The Silesian Philharmonic in the southern Polish city of Katowice, where Górecki spent almost all his life, is set to perform two of his works: Three Dances Op. 34, composed in 1973, and the Third String Quartet, subtitled Songs are Sung, written in 2005.
Three Dances will be part of the orchestra’s guest performance in Opole on November 15, while Third String Quartet, one of Górecki’s last pieces, will be performed during a concert in Katowice on November 28.
November 21 will see the world premiere of a new version of Górecki’s iconic Third Symphony, recorded by the Warsaw Philharmonic under Krzysztof Urbański.
The work was originally scored for soprano solo and orchestra. The new version features a vocal part sung by a countertenor and two sopranos.
Born in 1933, Górecki was one of Poland’s most prominent 20th century composers.
In the mid-1950s, at the time of the post-Stalinist cultural thaw, he found himself at the forefront of the Polish avant-garde.
He also explored folk music traditions, his early pieces showing a development from the folk-inspired worlds of composers such as Karol Szymanowski and Bela Bartok to the modernist techniques.
The simple yet monumental style for which he came to be renowned became fully established in the 1970s, with works such as Symphony No. 2 Copernican, the Third Symphony and the Psalm setting Beatus vir.
In the early 1980s, following the imposition of martial law in Poland, Górecki withdrew from public life and concentrated on choral settings, sacred music and chamber works.
In the 1980s, Górecki’s music attracted new performers and audiences in the West. This led to the composition of three strong quartets, Already It Is Dusk, Quasi una fantasia and Songs are Sung, all of them commissioned and premiered by the Kronos Quartet from San Francisco.
In the 1990s, his Third Symphony achieved unprecedented international success, becoming the most popular recording of a work by a contemporary composer.
Four of Górecki’s works were premiered upon his death: Symphony No.4: Tansman Episodes, the hour-long oratorio Sanctus Adalbertus, a setting for choir and small orchestra of the Kyrie, and Two Tristan Postludes and Chorale for orchestra.
Górecki’s Totus Tuus for unaccompanied choir was performed during the reopening of the newly restored Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris on December 8, 2024.
The composer's honours included the Order of the White Eagle, the highest Polish state distinction, as well as numerous honorary doctorates from universities and music academies across the world.
(mk/gs)