Górecki

Book excerpt: The Polish composer Henry Górecki (born 1933) achieved world-wide renown in 1992 when his Third Symphony, written in 1976, was recorded on CD and became an international bestseller. It is now one of the best known musical compositions of recent years, yet Górecki's other music is still relatively little known. This study, the first detailed account of his works in any language, provides biographical information as background to the music, and is by a leading enthusiast of Górecki's music. Adrian Thomas discusses Górecki's position as leader of the Polish avant-garde in the late 1950s, and his subsequent discovery of the folk and church music of Old Poland, notably that of the Podhale region in southern Poland. He describes Górecki's unmistakable musical world, from the large orchestral scores (Scontri, Refrain, the Symphonies) and the choral works (Beatus Vir, commissioned by and dedicated to Pope John Paul II), to the more modest church songs and folk-song arrangements. There is a complete list of works since 1955 with details of instrumentation and recordings, and a select bibliography.