Henryk Górecki

The outstanding Polish composer and educator, a Knight of the Order of the White Eagle, was born in 1933 in Czernica, Silesia. He began his musical education at the age of 19 at the Secondary Music School, continuing at the State Higher School of Music in Katowice (now the Academy of Music in Katowice), studying composition under Professor Bolesław Szabelski. In 1958, the works of the young Górecki were presented at the first student monographic concert held at the university. He became known as an avant-garde creator, surprising the public with the modern piece "Scontri" during the Warsaw Autumn Festival. Subsequently, thanks to an award from the Polish Composers' Union, he went to France, where he could continue his education and where he met Olivier Messiaen, Pierre Boulez, and Karlheinz Stockhausen. The composer's First Symphony received an award at the Biennale Jeunesse in Paris (1961). Upon his return, the artist began to collaborate with the State Higher School of Music, working there as a pedagogue, lecturer, and from 1975-79 he was the rector of the university, and in 1977 he was awarded the title of associate professor. However, he resigned from these positions.
Certainly, the breakthrough work of the composer is the Third Symphony "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs", which was created in 1976, and its premiere took place a year later at the Royan Festival. Already in the 1970s, the artist began to slowly transition from experimentalism and serialism to minimalist compositions. The Third Symphony is an example of this, abandoning the previously favored dissonances, Professor Górecki escaped into a milder style, with modal harmony and simpler melodies. This piece consists of 3 laments: the Marian one (a medieval song from the area of Łysa Góra); the daughter imprisoned by the Gestapo to her mother (Zakopane); and the mother mourning her missing son (a folk song from the Opole region). The interpretation of the Third Symphony is not entirely clear. Some view it through the prism of the Holocaust, however, the author himself, although previously asked to compose works on this subject, never completed any, and considered the Third Symphony in a broader context. However, it took 15 years for Henryk Górecki's Third Symphony to gain well-deserved fame. In 1992, the English Elektra Records released the album Symphony No. 3, which became a bestseller in classical music in Great Britain and the United States. It sold over a million copies, earning the composer a Gold Record. It was undoubtedly an incredible success.
It is also worth mentioning "Refren", for which the composer received 3rd place at the UNESCO International Composers' Tribune in Paris in 1967, "Old Polish Music" (1969), referring to ancient Polish music, "Three Works in the Old Style" (1963), a piece saturated with elements of Tatra folklore, the baritone psalm "Beatus vir" (1979), and 3 quartets written for the Kronos Quartet.
Professor Górecki is one of the great personalities of Polish music and musical postmodernism. He passed away on November 12, 2010, at a hospital in Katowice.