“Słopiewnie” – that is…
The author of the Society’s proper name is Julian Tuwim, who wrote a cycle of poems under this title and dedicated it to Karol Szymanowski. Karol Szymanowski used the same beautiful word to describe his arrangement of “6 songs for a capella choir”, the original source of which was the publication “Puszcza Kurpiowska w piosenka” by Father Władysław Skierkowski, published by the Płock Scientific Society in the years 1928-34. Five years later, Szymanowski published “12 Kurpie songs for voice and piano”, and in the introduction he expressed his gratitude to the author of “Puszcza Kurpiowska w piosenka” for making available to us – Polish musicians – this so little known yet so incredibly rich source of perhaps the most beautiful Polish folk song.
The Musical Society “Słopiewnie” was registered in the Commercial Court in Białystok in March 2005. The founding members of the Society included: Henryk Górecki – retired employee of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, distinguished activist culture, Sławomir Halicki – Mayor of Suraż, Jerzy Muszyński – journalist, cultural animator, Krzysztof Rau – director, academic teacher, Edward Redliński – writer, Anna Szczepańska – Secretary of the Białystok District. The President of the Music Society “Słopiewnie” was Zbigniew Nasiadko – a publicist, laureate of the XXXII National Festival of Folk Bands and Singers in Kazimierz nad Wisłą in 1998 and the Folk Music Competition “Nowa Tradycja”, organized by the Polish Radio-Radio Center of Folk Culture in 1999.
The Society realizes its basic statutory goals by organizing the annual Festival “Old Songs – Young Voices” with the participation of children’s and youth folk music bands.
The organizational and program assumptions of the Festival were consulted with the following ethnomusicologists and culture creators: Teresa Pardo from Łomża, Ewa Wróbel from Warsaw, Ligia Hnidec from Białystok, Elżbieta Tomczuk from Bielsk Podlaski, Józef Murawski from Szypliszek, Mirosław Nalaskowski from Suwałki, Jerzy Śródkowski from Białystok. The project of the “Old Songs – Young Voices” Festival was highly assessed by Marcin Nałęcz-Niesiołowski, director of the Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic – European Art Center.