From where does the spring flow? Some thoughts on the music of Zbigniew Bujarski

Zbigniew Bujarski (1933–2018), together with Henryk Mikołaj Górecki (1933–2010) and Krzysztof Penderecki (1933–2020), belongs to a group that Polish authors have dubbed the “Generation of 33”. Mieczysław Tomaszewski identified the type of cultural environment in which these composers grew up — small towns in southern Poland — as an important quality connecting all of them; for Bujarski, it was Muszyna in the Beskid Sądecki. The author attempts to review the composer’s work from the perspective of his “small homeland”, opening with an overview of works dedicated to the memory of Holocaust victims (Burning Bushes, Kinoth). The discussion then focuses on the motif of home (Musica domestica, Quartet for a House-Warming), nature (Orniphania, Fear of Birds, Gardens) and religious themes (Stabat Mater, Quartet for Advent, Quartet for Easter). The text concludes with a presentation of the only work by Bujarski in which the composer openly expressed his fondness for his homeland — Alleluia for mixed choir and orchestra, dedicated to “Nowy Sącz Region and all its inhabitants”.