Zrodlo (2004)

Źródło (The Source), for soprano solo, SATB chorus, and orchestra, is based on the poem of the same name included in a collection of poetry entitled Roman Triptych: Meditations by John Paul II. The setting of the poem evokes the forest on the slopes of the Tatra Mountains in southern Poland, which the pope held so dear.

The music, reflecting the poem’s various psychological landscapes, begins with a recurring musical motto, first intoned by the flute, that ushers in the poem’s central question: Gdzie jesteś, źródło? (“Source, where are you?”). The orchestra illumines the space, while the choir—the multitude—echoes, (re)affirms, and accompanies the soprano, the lyrical “I,” on her journey. At first, the motto presents itself as a gentle, unassuming inquiry, but it soon turns from an intimate and vulnerable plea into one that demands answers. Hushed moments alternate with ever-growing disquiet and restlessness, where impatience and a sense of entitlement, bordering on accusatory anger, lead to exhaustion colored by the futility of attempting to find or discover the “source.”

Perhaps the more one searches, the “source” needs—or wishes—to remain hidden. And despite this, or because of it, we are nevertheless called, again and again, to keep searching, knowing full well that we cannot—or may not—find it, calling to mind T. S. Eliot’s words: “The journey, not the arrival, matters.” This is suggested toward the end, when the soloist and chorus intone the questioning motto one last time—yet now to words that seem less demonstrative. The closing music and the last lines of the poem suggest a reverence that, perchance, this search for an answer to Gdzie jesteś, źródło? involves a serenity shaped and acquired through the presence of grace.

The “source” beckons each one of us. The pure, innocuous stream endlessly waters the sea of humanity, always and unfailingly bearing witness to our lives—it becomes our task to bear witness in return. I find reassurance in the comforting phrase so central to John Paul II’s apostleship: “Do not be afraid.” Do not be afraid to trip and stumble—repeatedly—in search of the “sources” in our own lives, nor be afraid to find them… perhaps.

Źródło was commissioned in 2004 by the Moniuszko Musical Society for the 25th anniversary of the visit of John Paul II to Boston and the United States. Źródło is dedicated to Karol Wojtyła, Pope Saint John Paul II.