Adam Kopycinski

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Kołysanka [Lullaby] 1941

piano 

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First performed by Mateusz Borowiak for a Constella Music recording that was released on YouTube on October 23rd, 2024. As part of the release, the recording was also broadcast on BBC Radio 4 and BBC World Service. 

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Duration 2mins | Difficulty Professional 

 

Scoring solo piano 

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Programme Note

According to the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum, the musician Adam Kopyciński was arrested by the Nazi’s in Kraków on August 6th, 1941. He was then taken to Auschwitz and registered with the prisoner number 25294 which was tattooed on his arm. He became a member of the Auschwitz I Men’s Orchestra by playing piano. In 1944, he became the conductor of the orchestra. During the evacuation of Auschwitz, Kopycinski was sent to various other camps before finally being liberated by the US Army on May 6th, 1945. After the war, Kopycinski was a prominent conductor working with various ensembles in Wrocław, Poland.

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Kołysanka (Lullaby) was written by Kopycinski whilst he was in Auschwitz in 1941. He wrote on the first page of the manuscript:

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"As a reminder of pleasant discussions about home and sons, I dedicate this lullaby to the nice and kind Leon".

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Given that this composition was seeking to remember better times, and that it was scored for solo piano, it seems unlikely that this composition was publicly performed. It is more likely that Kopycinski gave performance/s of the work during the secret concerts he organised in the music room in Block 24, to the left of the infamous Auschwitz gates. The prisoner Jan Dziopek recalled one of these performances:

 

"One dim light bulb is burning in the room, friends are gathered together and sitting in the corners, and Adam, sitting at the piano and gazing off into the distance, plays. The striking of the keys is not heard, nor the pianist. From beneath the hands of the master flow marvellous melodies, our beloved Polish songs… [Adam] did not know that, in the corners, we were crying, that his playing filled our spirits with freedom, that we forgot where and who we are." 

 

The composition itself is unquestionably beautiful and luscious, a stark contrast from the world that surrounded Kopyciński. It is therefore understandable that the Kołysanka could have provoked tears from fellow inmates and transport them from the everyday horrors they endured.

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Kołysanka is unusual given the thick and dense chordal writing, including moments where the pianist must play five keys with one hand. Not only does this demonstrate Kopyciński’s virtuosity on the piano, it may also reflect the quality of the instrument he had to play. On a finely tuned and resonant concert grand piano, it is all too easy to make Kołysanka feel heavy due to the sheer number of keys being struck at once. However, a lesser piano, without much resonance, might need more keys to be played to create a rich and warm sound. Kopycinski himself recalled that a piano was discovered in the Soła river which runs alongside the Auschwitz camp complex. The instrument was rescued, taken to the music room and repaired. Given this, it seems impossible that the instrument functioned and sounded as it should. Kopycinski therefore, may well have written Kołysanka with its unusual chordal density to make the best sound possible from a river-soaked piano.

 

The music manuscripts for Kołysanka are one of the few that survived the camp decimation when the camp was evacuated, during which the Nazi’s sought to destroy evidence of their crimes. Most of the manuscripts are incomplete, with burnt and torn edges and written in faded pencil. However, somewhat miraculously, the manuscripts for Kołysanka are complete and legible. With thanks to the research of Leo Geyer and Constella Music, Kołysanka is now available for the public to perform for the first time.

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