And now such a story: one day, Martyna Pastuszka told me about her recurring idea for a piece of a mourning character, but essentially secular. A kind of monodrama for male voice and her orchestra.

That same day I walked into a bookstore, and the first book I picked up was Sorrowful Songs by the French poet Deborah Heissler. Just released in Polish translation, a collection of poems—or rather a poetic cycle—mournful, but essentially secular. Intimate. About absence and fading memory. In several places subtly alluding to music: Bach, Debussy, and Górecki.

The next day I wrote to the translator, Jan Maria Kłoczowski. As it turned out, also a friend of the Author. A few days later I met him in a café. We ate cheesecake. He promised every possible help.

It’s about a year later now. I am just beginning the score.