Two of the most original contemporary composers Gubaidulina and Górecki wrote a number of intriguing pieces which evolve around organ. Denmark’s leading organist Jens E. Christensen has quite a few releases on Kontrapunkt including highly acclaimed “Iberian Organ Music” (32035) and “J.S. Bach/Orgelbüchlein” (32136/7).

Lerchenmusik

The Symphony No. 3, called the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, for solo soprano and orchestra, Op. 36 by Henryk Mikolaj Górecki (1976) is often mentioned in different contexts as one of the most original masterpieces of 20th-century music not only to come out of Poland, but from the world. This release presents the listener with a live recording of this extraordinary piece performed in the concert hall of the Poznan Philharmonic on 4 February, 1995. It is an outstanding artistic creation of Andrzej Boreyko, a conductor who was just about to launch his world career then, and Ewa Izykowska – one of the most interesting and versatile Polish singers.

The Polish Chamber Philharmonic Orchestra Sopot was established by Wojciech Rajski in 1982 and consists of dynamic musicians, all of whom are soloists in their own right. Its typical sound—fire, precision and lightness or, to say it with others words, vitality, discipline and elegance—is praised by the critics worldwide.

SYMPHONY NO.3

The title "Zan Tontemiquico" is drawn from a poem by Tochihuitzin, a prince and poet who lived at the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries. The poem was written in N�huatl, which was spoken in the present Mexico before the arrival of Spaniards. In a free translation the title means "We only come to dream." This, closing the album, programme piece for orchestra, superbly performed by the Aukso ensemble directed by Marek Mos, is preceded by two compositions dedicated to the musicians of the Silesian Trio. The Titanic Trio is inspired by a whole range of cultural associations, not only musical, present in the legend of the Titanic, including the poetry of Czeslaw Milosz. The deprived of the programme references Trio Concertante, recorded together with Aukso, is calligraphically economical, yet at the same time emotionally rich music - consisting of strongly separated sound plans. The works present the main characteristics of the pieces by Mikolaj G�recki: musical erudition, allusiveness, atmosphere, and stylistic diversity.

Presented on three discs, this new release features the very best compositions of Henryk Gorecki (1933-2010) A Polish composer of contemporary classical music, Gorecki became a prominent figure of the Polish avant-garde during the post-Stalin era. While Gorecki’s music varies in style, his works tend to lean toward harmonic and rhythmic simplicity. He is regarded as a founder of the ‘New Polish School’, joined by Witold Lutoslawski and Krzysztof Penderecki.

You might remember Polish composer Henryk Górecki's best-known work for voice and orchestra, 1976's Third Symphony ("Symphony of Sorrowful Songs"). After all, David Zinman's recording for Nonesuch with soprano Dawn Upshaw raced to the top of the classical and pop charts when it was first released in 1992. It might be tempting to understand Górecki by that singular success; in the case of the Second Symphony and Beatus vir, you wouldn't be too far off base. The Symphony No. 2 "Copernican" was written four years before the Third Symphony; Beatus vir was written in 1979. Both works call for voice and orchestra (as well as mixed choir). By the late 1960s, the composer already had settled into a signature aesthetic that many came to know in the Third Symphony: a lone voice floating over a murmuring pulse, thunderous blows of percussion, massive blocks of orchestral chords, and religiously oriented texts. (The Beatus vir text comes from the Psalms; the Second Symphony, following the work's subtitle, uses the astronomer's own words in praise of God, taken from De revolutionibus orbium coelestium.)


For better or worse (depending on your response to the Symphony No. 3), Górecki's compositional language in these two pieces will be quite familiar. If you find Górecki a compelling artistic voice--and I do--then these performances will be a worthy addition to your library, if not quite as emotionally harrowing an experience as Symphony No. 3. The ethnic connections on this Naxos release run deep: Copernicus was Polish, Beatus vir was commissioned by the Polish Pope, John Paul II (when he was still Cardinal of Cracow), and these artists, uniformly first-rate, are Polish as well. Baritone Andrzej Dobber turns between despondency and strength as the psalms call for, and soprano Zofia Kilanowicz has an appealingly warm tone. Antoni Wit has an admirable track record with Naxos, and this recording is another win for him. The sound is excellent: very focused and rich.
--Anastasia Tsioulcas, ClassicsToday.com

