Belated R.I.P. Henryk Gorecki

Shit! Henryk Gorecki died a week ago Friday and I didn't know. Sorrowful indeed. I think his very famous Third Symphony is the most beautiful piece of music written in the second half of the 20th Century.

Except maybe for "Tomorrow Never Knows" or "Sister Ray."

Agreed. On everything you just said, and I would include "God" by Lennon on that list.

In my 1997-era Desert Island Discs I included the Third Symphony. Writeup from that time is pasted below:

Dawn Upshaw/London Sinfonietta/Zinman: Górecki's Symphony No. 3 (Elektra Nonesuch 1992) This piece was written in 1976, and dedicated to Górecki's wife, but achieved renown only with this 1992 recording on Elektra Nonesuch, with the masterful soprano Dawn Upshaw singing the haunting second movement (Lento e Largo: Tranquilisimo). Remarkably, this very deep and sad minimalist piece, with little in the way of obvious 'hooks' or cross-over appeal, because a worldwide sensation, rising into the British Top Ten pop charts. After owning this record for years, and listening to it constantly, I still wonder why--unlike the Three Tenors or another piece of pop-classical hype, this work makes no concessions to popular appeal. Instead, with music drawn from Polish folk music and Eastern European experimentalism, and lyrics and themes drawn from the aching sadness of Polish tragedy--the Holocaust, the pogroms, and the brutality of Stalinist oppression--Górecki plays off his devout faith in the Catholic church against the naked realities of human suffering. The result is the aural equivalent of Schindler's List--the listener is left both chastened and exalted at the same time. The themes of the piece and the pace of the music (somnolent and rarely shifting except at a glacial pace) led many to call this the "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs." This is, I think, a simplistic term. Sorrow is there, no doubt, but also present is faith, hope, and warmth. If you've never heard this record, find it and devote the time needed to understand it. The ten-minute second movement alone is worth your investment.

Very nice. Thanks for the post.

Very nice write up, though for me it's the third movement that puts my heart in my throat every time I hear it.

Keeping more in the usual TP realm, wasn't there a UK band which released a single called "Gorecki's Third" or something? Who was it?

The trip-hop band Lamb had a single titled "Gorecki" which was built from mostly unrecognizable samples from the Third Symphony. The song later popped up being sung by Nicole Kidman in Moulin Rouge.

[www.youtube.com]