Cosmopolis fountain

 

A unique Copernican memento - a reference to the eighth page of Copernicus' work "De revolutionibus...", which depicts the heliocentric system - is the Cosmopolis Fountain, opened in 2008. Located in the city centre, in the Planty Park (between streets: Fosa Staromiejska / Aleja Jana Pawła II / Plac Artylerii Polskiej), it is a popular attraction, drawing crowds of spectators to its evening shows.

The fountain has 113 water jets arranged in the orbits of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, depicted on a granite base. The central jet, placed in place of the Sun, shoots water to a height of 5 meters, while the orbiting jets shoot water up to 4.5 meters. During the tourist season, the electronically controlled fountain presents spectacular sound and light shows several times every half hour after dusk, spurting various water patterns to the rhythm of music, attracting a large audience of tourists.

Tourists and residents can hear, among other things, Krzesimir Dębski's piece "Cosmopolis," written especially for the fountain. The 15.5-minute composition was recorded by musicians from the Toruń Symphony Orchestra and the Astrolabium Choir of the WSB University. "The music evokes the rich history of Toruń and the figure of Nicolaus Copernicus," says Krzesimir Dębski. "For a moment, I felt that there were too many artistic pretexts for creating music in Toruń. So I used medieval musical motifs that would reflect the city's Gothic architecture. However, they are combined with the texture of avant-garde contemporary music. The structure of individual musical phrases includes astronomical mathematical references. This piece also draws on the musical visions of Thales of Miletus and Pythagoras. It's important to remember that these were also the creators of our musical system."

In subsequent years, the repertoire of pieces providing the musical backdrop for the fountain's performances has expanded. The music of Cosmopolis was joined by well-known film melodies from Love Story and Gladiator, as well as Ode to Joy (a show set to this piece was created in 2011, to celebrate Poland's Presidency of the European Union). In August 2012, instead of the Ode to Joy show, a show set to Michał Lorenc's film music was launched.