Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki - Symphony No.3. 'Symphony of Sorrowful Songs' for soprano and orchestra Op.36

Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki
Symphony No.3
'Symphony of Sorrowful Songs' for soprano and orchestra Op.36

Label: Polskie Nagrania - Muza (2011)
Catalogue No: PNCD
Format: CD

"You, the critics, you have several Góreckis, you like to pigeonhole and to label: that the Scontri, that the Sonata, another from the chorus, that one from the Third Symphony. It's probably a pleasant think to create such 'reality', but the true reality is somewhat different. Between a third Symphony and Scontri I wrote a number of other pieces and I see no reason to distinguish some artificial stages, to write about something that does not exist. If you listen well, in all my songs you can hear a lot of similarities. I have never changed my 'Franciscan habit' for 'revolutionist's outfit' - I have never had them nor needed any of them."   (H.M. Gorecki)

Tracks:
1. Song No. 1  Lento - Sostenuto Tranquillo Ma Cantabile
2. Song No. 2  Lento e Largo - Tranquillissimo
3. Song No. 3  Lento - Cantabile Semplice

Recorded in Poland, May 1978

Performed by:
Stefania Wojtowicz - soprano
National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jerzy Katlewicz - conductor

About:
Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki's career spans more than 40 years, dating from the post-Stalinist era of the mid 1950s and embracing a catalogue of more than 70 acknowledged works. It was not, however, until the phenomenal success of his third symphony, Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, Op. 36, which brought the composer world-wide renown through its numerous performances and recordings, that his music reached an extended audience outside his native Poland. Since then the directness and emotional impact of his music have established him as one of the major figures of contemporary music.

Apart from two brief periods of study in Paris in the early 1960s and a stay in Berlin in 1973 severely curtailed by serious illness, Gorecki has remained rooted in southern Poland where his deep awareness of Polish folk culture and religious heritage have formed the standing stones of his musical language. Whether abstract in reference (large-scale canvasses, granitic textures) or specific (modal hymnody, folk songs and texts), Gorecki has increasingly allowed the simplicity of these building blocks to stand on their own terms. From time to time he has also made reference to other composers with whom he feels a special affinity such as the powerfully expressive quotation from Beethoven in Lerchenmusik, Op. 53.

The diversity of this highly individual musical personality can be traced in his work, ranging from the rugged and combative Genesis, Op 19 and the long slow lament of the Third Symphony to the modal melodies of Three Pieces in the Old Style, and the fast flamboyant movements of the Harpsichord Concerto.