BIRTHDAY • ONCE AGAIN
Poetic performance to the poetry of Piotr Gawel
with music by Włodek Pawlik and Michał Lorenc
Directed by Konrad Smuga
Natalia Wilk and Marek Bałata | vocalists
Piotr Gaweł | recitation
Włodek Pawlik | piano
Damian Kostka | double bass,
Adam Zagórski | drums
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The performance “Urodziny – Raz jeszcze” (“Birthday – Once Again”) is a showcase of poems by Piotr Gaweł, set to music by the distinguished composers Włodek Pawlik and Michał Lorenc. The show is directed by Konrad Smuga. “I discovered mature works, rich in associations, sophisticated in content and form. Very personal, yet contemporary,” emphasizes Pawlik, an acclaimed composer, jazz pianist, and Grammy award winner.
“These poems were meant to remain unknown and undiscovered forever,” admits the author, who in the 1980s was supposed to perform the song “Kolejkowa republika” (“Queue Republic”) with his own lyrics and music at the Student Song Festival in Krakow. However, communist censorship intervened sharply, demanding changes to the content and title to “Kolejkowa Ameryka” (“Queue America”).
“I went on stage and sang the original text,” Gaweł recounts. “I was disqualified, banned from publishing and performing. After all this, I decided to write only for myself, to keep my work in a drawer. I would jot down poems on paper, scraps, and receipts. This continued for decades. But sometimes, a person hits a wall in life and looks for a light showing the way out. For me, that light turned out to be the poems, which I found a few months ago, transcribed, wrote new ones, and decided to share with friends, then with Włodek Pawlik and Michał Lorenc.”
“I know Piotr Gaweł as a media specialist, an initiator, and organizer of artistic events, so presenting me with his poems was a great sign of trust,” says Lorenc, who composed music for the piece “Modlitwa” (“Prayer”). “These poems vividly describe the struggle with a challenging reality manipulated by a great demiurge, indifferent to prayers and pleas. But He exists. And therein lies the deepest musical inspiration.”
Pawlik had a similar experience: “My meeting with Piotr was unexpected. I hadn’t heard of him before—neither as a person nor as a poet. So, my surprise was even greater when I read his poems. They immediately resonated with my soul, my inner self, and my nature,” notes the composer.
“I am grateful to the friends who encouraged me to publish my poems,” says Gaweł. “Enormous gratitude is also due to Włodek Pawlik and Michał Lorenc, who gave a piece of themselves in writing the music. They offered their talent, authority, and a credit of trust and support.”
The title of the spoken-word and musical performance has a double meaning. As Gaweł explains, it refers not only to “physical birthdays but also the rebirth of a long-hidden part of my personality. The more challenging and sensitive side that was meant to remain undiscovered.” Additionally, the author miraculously survived an attack on his life a year ago when he was stabbed in broad daylight in Warsaw’s Plac Politechniki. The show’s director, Konrad Smuga, emphasizes: “I never expected that Piotr, whom I’ve known for years as a manager, has so much poetic depth. His works are not detached from the tangible realities of life but seamlessly transition into the realm of spiritual experiences and deep emotions. They also help the reader organize and understand the most important and complex aspects of life—such as relationships, love and suffering, good and evil, the meaning of existence.”
During the performance, the poems will be recited by the author himself, with some being sung by Marek Bałata and Natalia Wilk. They will be accompanied by renowned instrumentalists from the Włodek Pawlik Trio: Włodek Pawlik, Damian Kostka, and Adam Zagórski.