Fanfare for Peace

The music is based on Polish and Czech hymn-like monodies from the thirteenth century, and specifically on the oldest Polish fanfare from 1241 called Heynal Mariacki, which is still performed to this day from the tower of St. Mary Church in the city of Cracow. The other motives introduced in my piece are derived from St. Wenceslas troparium of Prague (mainly from St. Vaclav hymn) and the oldest Polish hymn Bogurodizica, dated from 1249. These monodial fanfares played a very important role at that time. They were used to declare peace after a battle, or they proclaimed peace in the city or the county, such as for example, ?Heynal Mariacki? This bugle tune played several times daily, day after day through the centuries, had a very special meaning. The trumpeter in the tower had a commanding view of the city and nearby countryside. Hearing the daily fanfare provided assurance to citizens that they were not in danger, all was well. It gave the people a feeling of security and stability. Incidentally, this tradition has been retained in Cracow to this day. In my "Fanfare" I wanted to recreate the mood and medieval flavor of the hymns for peace. Harmonically "Fanfare" explores the basic principles of early polyphony, i.e. the technique ?nota contra notam? and parallelisms found in the XII century organum