The Transform4Europe Alliance has its own anthem. This exceptional composition symbolically bonds all members of the T4EU community: students, PhD students and employees who make up this multilingual European University.
About the T4EU Anthem
The music was composed by Adrian Robak, PhD, Assoc. Prof. from the University of Silesia in Katowice; the author of the poem Spiritus movens is Joanna Soćko, PhD, from the University of Silesia. Although the very lyrics are in English, they feature the word ‘question’ in the languages of all countries of the Alliance. ‘The lyrics contain a passage about change as a factor we cannot develop without,’ explains Prof. Adrian Robak. ‘The piece itself is an attempt to reconcile contradictory values, to create a song of water and fire. On the one hand, I’ve wanted to be faithful to the original choir tradition reaching at least the Middle Ages one could not depart from, and on the other hand, to preserve artistic freedom,’ says the composer.
The premiere
The premiere of the Anthem of the Transform4Europe took place during the Gala Concert organised on 25 April 2023 within the Festival of European Culture, which took place in Katowice and Cieszyn. The piece was performed by over 200 instrumentalists and choristers from: The Karol Szymanowski Youth Symphony Orchestra from the secondary-level National Music School, the ‘Harmonia’ Choir of the University of Silesia, the Academic Choir of the Silesian University of Technology, the mixed choir from Wojciech Kilar National Music School in Katowice, and Sofia University Ensemble St. Kliment Ohridski.
Let’s listen to the Anthem of the Transform4Europe
Learn more about the anthem. Read Tomasz Płosa’s interview with Adrian Robak: us.edu.pl. The anthem was created within a project financed in the ‘Freedom of Research’ call for proposals of the Research Excellence Initiative programme by the University of Silesia.
The premiere of the Anthem of the Transform4Europe took place during the Gala Concert organised on 25 April 2023 within the Festival of European Culture, which took place in Katowice and Cieszyn | Photo by Tomasz Kiełkowski