With the belated success of his Third Symphony ‘Symphony of Sorrowful Songs’ Gorecki emerged in the 1990s as a composer of world stature. Between 1988 and 1995 he wrote three string quartets for the Kronos Quartet that are among his most important mature works. String Quartet No. 1 reveals chorale-like themes, so much a feature of his later writing, as well as hectic, dance-like motion, while the Second Quartet’s wider range of expression explicitly evokes Beethoven. Genesis I: Elementi offers a powerful contrast- a string trio from 1962 of uncompromising immediacy. The Tippett Quartet appear regularly at King’s Place, the Purcell Room, Wigmore Hall, the Queen Elizabeth Hall and Bridgewater Hall, and perform regularly on BBC Radio 3. They have performed at the BBC Proms and toured Europe, Canada and Mexico. Their broad and diverse repertoire highlights the Tippett Quartet’s unique versatility. Their impressive catalogue of recordings has been released across several labels to universal acclaim and with classical chart-topping success.

The Sonata for Two Violins is one of Henryk Gorecki’s earliest acknowledged works- its contrasts, instrumental rivalries and sophisticated technique a worthy rounding-off of his formative period. The Third String Quartet with its evocative subtitle ‘… songs are sung’ represents a culmination of Gorecki’s preoccupations with elaborate and emotive melodic shapes and closely intertwined harmonies, its final minutes recalling the beauty and poignancy of the composer’s Third Symphony. The First and Second String Quartets can be heard on Naxos as well: “a recording deserving of the very highest recommendation.” (Gramophone).

Henryk Mikolaj G�recki (1933-2010) thought two sentences in his search for the answer to the question what music is to be closest to capturing the root of the problem - the words of Zbigniew Herbert: "art is a transmission of important spiritual experiences" and the thought of Pope John XXIII: "it is a common thing, but the way is uncommon." The impact of both definitions on the composer's oeuvre is particularly evident in the songs he had been writing since his first compositional attempts (falling in the mid-1950s) until 1996. Although G�recki's songs do not belong to the composer's dominant expressive genres, he would return to them on a regular basis, considering them an important way of articulating the deepest, most personal, intimate experiences. This album, thanks to excellent soloists highly appreciated around the world, not only allows us to commune with the art of the outstanding Polish composer, but is also a great opportunity to hear the most representative Polish vocalists of several generations.

[Symphony] "my ultimate recommendation goes not to Nonesuch's success, but to the moving recording on Koch Schwann - this is heartfelt music-making, pure and simple, that succeeds admirably in conveying the sorrow of these aptly named songs. Koch also provide better value for money with their inclusion of the very approachable Three Pieces in Old Style" [Totus tuus] "It's a simple, fetching, unaccompanied motet, written for Pope John Paul's visit to Poland" (Gramophone)

Nicholas Copernicus once wrote: “What can be more beautiful than the sky, which of course contains everything beautiful.” At the inauguration of the 72nd artistic season of the Symphony Orchestra of the Silesian Philharmonic, Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki presented one of the most important works of his Patron- the monumental 2nd Symphony- Copernicus, composed for New York’s Kosciuszko Foundation, to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the birth of Nicolaus Copernicus. In the symphony, which is characteristic of Gorecki’s works, the non-literal literary theme of biblical quotations and the Treaty of the rotation of celestial spheres is of great importance. The words in the Symphony No. 2 were not only significant as inspiration or a starting point, but they became what was directly addressed to the listener. He does not have to read them on the show or in the score, but he directly and explicitly hears them.

The origins of Sanctus Adalbertus Op. 71by Henryk Miko?aj Górecki and the way in which the work was brought to the public are very special. It was written in 1997 to commemorate the millennium of the martyr’s death of Saint Adalbert. It was to have been premiered that year during Pope John Paul II’s pilgrimage to Poland. These plans did not materialize, however, due to the composer’s illness. The autograph score of the oratorio was discovered in the Górecki archives by his son Miko?aj. On November 4, 2015, five years after the composer’s death, Sanctus Adalbertus had its world premiere at the ICE Congress Centre in Kraków, during a gala concert to mark the 70th anniversary of PWM Polish Music Publishers. The composition is often referred to as ‘the big Adalbert’, following ‘the small Adalbert’, the cantata Salve sidus Polonorum Op. 72 (2000), whose material is based on the third movement of Sanctus Adalbertus. In writing Sanctus Adalbertus, Górecki used the Book of Psalms and his own texts, in Polish, Latin and Czech. As the outstanding expert on Górecki Adrian Thomas, observed, the oratorio’s musical material contains “references both to Edward Elgar’s late--Romantic style and to the relic of Polish early music, the medieval chant ‘Bogurodzica’ (Mother of God).” According to Thomas, Sanctus Adalbertus is a natural successor to Beatus vir (1979), Górecki’s psalm for baritone, choir and orchestra. Both are scored for almost identical forces, with a soprano part added to Sanctus Adalbertus. Beatus vir was written in praise of St Stanislaus (Stanis?aw in Polish), the Bishop of Kraków, who died a martyr’s death. The two compositions were part of Górecki’s plan of a cycle of works on Polish saints, which is said to have included also an oratorio devoted to Saint Maksymilian Maria Kolbe, a martyr of Auschwitz.

