THE TERRIFYING ECHO OF THE LAST TRUMPET OR SEVEN IMAGES BETWEEN WORLDS
The title of the concert/performance refers to the forgotten poem “The Terrifying Echo of the Last Trumpet or the Four Last Things Awaiting Man” by Klemens Bolesławiusz, a Greater Poland reformer, poet, and preacher, published in Poznań by Wojciech Regulusa in 1670.
In Jacek Hałas’ original interpretation, these echoes reach us from different realms, connecting both pre-Christian visions of the world’s beginnings and very current ecological and pandemic threats. They draw on rites of passage related to crossing boundaries between social categories, moving from one life stage to another, and the cycles of the sun.
All pieces are based on folk music (primarily ritual and wandering singer songs), on folk legends and tales, on ethnographers’ conjectures and fantasies, and on the author’s artistic imagination.
The musical explorations, aimed at conveying contemporary eschatological reflections while dialoguing between tradition and modernity, resulted in the collaboration of Jacek Hałas with outstanding young jazz drummer Jakub Szwarc.
On the visual level, the stage imagery is overseen by young artist Julia Hałas. Here too, the dialogue between past and future emerges in her technique, oscillating between live analog “ready-made” projections and the electronic world of mathematical graphs. Completing the intergenerational dialogue on the overall sound is acoustician Antoni Hałas.
Ensemble lineup:
Jacek Hałas – vocals, hurdy-gurdy, accordion, shepherd flutes, drumla
Jakub Szwarc – drums, electronics, semantron
Julia Hałas – stage art, analog and digital projections
Antoni Hałas – sound engineering
“…Black Noise is an explosive fusion of “white” singing, folk songs, and traditional instruments
with contemporary percussion sounds and “black” electronics…”
Jacek Hałas / Graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts, musician, singer, dancer, composer. For years he has been exploring the traces of wandering singers’ songs in living tradition, ethnographic records, domestic archives, and practices the hurdy-gurdy, a traditional instrument of itinerant singers. He composes and records music for theater, film, and dance, and directs original performances.
Jakub Szwarc / Drummer, composer, producer, educator. Graduate of the Jazz and Popular Music Institute at the Poznań Academy of Music. Drummer in bands such as Palmy, Smutne Piosenki, Nowa Fala Polskiego Dansingu, Korpo, Plondra, and Searching for Management. Runs a private music school, “Kopalnia Talentów,” in Kościan, Greater Poland.
Julia Hałas / Graduate of Fine Arts High School and Music School (percussion instruments), studied intermedia at UAP Poznań, completed a theater and film makeup course. Experienced in artistic, theatrical (performances: Zegar bije, Grabarz Królów, Calderon), and social projects—as a musician, actress, visual artist, and manager. Works at Szczecin Philharmonic and studies art curation at the Academy of Art in Szczecin.
Antoni Hałas / Graduate of Music School I degree (cello) and UAM Poznań (sound engineering). Sound engineer with stage experience (Noiseband) and acting experience (performances: Zegar bije, Grabarz Królów, Calderon). Occasionally composes music (performances: Dragon, Wesele, Pomiędzy) and performs at raves.
