Paweł Siek's szumią, 36° [They hum, 36 degrees] is a sonic collage devoid of dramatic narrative, enriched with onomatopeic effects, successfully creating the space the composer wants to talk about in his piece. Scattered dialogues with mysterious orchestral accompagnato are, in real earnest, testimonies of characters coming from different timeframes, different dimensions. Those characters have only thing in common, namely the place the tell us about: mysterious and heavy with dark things that happened there.

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The truly poetic way of constructing the form of the piece comes from dividing the scenes into groups of interchanging Międzylesia (a Polish term describing a space between two neighbouring forests) and Ostępy (Sections, which in the Polish language is also a forestry form). This may evoke associations with ancient Greek tragedy's epeisodia and stasima, which makes the whole construct even more interesting.

synopsis / 12 Minut dla Moniuszki – A Night of World Premieres programme book

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«There was a piece which in a bit surreal, ironic way referred to fragments of Moniuszko's aria; despite this, it did not sound like Moniuszko's music, but it was pressed into a new reality; into this reality represented by a young man».

Zygmint Krauze for Polish Radio, trans.

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«szumią, 36° by Paweł Siek is an absurd miniopera about smog and fire, of course firs are burning».

Dorota Szwarcman, Tygodnik „Polityka“, trans.