Figure 1.--This is the Polish Nightengales in their trade-mark burgandy jackets, jabots, and rust-colored knicketrs. They are located in Poznan and are the best known Polish boys' choir. Some of the boys seem to have differenyt colored jackets. |
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The best known Polish boy choir is the Polish Nightingales or Polskie Slowiki. They are one of three boys' choirs in Poznan. Usually a city is lucky to have one boy choir, I'm unsure why there are three in Poznan. They are often referred to as the Polish Nightingales. They are currently led by led by W.A. Krolopp who began working with the choir in 1959 and took over the direction in 1990. The Choir was founded in 1945 in the aftermath of World War II by Jerzy Kurczewski. There are 150 children participating in the choir. The choirs repertoire includes 700 pieces from over 200 composers. The members of the choir learn harmony, history of music, composition, and of course, singing. They also learn at least one musical instrument. Discipline, concentration, and perfection are the hallmarks of the training the boys receive. The choir is one of the most acclaimed in Europe with a rich artistic background. They perform constantly, averaging about 120-150 concerts each season. The choir has performed over 500 classic works written by 200
composers from the Gregorian Chorus to modern compositions) and several hundred orchestral
concerts (works by J. S. Bach, G. F. Handel, W. A. Mozart, G. B. Pergolesy, J. Haydn). The Choir has performed in more than 35 different countries around the World. The concerts have been given in some of the most famous stages, including New York’s Carnegie Hall, Berlin’s Philharmonic, Vienna’s Musicverein and Amsterdam’s Royal Theatre ”Carre”, the philharmonic halls of Warsaw, St. Petersburg and Taipei, the Boliviara Center in Caracas and the Victoria Hall in Singapore. It's concerts have been attended by major world leaders, including
Pope John Paul II, U.S. President, Richard Nixon, Belgian Queen Fabiola and Prince
Boudouin and of course Polish presidents (Aleksander Kwasniewski and Lech Walesa).
Poland has only a few boys' choirs. This is in part because Poland was governed by the Communists for nearly a helf century. The best known Polish boy choir is the Polish Nigtingales or Polskie Slowiki.
The Polish Nightengales are one of three boys' choirs in Poznan. Usually a city is lucky to have one boy choir, I'm unsure why there are three in Poznan.
The Choir was founded in 1945 in the aftermath of World War II by Jerzy Kurczewski. There are 150 children participating in the choir.
The Polish Nightengales were for several years led by W.A. Krolopp who began working with the choir in 1959 and took over the direction in 1990. Jacek Sykulski took over direction of the choir in 2003.
The Polish Nightingales are not a "professional" choir. The boys attend different schools in Poznañ and vicinity, the men study or work. Usually they gather 3 evenings a week to practice hard for 2 hours. Constant changes in the boys' group make the work significantly more difficult. Every year the breaking of boys' voices unavoidably eliminates 20-25 of the choir's best trained singers. The members of the choir learn harmony, history of music, composition, and of course, singing. They also learn at least one musical instrument. Discipline, concentration, and perfection are the hallmarks of the training the boys receive.
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The choir is one of the most acclaimed in Europe with a rich artistic background. They perform constantly, averaging about 120-150 concerts each season. The choir has performed over 500 classic works written by 200
composers from the Gregorian Chorus to modern compositions) and several hundred orchestral
concerts (works by J. S. Bach, G. F. Handel, W. A. Mozart, G. B. Pergolesy, J. Haydn). The Choir has performed in more than 35 different countries around the World. The concerts have been given in some of the most famous stages, including New York’s Carnegie Hall, Berlin’s Philharmonic, Vienna’s Musicverein and Amsterdam’s Royal Theatre ”Carre”, the philharmonic halls of Warsaw, St. Petersburg and Taipei, the Boliviara Center in Caracas and the Victoria Hall in Singapore. It's concerts have been attended by major world leaders, including
Pope John Paul II, U.S. President, Richard Nixon, Belgian Queen Fabiola and Prince
Boudouin and of course Polish presidents (Aleksander Kwasniewski and Lech Walesa). The choir has worked with the aclaimed Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki and performed his works. It has also accompanied Jose Carreras, the famous Spanish tenor, in his performances.
The Choir’s soloists have been invited to sing solo parts in cantatas and oratorios by Bach, Mahler, Faure, Mozart, or Bernstein. The singers take part in many operatic and musical performances in Poland and other countries. The Choir also makes many television performances and is thus widely known in Poland.
The Choir began a wonderful experiment o bring their music to the Polish people (1992). They performed a series of concerts entitled "Music in the Churches of Poznan and Wielkopolska". This gave people in many remote places in the Wielkopolska region to see and hear the Choir. Over 130,000 people attended over 290 concerts in 176 churches in 137 towns and cities.
The Polish Nightengales have madenumerous recordings. They were the first Polish performers to release a CD record (1984). They were also the first to record parts of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio on CD and DVD recordings (1994).
The choirs repertoire includes 700 pieces from over 200 composers.
The boys in this choir wore a knickers uniform, probably more correctly described as 18th century knee breeches. The uniform included a fancy blouse with a front ruffle, a short burgandy jacket with fancy embroidery, rust colored knickers, white kneesocks, and black shoes. I'm not sure wehat the actual origins of the uniform were. They also have a gold cumberbund. I'm unsure when this uniform was introduced. At some appearances the boys have rust shoulder trim on their jackets.
The choir’s director W. A. Krolopp organized the International Boys Choir Festival in Poznan (1976). Many of the most prominent boy choirs participated: Wiener-Saengerknaben, Toelzer Knabenchor, Kreuzchor, Thomanerchor, English choirs
(Oxford, Windsor), French, American and South-African choirs.
The choir has changed its name and uniforms. Now it is Poznański Chór Chłopięcy (Poznan Boys Choir). It maintains an internet site.
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