51st Tyniec Organ Recitals
Sunday, July 27, 2025, 4:00 PM
Benedictine Abbey in Tyniec
ul. Benedyktyńska 37
Tyniec used to be a day’s journey from Kraków, today we reach it in less than an...
This tradition has lasted for half a century – on summer afternoons, the Benedictine abbey, picturesquely situated on an escarpment above the Vistula, is filled with organ sounds. This year, there is a surprise waiting for us at the Tyniec Organ Recitals – we will be listening to two instruments: the main instrument on the music choir above the entrance, and the reconstructed Renaissance organ that returned to its place in the chancel of the church after more than 80 years in January. They will be played by Krzysztof Musiał, Marek Stefański and Agnieszka Radwan-Stefańska, and in August also by Anna Firlus and Artur Szczerbinin. The programme focuses on works by Renaissance and Baroque masters, in which the organists will be supported, among others, by soprano Magdalena Drozd, lute player Mariusz Kominiak, gambist Krzysztof Firlus and natural trumpet player Jakub Kulawik.
13 July 2025, 4pm
Krzysztof Musiał organ
Magdalena Drozd soprano
Programme, part 1 – on reconstructed Renaissance organ
Girolamo Frescobaldi (1583–1643) Toccata seconda from Toccate e partite d’intavolatura di cimbalo, libro primo
Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643) Laudate Dominum in sanctis eius SV 287 from Selva morale e spirituale
Girolamo Frescobaldi Canzona seconda from Ricercari, et canzoni franzese fatte sopra diverse oblighi in partitura
Heinrich Schütz (1585–1672) Kleine geistliche Konzerte (selection):
– O süßer, o freundlicher, o gütiger Herr Jesu Christe SWV 285
– Bringt her dem Herren SWV 283
– Ich will den Herren loben allezeit SWV 306
Hugo Distler (1908–1942) Sonatina from 30 Spielstücke für die Kleinorgel, Op. 18 No. 1
Programme, part 2 – on main organ
Antonín Dvořák (1841–1904) Biblické písně, Op. 99 (arr. for soprano and organ):
– IV. Hospodin jest můj pastýř
– V. Bože! Bože! Píseň novou
– VII. Při řekách babylonských
Charles-Marie Widor (1844–1937) Symphonie pour orgue No. 6, Op. 42/2: III. Intermezzo, IV. Cantabile, V. Finale
27 July 2025, 4pm
Marek Stefański organ
Agnieszka Radwan-Stefańska organ
Mariusz Kominiak lute
Programme, part 1 – on reconstructed Renaissance organ
Mikołaj of Kraków (16th c.) Salve Regina, Hajducki, Alia poznanie, Cantio polonica, Pastorella, Rex
Anonymous (17th c.) Per merita Sancti Adalberti
Anonymous (Orihuela, 17th c.) Cuatro versos litúrgicos: Et incarnatus est de Spiritu Sancto, Contempsere tui, Ait illi Jesus, Ait illi Petrus, Et resurexit tertia die
Joseph Haydn (1732–1809) Stücke für Flötenuhr In G major
Programme, part 2 – on lute
Luis de Narváez (1526 – 1549) Guárdame las vacas
Robert Ballard (1575–1645) Branles de Village
Adrian Le Roy (1520–1592) Galiarde
Pierre Attaingnant (1494–1552) Tourdion
Luis Milán (c. 1500 – c. 1561) Pavan
Tobias Hume (c. 1579 – 1645) Polish Dance (from London Tablature 1605):
– Galliard
– Ayre
Giovanni Zamboni (1664–1721) Sonata No. 9 from Sonate d’intavolatura di liuto, Op. 1
Anonymous Old Irish Song
Programme, part 3 – on main organ
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) Toccata and Fugue in D minor BWV 538
Louis James Alfred Lefébure-Wély (1817–1869) Sortie
10 August 2025, 4pm
Anna Firlus organ
Krzysztof Firlus viola da gamba
Programme, part 1 – on main organ
Wilhelm Rudnick (1850–1927) Organ Sonata No. 5 in D minor, Op. 62, 1st movement: Maestoso
Henri Mulet (1878–1967) Esquisses Byzantines: Tu es Petrus, et portae inferi non praevalebunt adversus te
Programme, part 2 – on reconstructed Renaissance organ
Riccardo Rognoni (c. 1550 – c. 1620) Diminutions for viola da gamba on the theme of motet Ancor che col partire by Cipriano de Rore
Tabulatura Jana z Lublina (16th c.) Rocal fuza
Francesco Rognoni (c. 1575 – c. 1626) Diminutions on the theme of motet Vestiva i colli by Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina
Tabulatura of Jan of Lublin (16th c.) Jeszcze Marczyne, Hayduczky
