DiscountDelight - Henryk Gorecki: Symphony 3 "Sorrowful Songs"
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List Price: $16.98
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Manufacturer: Nonesuch
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Average Customer Rating: 
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0075597928228
Label: Nonesuch
Manufacturer: Nonesuch
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Nonesuch
Release Date: 1992-05-05
Studio: Nonesuch
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Gorecki - Spiritual and Emotional
Comment: Written for the 50th anniversary concert of Hitler's invasion of Poland and the ensuing tragedies, Henryk Gorecki's Symphony No. 3 is a powerful, prayer-like setting of memories of those events. While considered a modern composer, the work is firmly rooted in the tonal world, often creating a mantra/meditative feel; the 1976 composition is as emotional today, as it was in its own time.
The subtitle "Sorrowful Songs" is lost a little in the Polish translation, where the sense of "Wordless song", "prayer and exhortation", and "elegiac and redemptive lullaby" are qualities involved in the literal translation. The unique orchestration (4 flutes, 2 piccolos, 4 clarinets, 2 bassoons, 4 horns, 4 trombones, harp, piano, and full string ensemble) give a full, rich, intimate, chamber sound, but the beauty of a solo soprano voice adds to the absolute quality of the instruments. In three movements, each conveys a prayer in a contrasting, yet peaceful manner. Ingeniously, the 26-minute first movement is dominated simply by a canon; based on a folk song, the tune is taken up by the double-basses in low tessitura, and each voice enters at a fifth. It begins rather muddy in the lower voices, but, the gently shifting, repetitious nature, as well as the natural crescendo (achieved by adding instruments and increasing register) comes to a powerful climax, of which the movement ends the opposite by subtracting voices. 13 minutes into the opening movement, the mood changes from the kaleidoscopic motion of shifting strings, to full chords, piano attacks, and a prayer sung by soprano over huge, lush string chords. The effects of the first movement are intriguing and intense, but highly satisfying. The nine-minute second movement's text was found on the wall of Cell No. 3 in "The Palace", a Gestapo's headquarters in Zakopane, written by an 18-year old imprisoned in 1944. Lush minor chords open the movement with a rising motive. Exclamation of "Mama, mama, do not weep" referring personally and religiously, is heartbreaking. Again, thick and lush string ensemble chords dominate the texture, but rather than the ever-moving canon of the opening, long sustained, slowly-shifting chords support the pleas of the soprano soloist; the movement ends unresolved. Equally heart-wrenching is the text of the third movement; a mother who fears her son has died at the hands of the enemy, and is buried in an unknown land, asks God's flowers to cover and protect her son. The soprano melody is simple and seemingly folk-based, but more active and dramatic than the preceding movement; feelings of hopelessness and utter sorrow are sincerely portrayed with the endless shifting string chords, which seem more sounds of unearthly, or ancient chordal movements. The 17-minute final movement and the whole work ends in A major, full of hopefulness and a feeling that all of our prayers have been received with the genuine sincerity in which they have been given.
David Zinman and the London Sinfonietta make this music sparkle, with a deep, velvety sheen. I do not feel that the work is overly sappy, but sincere and passionate performances. The sound is wonderfully resonant and speaks well; the orchestra plays magnificently and is captured well on recording. Dawn Upshaw is outstanding, both bright and luscious, she gives each movement a different mood, making the work a dramatic experience which unfolds, rather than a set of movements. David Zinman adds nothing that Gorecki doesn't ask for, and the composers' natural intent is given on this recording. Gorecki's music is engaging and in this case, broaches toward minimalism, rooted in tonality and modality, the prayer-like music never becomes boring or merely repetitious, but it all ends too soon. 15 years after the Zinman performance and 30 years after its composition, the work has an amazingly powerful statement and immense spirituality. A must-have recording.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Amazing piece of music
Comment: This opera is absolutely amazing. I used it to help process the grief that I experienced due to the death of my closest Aunt. It worked.
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Summary: A Symphony for Humanity
Comment: I believe that Gorecki was uniquely inspired by grace when he composed Symphony No.3. Each of the three movements in the symphony is a prayer: mother to child or child to mother. Each prayer pleading for grace to be bestowed upon a loved one that has suffered much pain created by man's inability to cherish life and spirit above pride. The first movement contains the words of the Lamentation of the Holy Cross Monastery. It is Mary's prayer for her son during his time of greatest need. The second movement contains the words of a prayer found on a wall of a Gestapo cell, written by an imprisoned young girl. It is the young girl's prayer for Mary during her time of greatest need. The last movement brings the symphony full circle. The words in the last movement is a mother's lamentation of the death of her son who was killed at war. Again, we find a mother praying for her son during his time of greatest need. I can not imagine anyone who would not be touched by this symphony or would not want it to be apart of their collection once they have it. The musical composition, on it's own ground, is truly inspiring and Dawn Upshaw's voice truly resonates the deepest sense of emotion or understanding of what each movement should reveal.
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Summary: Best Recording for this work
Comment: I have listened to 3 seperate recordings of this work, and Upshaw dwarfs the other sopranos for understanding and tone in this work. In general it is her immaculate control of vibrato that makes the high tones just come across so unbelievably "creamy". These pieces need that tone and must stand away from more operettic tones because the minimalistic approach is destroyed if not handled delicately.
The first time I heard this... I could not believe the way she was able to handle the high passages. It couldn't get more perfect. Seriously.
Customer Rating:
Summary: incredibly deep into the soul's depth
Comment: i first heard this piece back in 1996 played by someone i loved deeply. it has stayed with me eversince, haunting me, but in a very elusive manner. it has always been able to express, that which I can't, deeply. thank you for producing this. it is profound and i agree with others in that i don't understand why it hasn't been known for its entirety yet. i do recommend this to others who have a deep sense of life, it will strike a core. a maturity of the soul is expressed succintly with this piece.
god bless you,
antony redman
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Editorial Reviews:
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This album, which catapulted Polish composer Henryk Gorecki to into the international spotlight, takes texts born in pain and turns them into statements of affirmation through the use of music that ebbs and flows in mystic minimalism. The clear voice of soprano Dawn Upshaw, singing the Polish texts, is a large part of the success of this particular recording, but the music, contemporary without either dissonance or movie-music mawkishness, clarifies and uplifts the words. This is a moving and essential element of the modern repertoire. --Sarah Bryan Miller
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