Songs of Love and Loss is a piece for modular string ensemble and electronic music. It was written as a journey following romantic separation, as a process leading to the rebuilding of the relationship.

Series of two live concerts in Berlin and Kraków was commissioned by the Jewish Culture Festival and co-financed by the Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation. 

The piece follows the seasons of the year as a representation of the breakup, the sorrow of solitude, the gradual rekindling of love, ending with the return and the hope tinged with previous sorrows. Each piece is entitled as a haiku that can stand alone while together forming one poem.

Eyes shut, leaves
Lift in winds across
Autumn skies

Soft rain falls
Winter solitude
At night, still

Shy flowers
Cloud sighs, clear blue sky,
Breeze turns warm

Against tree
Eyes look to sunset
In summer

Live music played by Polish-German string octet, accompanied by electronic music and visuals created live during the concert, gives the audience great opportunity to follow composers’ emotions, to encounter them on many different levels. It also shows a new face of contemporary music: bringing together different musical genres and reaching out to various senses.

Nationalities of performing artists are also very symbolical in this project. A story about loss, followed by pain and finally reconciliation is a metaphore of post-war relations between Poles, Germans and Jews. 

Composer, electronica:
Emmanuel Witzthum (IL)

Visual art:
Tomas Köner (DE)

Sinfonietta Cracovia
String Quartet (PL):

Maciej Lulek (violin)
Aleksandra Honcel-Banek (violin)
Ewa Szczepańska-Chwast (viola)
Marcin Mączyński (cello)

String Quartet of German
Symphony Orchestra of Berlin (DE):

Kamila Glass (violin)
Elena Rindler (violin)
Kim Roloff (viola)
Leslie Riva-Ruppert (cello)

Concert in Berlin
Silent Green Kulturquartier, May 30th, 2019

Concert in Kraków
29th Jewish Culture Festival, Hevre club, June 24th, 2019

Production
Berlin: ListenBerlin – Daniel Bender
Kraków:  Jewish Culture Festival Society – Judith Paletta, Paweł Kowalewski

photos: Mateusz Miszczyński (Berlin), Michał Ramus (Kraków)