Role

:

Composer

Country

:

Poland

Birth

:

December 6, 1933 in Czernica, Poland

Death

:

November 12, 2010 in Katowice, Poland

Period

:

Contemporary

Genre

:

Chamber

 

 

Choral

 

 

Orchestral

 

 

Symphony

 

Henryk Mikolaj Górecki was a Polish composer who was born on December 6, 1933, in Czernica, Silesia, Poland. He was the youngest of five children in a family of musicians. His father was a clarinetist and his mother was a pianist. Górecki began his musical education at a young age, studying piano and violin. He later attended the State Higher School of Music in Katowice, where he studied composition with Bolesław Szabelski. Górecki's early works were influenced by the avant-garde music of the 1950s and 1960s. He was a member of the Polish Composers' Union and was associated with the "New Music" movement in Poland. His early works, such as the Symphony No. 1 (1959) and the Scontri (1960), were characterized by their dissonant harmonies and complex rhythms. In the 1970s, Górecki's style began to change. He became interested in the music of the Polish folk tradition and began incorporating elements of folk music into his compositions. This change in style is evident in works such as the Symphony No. 2 "Copernican" (1972) and the Symphony No. 3 "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs" (1976). The Symphony No. 3 "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs" is perhaps Górecki's most famous work. The symphony is a three-movement work for soprano and orchestra. Each movement features a different text, all of which deal with the theme of motherhood and loss. The first movement is based on a 15th-century Polish lament, the second on a message written on the wall of a Gestapo cell by an 18-year-old girl during World War II, and the third on a folk song from the Opole region of Poland. The symphony became a sensation in the 1990s when a recording of it by the soprano Dawn Upshaw and the London Sinfonietta became a surprise hit. Górecki's other works from the 1970s and 1980s include the Beatus Vir (1979), a setting of Psalm 111 for choir and orchestra, and the Harpsichord Concerto (1980). In the 1990s, Górecki continued to compose, but his output slowed down. His works from this period include the Kleines Requiem für eine Polka (1993) and the String Quartet No. 3 "Songs are Sung" (1995). Górecki died on November 12, 2010, in Katowice, Poland, at the age of 76. He left behind a legacy of music that is characterized by its emotional intensity and its incorporation of Polish folk music. His Symphony No. 3 "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs" remains one of the most popular and beloved works of classical music of the 20th century.

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