A Journey: The Polish Tour

Summary

A Polish Premiere. Meeting Lutoslawski

“Incidentally, I made one painting which is dedicated to him [Lutoslawski]. It has the theme and variations of the cello concerto in different colors, and has all his musical symbols and parts of the score ornamented in my abstract way.”

The crown of his international travels at this time was his Polish tour from 1 March to 31 March 1976, the more remarkable because at this time Poland was still behind the Iron Curtain. Here Parisot commissioned new Polish music and performed together with his student Roman Jablonski, charming audiences with both his music and his art.

Events were planned at Yale to precede the tour. The Yale Committee on Cultural Relations with Poland sponsored a “Polish Week at Yale.” The committee sponsored musical events, exchange of scholars, joint publications, seminars, lectures, workshops, discussion groups, field trips, and art exhibits, with concentration on Poland but also including trips to Hungary, Yugoslavia, and Austria. An exhibit at the Berkeley Center was to act as a preview and subsequently travel to Poland with him on his tour. Parisot also gave a concert sponsored by this committee in Marquand Chapel on the Yale campus on 24 February 1976.

One highlight of the tour in Poland was Parisot's commissioning of a new work of the Polish composer Henryk Jablonski, who was a well-known composer in Poland and the father of Roman Jablonski, one of Parisot's students at the Yale School of Music. The work was a concerto for two cellos and orchestra and was premiered with Parisot and Roman performing on 19 and 20 March. Other music performed by Parisot included the Schumann Concerto, the Parisonatina, and music by Penderecki. Parisot was a close friend of Penderecki's because the composer was a member of the Yale School of Music Faculty in the 1970's. “When Penderecki was at Yale, worked with him on his Capriccio for Siegfried Palm because when I went to Poland I used to play that piece all the time.”

In Poland Parisot gave master classes and performed at music schools and with important orchestras. Cities on the tour schedule included Katowice, Warsaw, Cracow, Poznan, Szczecin, and Lublin.