Music is best listened to, but it doesn’t hurt to talk about it, too.
Bartosz Suchecki, “Kraków Culture” magazine
The name “Sacrum Profanum” came about during an informal meeting of the organisers of the first edition of the festival. Although it was originally an offhand remark, it has always been used consistently: it encourages successive directors and us, the audience, to explore seemingly unrelated worlds of music. When Arvo Pärt’s Passion was juxtaposed with Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana in 2003, we had no idea that the confrontation marked the beginning of long dialogue.
Towards modernity
In the early days, the programme of Sacrum Profanum was a natural extension of the Misteria Paschalia Festival. During Holy Week, we listened to music of the Renaissance and Baroque, and in early autumn we turned our attention to compositions from the 19th and the first half of the 20th century. The formula soon gained a geographical element, with each festival focusing on a selected cultural region. In 2007, under the direction of Filip Berkowicz, the festival expanded into contemporary music. World-famous ensembles, such as the London Sinfonietta, Ensemble intercontemporain, Ensemble Modern and Klangforum Wien, came to Kraków with their own repertoires as well as taking up unfamiliar Polish music. With time, traditional concert halls (such as the Kraków Philharmonic) gradually gave way to post-industrial venues – the tinning plant at the former Nowa Huta steelworks followed by the Emalia Factory, the Museum of Municipal Engineering and the Łaźnia Nowa Theatre – and orchestral sounds started intertwining with electronic music. The festival welcomed bands such as Kraftwerk, Aphex Twin and Sigur Rós, and they in turn brought brand new audiences.
No more scores
In 2016, Krzysztof Pietraszewski took over as curator of Sacrum Profanum; after taking a bow to his predecessors, he embraced the spirit of the festival to follow his own path. He first noted that the terms “contemporary music festival” and “new music festival” are vague to potential audiences, and the ideas inspiring the organisers would be better expressed through discussion panels, educational campaigns and podcasts. He also interpreted the name as an encouragement to “profane classics and sacralise experimentation”. The programme focused on music from the second half of the 20th century, with a particular stress on counter-culture and “non-academic” compositions, largely marginalised by other festivals. The turn towards experimentation and improvisation meant that music scores became less relevant, and inventiveness rose to the top.
A bastion of decency
Sacrum Profanum is never afraid of interaction: during the last five years, the programme has featured plastic arts, opera, theatre, performance and events for children. The organisers and artists don’t shy away from providing a commentary on current events, reflecting the curator’s belief that in difficult times “culture is the last bastion of decency.” As well as aiming to present the finest music, the event focuses on equity by striving to achieve gender parity. Giving voice to composers and artists who are frequently marginalised or forgotten is one of the festival’s trademarks. The Cracovian event revived works by Polish-American composer Lucia Dlugoszewski, gathering dust in archives on the other side of the pond, and the African-American minimalist artist Julius Eastman.
The festival can also boast great successes at home: its curatorship supports promising Polish groups such as the Hashtag Ensemble and Spółdzielnia Muzyczna contemporary ensemble. Jakub Gucik, cellist with the latter collective, recalls the motivational power of challenges set by Sacrum Profanum: “Juxtaposing different genres is something which helps us grow as musicians and audiences; it creates closer bonds between individuals working in different aesthetics, and it’s incredibly valuable.” Maria Piotrowska-Bogalecka, artistic director of the Polish Radio Choir, adds: “We have been performing at the festival for three years, and it has been a path of discovering common interests and musical directions. Each festival provides a space for encounters in the field of contemporary music – not just the avantgarde, but that which is already becoming part of the canon.”
Becoming classics
The question of canon is especially close to Pietraszewski’s heart, as he talks about the “malady of world premieres” spreading through the world of music and making it difficult to reach a consensus when it comes to timeless works. This trend is countered by programmes of individual concerts which cast a light on standout works from recent decades, as well as educate the community assembled around the festival.
Far from cutting itself from new projects, Sacrum Profanum sees them as a driving force and aims to give them a boost beyond single concert performances. By working alongside several labels (including Poland’s Bocian Records and Bôłt Records), an album series Sacrum Profanum Archives was launched in 2020, already including almost 20 titles.
Beautiful age
Last year, the pandemic forced the entire festival to move online. Concerts streamed via PLAY KRAKÓW adapted to the platform; they were shorter and more unusual (even featuring a boxing match!), and they were linked by the theme of “Youth”.
This year’s instalment – the second in the planned trilogy – is held under the banner of “Maturity”. Music from 15 countries from all over the globe resounds at the National Museum in Krakow, rooms of the Małopolska Garden of Arts, ICE Kraków and a private apartment. We will encounter three musical traditions (classical, contemporary and avantgarde, described as Three Colours), follow the changes occurring in performance and conceptualism (~maturity), hear vocal music performed by three Polish artists (Not So Early Music) and explore Barbara Buczek’s piano pieces described as “impossible to perform” (Esoteric Chords). Sacrum Profanum also joins the celebrations of the Year of Lem with Summa Lemmologiae and LEM: The Laconic Expression of Modernity.
During the gala finale, friends of the festival from the British Arditti Quartet celebrate their 47 ½ Anniversary. Why here? “[It was at Sacrum Profanum that] I began to enjoy performing music by composers I had never even heard of before,” explains the ensemble’s leader Irvine Arditti. He adds that during his visits to Kraków he “gained a completely new and refreshing perspective on Polish music.” And that’s the festival in a nutshell: new figures, unusual perspectives and never-ending searches. Sacrum Profanum – where you listen to and discuss music!
Photo: Spółdzielnia Muzyczna contemporary ensemble by Joanna Gałuszka
A version of this article appears in Autumn ’21 edition of “Kraków Culture” magazine.
