Cyprian Norwid’s Marionettes and its Polish and English Interpretations in Czesław Niemen’s Musical Performance

Abstract

Czesław Niemen’s English interpretation of “Marionettes” differs both from his 1973 Polish version and the original text. The differences of the two renditions of Cyprian Norwid’s poem are demonstrated in the article by means of a detailed and multiphase analysis – first of the original poem, then of Paweł Brodowski’s translation, then finally, of Niemen’s performance of this translation on his album “Ode to Venus,” which is in turn compared to his earlier Polish recording of Norwid’s text on the album “Niemen vol. 2.” The original and translated texts are analysed and compared using the katena method, while their musical performances are assessed using Peter Low, Johan Franzon and Andrew Kelly’s laws and rules governing the translation of lyrics set to music.

Keywords

• norwid; niemen
• “marionettes
• ” translating lyrics to music