After establishing himself as a pioneer of Polish avant-garde music in the 1960s along with contemporaries Penderecki and Lutosławski, Henryk Górecki’s music made a dramatic turnaround in the middle of the 1970s. From that point onwards, his music was stripped down as the composer returned to the more traditional and religious culture of his country.
Symphony No. 3 with soprano, is perhaps the most iconic piece to emerge from this sudden leap in the opposite direction. It became incredibly popular for a contemporary composition and has been played across the globe (with almost one million albums sold worldwide) and was followed by increasingly serious and introspective works.
The melodies may not be the essence of Górecki’s music but they have guided his entire career as a composer from 1956 to 1996 and become a kind of vector for his soul-searching and spiritual raptures. This interpretation by Urszula Kryger (mezzo-soprano), Jadwiga Rappé (alto) and Robert Gierlach (bass-baritone) with Ewa Guz-Seroka on piano is full of grandeur and passion. © François Hudry/Qobuz