Search - Roland Bader, Krakow Philharmonic Orchestra :: Henryk Mikolaj Górecki: Symphony No. 1 / Chorus I / Three Pieces in the Old Style

And in the beginning....

Grady Harp | Los Angeles, CA United States | 09/05/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Henryk Gorecki (Polish, born 1933) is a contemporary composer of great significance. A contemporary of Penderecki, his fame suddenly skyrocketed some years back with the "discovery" of his almost unbearably beautiful Third Symphony - 'Symphony of Sorrowful Songs'. After the adulation following performances and especially the CD recording by David Zinman, the Sinfonietta with Dawn Upshaw as the incandescent soloist, his works drifted into the 'festival only' category. Then the brilliant Second Symphony 'The Copernican', which calls upon soprano and baritone soloists and very large chorus, began being played in European Concert Halls. It seemed as though the written word and addition of vocalists were needed for listeners to untangle Gorecki's power. But just listen to this superb recording of the First Symphony (1959) and the seeds of all the aural manipulations that make his music great are here - orchestrally, without the added voice. Scored for strings, percussion, piano and harpsichord, Gorecki weaves his mystery with massive chordal progressions, extreme variations in dynamics, rhythms, and enthralling juxtapositions of the pulled sounds of the drawn strings against the hammered declarations of the variety of percussive instruments. There is great mystery here, great moments of sound clouds that are harbingers of works to come. Also on this excellent recording are performances of 'Choros I', a work for strings alone which suggests in the broadly spaced tone clusters that evolve into larger forms, a work which feels like the genesis of his popular Third Symphony, and finally, in homage to old Polish folksongs this CD offers a performance of the exquisitely beautiful 'Three pieces in the Old Style' - and equally as haunting as Ives' 'Three Places in New England.' In all this is a well-recorded disc with Roland Bader conducting the Krakow Philharmonic Orchestra."