CONCERT Songs of Podlasie. Penitential Psalms

The concert draws on traditional handwritten prayer books compiled by anonymous authors and used by rural funeral singers.

These sung and recited compositions – funeral songs, penitential psalms, and melodic recitations of prayers for the dead – were a profound expression of the singers’ artistry and craftsmanship. They served both as powerful pleas for the soul of the deceased and as a raw expression of grief.

The repertoire you will hear was discovered by Robert Burdalski in unpublished archives as part of his 2025 scholarship from the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, entitled Songs of Podlasie.

The performance is structured as a communal gathering of singers. The audience is invited to move beyond passive listening and join in the singing to honour the memory of deceased singers and musicians – friends of the traditional music community in Poland. The instrumental framework will be provided by funeral marches performed by the Funeral Brass Band.

Robert Burdalski on the idea behind the concert:

Time doesn’t always move in a straight line; sometimes, it spirals. In moments when memories of loved ones flood in, time seems to stop.

It’s like pausing to look down on the daily whirlwind of events, viewing life through the prism of memory and the wisdom left behind by those who are gone.

Each year, we meet at the same point – a place of returning and reflection. We are richer in new experiences, older by another year, yet bound by the same need to pause, reflect, and give thanks. Let us remember the departed and devote this time to singing a mournful psalm in their memory.

Concert performers:
Introit – Robert Burdalski, Marta Urban-Burdalska, Dariusz Biryło, Krzysztof Łączkowski, Piotr Spychała
Singers from Suchowola under the direction of Robert Gołębiewski
Working Group of the MKiDN scholarship ‘Songs of Podlasie’
Funeral Brass Band conducted by Katarzyna Krasuska

Admission free.

The concert is organised as part of the Songs of Podlasie scholarship awarded by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, in cooperation with the Mazurkas of the World Foundation and the Muzyka Zakorzeniona Foundation.

Photo: Dawid Gudel, grandson of a funeral singer from Zabiele (Dolistowo parish). Handwritten songbook from the Suchowola area.