Arcangelo Corelli (1653–1713) Sonata in C major for violin and basso continuo, Op. 5 No. 3 (anonymous 18th-century transcription for viola da gamba and basso continuo)
24 August 2025, 4pm
Artur Szczerbinin organ
Jakub Kulawik natural trumpet
Elena Finelli soprano
Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643) Toccata (from L’Orfeo)
Giovanni Maria Trabaci (c. 1575–1647) Toccata Prima à Quattro
Giulio Caccini (1551–1618) Amarilli mia bella
Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck (1561–1621) Paduana Lachrymae SwWV 328
Giovanni Buonaventura Viviani (1638–1693) Sonata seconda
Tabulatura braniewsko-oliwska (17th c.) Melos
Tabulatura Bohn Ms. mus. 357 (16th c.) Gagliarda
Giovanni Maria Trabaci (c. 1575–1647) Gagliarda Quinta Cromatica
Girolamo Fantini (1600–1675) Prima sonata di Tromba, et organo insiemie detta del Coloretto, Seconda] Sonata detta del Gonzaga
Giovanni Rovetta (c. 1596–1668) O Maria, quam pulchra es
Tabulatura łowicka (c. 1580) Salve Regina
Alessandro Melani (1639–1703) Quai bellici accenti ascolti, mio core?
Benedictine Abbey in Tyniec
ul. Benedyktyńska 37
Tyniec used to be a day’s journey from Kraków, today we reach it in less than an hour on a bus or on a bike, taking a beautiful cycle path. The charm and tranquillity of the place attract throngs of tourists and pilgrims alike. Amidst this silence and reflective prayer, the monks follow the motto of St Benedict: ora et labora…
Situated on a limestone promontory, the monastery looks more like a mediaeval fortress than a church. Little wonder: right from the start, the Benedictine Abbey in Tyniec doubled as a fortress. It is highly likely that the area was inhabited by the Celts a thousand years before the Order of St Benedict arrived in the place. The first monks came here in the mid-11th century. Tyniec enjoyed plenty of favours from local rulers, many of whom were kings of Poland, and there are many arguments to support the claim that it was a medieval economic power. One of them is the nickname given to the abbot: “the abbot of a hundred villages”.
Although the church received stout fortifications in the 13th century, they could not save it from destruction: it was burnt down when the Tatars invaded the Polish lands. Its heyday came in the 15th and 16th centuries. In later years, the monastery was thoroughly rebuilt, and had the characteristic façade with two towers added. In 1816, that is during the era when Poland was partitioned, the Austrians dissolved the Order, and the Benedictines were forced to leave the Abbey. From that time on Tyniec changed hands many times, falling more and more into ruin. No one seemed to care for its fate until the Archbishop of Kraków, Prince Adam Stefan Sapieha, brought back the Benedictine Order from Belgium in 1939. One final time when the abbey acted as a fortress was in 1945, when much like in Monte Cassino, in southern Italy, which was defended by German forces against the Allies, the monastery likewise was held against the Red Army.
The only road into the Abbey leads through “the castle”, that is the 16th-century building of the abbot’s quarters. In the spacious courtyard behind it, the bygone abbots used to welcome eminent guests. The monastic complex includes a library that until the restoration completed in 2008 used to be known as the Great Ruin. Today it houses the Benedictine Institute of Culture. In its exhibition space, you can admire historical artefacts: fragments of Romanesque and Gothic stonework, and elements of the arcades of the original cloister. The Church of St Peter and St Paul situated within the monastery is a three-aisled basilica with baroque furnishing. Entering, spare a moment to look at the elaborate iron latch in the shape of a fish: one of the symbols of Christ.
St Peter and St Paul’s Church:
- gothic chancel,
- rococo high altar of black marble,
- baroque pulpit in the shape of a boat,
- 16-century murals presenting The Magi.
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