Oratorio “De Revolutionibus”

Duration: 70'
Movements: Almagest / De Revolutionibus / Cosmos
Instrumentation: 2222 4331 batt (2 esec) ar org archi SATB coro (2S2ATB and boy's)
Composed in: 1972

Composition was commissioned by a Committee organising the 500th Anniversary of Birth of Nicolaus Copernicus. The oratorio was composed for selected texts and texts by Stefan Polom, that were translated to Latin by Prof. Wiktor Steffen, and it requires a large ensemble of artists – about 200 persons.

Music in the first movement illustrates lyrics by Ancient philosophers Anaximenes, Heraclitus, Parmenides and Tales. The lyrics in the second movement – De Revolutionibus – are solely from a letter sent by Nicolaus Copernicus to Pope Paul III in which he notifies him about his discovery – the heliocentric theory. The third part is based on lyrics by Stefan Polom devoted to modern depictions of space.

The form of the composition draws on the typical oratorio form with moderately applied modern elements. The oratorio was awarded a Regional Prize of Michal Legowski in Olsztyn on 6 january 1973.