nad Wisłą, where the National Festival of Folk Singers and Bands takes place every year at the end of June. For a dozen or so years, in addition to the main competition, where adult artists present themselves, the “Big – Small” competition has been organized. It is a presentation by children and young people of instrumental and vocal traditions taken over from their masters – teachers, parents and grandparents. As stated in the rules of the Kazimierz Festival the aim of the competition is to encourage children and young people to continue making music and singing in accordance with the tradition of the region.

The idea from Kazimierz nad Wisłą works and bears fruit wonderfully in Waniewo nad Narew. We read further in the report in Gazeta Wyborcza: Young people learn what is old, even if sometimes they do not understand individual words, expressions, contexts and the elders have to explain it to them. Just like Anita Czuper, a 16-year-old, who came to the festival with the Zorniczeńka band from Wysokie in the Raczki commune. The leader is her grandmother, 72-year-old Stanisława, and her grandfather, 76-year-old Józef, is also in the band. We sing what our mothers and grandmothers used to sing. Wedding songs, harvest songs, bawdy songs. I have it written down in my head. Sometimes I remember something, so I write it down in the songbook – says the smiling elderly lady. – In the past, we always sang: while working, while herding cows. Now we rehearse twice a week. And the young ones? How can they not sing, since they have been soaked in it since they were little? For them, it is already everyday bread. And that is good. Because who will sing after us? Who will remember all this, pass it on? Only the young have hope… The band “Zorniczeńka” from Wysokie in the Raczki commune, where grandma, grandpa and granddaughter sing, was a laureate of the 2nd Festival in Waniewo. And again a reference to Kazimierz: Mrs. Stanisława Czuper performed there several times at the festival and won the highest award – the Golden Tower.

Festival juror Tomasz Ćwikowski in his review entitled “Musical treasures of Podlasie for the third time on the Narew” published in the Festival Gazette “Leć głosie…” stated

… the undersigned has had the opportunity to follow the fate of the festival from the beginning, so he is entitled to the opinion that despite its short history, the event invented by Zbigniew Nasiadka expands its formula year by year, exploring new areas of Podlasie folk and folk music…

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