Czerwone maki Red poppies on Monte Cassino lead sheet p1

Red Poppies on Monte Cassino

Music: Alfred Schütz; Lyrics: Feliks Konarski

„Czerwone maki na Monte Cassino” (Red Poppies on Monte Cassino) – Polish military song referring to the participation of the 2nd Polish Corps in the Battle of Monte Cassino (May 1944). The words were written by the Polish composer and poet Feliks Konarski to music by Alfred Schütz. Monte Cassino and the surrounding hills were a German defensive position in early 1944. The Poles tied up the German defence in heavy fighting, which facilitated the Allied attacks and eventually forced the Germans to retreat.

Wąwóz Somosierry Somosierra Gorge lead sheet

Somosierra Gorge

Music: author unknown; Lyrics: Maria Konopnicka (published under the pseudonym Jan Sawa)

“Wąwóz Somosierry” (Somosierra Gorge) – a Polish military song from 1905 to music by an unknown author with words by the Polish poet Maria Konopnicka. The author lived in a part of Poland occupied by the Russian Empire, so she had to publish this poem under the pseudonym „Jan Sawa”. „Wąwóz Somosierry” is a poetic description of the famous charge of the Polish Light Cavalry (Chevau-Légers) serving in the Imperial Guard of Napoleon I. It took place on 30 November 1808 in the Somosierra Gorge during the French intervention in Spain.

Rota the Oath lead sheet and chords

The Oath

Music: Feliks Nowowiejski; Lyrics: Maria Konopnicka

“Rota” (The Oath) – a Polish patriotic song from 1908, inspired by the resistance against anti-Polish repression in the Polish lands occupied by Prussia. The text was written by Polish poet and writer Maria Konopnicka, and the music by composer Feliks Nowowiejski. The first public performance took place on 15 July 1910 in Kraków, during the ceremonial unveiling of the Monument of Victory over the Teutonic Knights in the Battle of Grunwald (1410).