A new festival has got under way in Krakow marking the second anniversary of the death of renowned Polish bard Marek Grechuta. The event, which is aptly called the Marek Grechuta Song Festival, is a tribute to the songwriter’s prolific output which has left a mark on the Polish musical canon.
John Beauchamp reports
Exactly two years after the death of Marek Grechuta, the southern city of Kraków is hosting the first festival dedicated to his work. The festival, named “Korowód”, meaning ‘procession’ after one of the artist’s hits written at the beginning of the 1970s, attracted singer-songwriters to play a hand in the main gala concert of the festival, held recently in the Słowacki theatre in Kraków.
Artists such as Zbigiew Preisner, Renata Przemyk, Jan Kanty Pawluśkiewcz and one of Grechuta’s pupils, Grzegorz Turnau, who presently continues the tradition of his master: 'You can’t discern between Marek Grechuta as a person or Marek Grechuta as an artist. He was an amazingly talented individual who was able to share with us his imagination. Everyone who went to his concerts and heard his songs left with an indelible impression on their mind. He was a complete artist, who offstage was a very bright and charming individual, although a touch absent, as if he were looking at us from another sphere.'
Grzegorz Turnau’s words after the death of Grechuta two years ago still ring out today, and the bard’s music is just such a reflection of being up in the sky.
Polish singer Anna Treter, member of ‘Pod budą’, was just one of the many artists that sang the songs of the Cracovian bard on stage at the gala concert recently, and her foundation also awarded the top prize during the gala: 'I was also asked by Danuta Grechuta to sing two songs from her husband’s repertoire. It was great; I usually sing songs from my group’s or solo repertoire…' (...) 'The atmosphere was incredible thanks to the host and the musicians, and also due to the audience, which was made up of people close to Grechuta and the general public. There was a kind of magic in the theatre, and archival images were cast of Marek Grechuta. People to this day are still calling me and saying how amazing it was.'
Many other events have been held as part of the ongoing festival, which culminates today, exactly two years after Grechuta’s death. An exhibition of the musician’s drawings has been put in display in the Rubinstein hotel in the city, and to mark the anniversary proper the usual ‘hejnał’, which is played in Kraków’s Main Market Square from the top of the Mariacki tower, on the hour every hour, was followed by “Ocalić od zapomnienia”, penned by Grechuta and meaning ‘Lest we forget’.
Marek Grechuta was one of the most prolific artists of the latter half of the 20th century in Poland. The festival carries on the singer’s tradition, and reminds us how extraordinary his music was, and still is to this day. He died two years ago to the day, just short of 61.