These four works, written between 1973 and 1993, fully reflect Górecki’s expressive variety. The Little Requiem for a Certain Polka, for piano and thirteen instruments, combines a wide range of moods. The Concerto-Cantata, which received its world première from the soloist on this recording, alternates a moving vein of melancholy with a charged, violent energy. The radical, energetic Harpsichord Concerto is heard here in the version for piano, performed by the composer’s daughter. The Three Dances are hugely approachable and full of exciting contrast.

Henryk Mikolaj Górecki (1933–2010) achieved an international success in the mid-1990s, with his Symphony No. 3, “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs”. Since then, Górecki’s name has been associated almost exclusively with this piece. However, his music is much more than this one brilliant work. Górecki never looked at musical fashions, but consistently created his own sound universe. In the 1980s Górecki, feeling misunderstood, stepped back from the official concert life in Poland. He reached out to simple folk and church melodies, making their choral arrangements. He treated them with a great devotion and humility. In 1985, the composer drew on traditional church songs collected in the 19th-century Spiewnik koscielny (Church Songbook) by Jan Siedlecki. He first selected five songs from it, which made up the cycle of five Marian Songs, Op. 54, for mixed choir a cappella. A year later, Górecki decided to compile other church songs of various character and associated with different liturgical seasons. This led to a collection of twenty Church Songs for a cappella choir today known as his Op. 84. Apart from two, the songs were not published during composer’s lifetime. This album by the Polish Chamber Choir led by Jan Lukaszewski offers this choral gem for the first time sang in Latin.

REVIEW:

Mostly dating from 1986 but published in 2013, three years after the composer’s death, these 20 pieces range from between one and almost 13 minutes in duration. Recorded in Latin for the first time, they have a consoling lilt and occasionally (as in ‘Sicut parvi amplectamur’) dance along gently; ‘Beati qui eligunt Joseph’ is a rare example of a more striking harmonic treatment. Under its conductor of 40 years’ standing, Jan Łukaszewski, the Gdańsk-based Polish Chamber Choir produces beautifully smooth and glowing tone. The overall effect is sweet, like eating too much sernik (Polish cheesecake) and washing it down with communion wine.

-- BBC Music Magazine

The Gramophone Award-winning Silesian Quartet present a double-album of the complete works for string quartet by compatriot Henryk Gorecki. All three of his numbered string quartets were written late in life - the first in 1988 - and all three were commissioned by the Kronos Quartet. The First Quartet is a single-movement work, based on a sixteenth-century song by Waclaw of Szamotuly. The Second, double the length of the First, is subtitled 'quasi una fantasia' and follows a classical four-movement form, subtly referencing Beethoven. Gorecki completed the Third Quartet (double the length of the Second!) after the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs had catapulted his music to much wider acclaim. It extends to five movements and is considered by many to be one of his greatest compositions. In the 1980s and 1990s, Gorecki composed several collections of choral songs. Five Kurpian Songs is based on folksongs from Kurpie, a region north-west of Warsaw. The composer himself suggested that these works would be effective when performed by a string quartet, and here the Silesian Quartet gives us the world premiere recording of that version.

Jarred Dunn/Anna G�recka -"G�recki's World of the Piano" - Canadian pianist Jarred Dunn presents G�recki's World of the Piano, his first recording for ATMA Classique. This album highlights the piano works of Polish composer Henryk Mikolaj G�recki. For the recording of the two-piano opuses, Jarred Dunn is joined by Anna G�recka, the composer's daughter. This recording offers the complete works for one and two pianos by G�recki, an intimate oeuvre rich in personal and historical significance.