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Henryk Mikolaj Górecki : Symphony No. 3 'Symphony Of Sorrowful Songs', op.36


Work Notes All territories except Poland, Albania, Bulgaria, China, countries of the former Czechoslovakia, Croatia and the rest of the former territory of Yugoslavia, Cuba, North Korea, Vietnam, Romania, Hungary and the whole territory of the former USSR, where the copyright is held by Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne, and North America and Canada, where the copyright is held by Boosey & Hawkes Inc.
Publisher
Chester Music Ltd (Polish Works)
Category Soloist(s) and Orchestra
Year Composed
1976
Duration 54 Minutes
Solo Voice(s)
soprano
Orchestration 4(2pic)042+2cbn/4040/hp.pf/str(16.14.12.10.8)
Languages
Polish
Availability Hire  Explain this...
Discography
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Study Score(s) CH61486 Study Score(s) Not available

Programme Note

Texts: I. anon., mid-15C 'Holy Cross Lament', verse 4; II. Helena Wanda Blanzusiakówna, Graffito, 9/25/1944; III: anon. Opole folksong, c. 1919-21

Reviews

  • Atherton, an early champion of the work, sculpted its long contrapuntal lines with due care for the subtle instrumentation (string dominated, but with other instruments secreted within) and the emotional weight of the simplest chord change ... a moving performance, and a still powerful work.
    Geoff Brown, The Times, 26/08/2005
  • Górecki's symphony presents an immense challenge for the performers, with its endlessly repeated chords and simple modal melodies, but it is far from abstract. It consists of a setting of two lamenting prayers, and a folk song about a mother grieving for her lost son that is unbearably poignant just to read on the page.

    Górecki brilliantly places the first text as an interruption of a vast slow fugue, which rises from the depths of the strings and sinks back again in a perfect mirror of itself.

    The two vocal movements were better paced, and sung with great poignancy by Yvonne Kenny. Górecki's symphony revealed to be no passing fad, but a remarkable and deeply moving piece.
    Ivan Hewett, Daily Telegraph, 29/06/2004


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