Symphony #3

This is an outstanding recording of a sublime piece of musical writing.But make sure you are in the mood for something that is very subtle and does not end loudly. You will be taken on a very rewarding musical journey and when you complete it, feel refreshed.

Electra Nonsuch, a division of Warner Communications, released a CD several years ago of such power, reverence and intensity that it deserves a second look in 2004. The CD, Henryk Górecki's Symphony No. 3 in three parts is consistent in its elegance and somber tone throughout. Composed in 1976 in the small town of Katowice, the Symphony take us through the account of what occurred in another small town outside Katowice, named Oœwiecim, better known to the world as Auschwitz. As the name would suggest, the Symphony evokes images of long human suffering, endurance and ultimately salvation from the human condition of a Nazi concentration camp. Nothing cheery here. But there is something uplifting, too; from the moment the first movement begins: "Lento - Sostenuto Tranquillo MA Cantabile", when the almost imperceptible dual bass introduces us to the canon that follows, the slow tempo and evocative dull cadence like the slow beat of a fading heart, one senses the mood will evolve and elevate, and it does, gradually, through a spiritual second movement - "Lento E Largo - Tranquillissimo" in stages until the soprano, Dawn Upshaw, begins her imprisoned prayers and carries us to affirmation in the final and third movement, "Lento - Cantabile Semplice". The words are prayers inscribed on the walls of the cells inside Auschwitz: "18-years old, imprisoned since 26 September 1944". This simple statement of fact, says it all. Symphony No. 3 is, in an odd way, sensual and very personal in the way that music speaks to the soul and what is in our hearts. You play this CD when you are ready to meditate and relax, or when you are with someone you care about and want to hold them close. No words need to be said, the music speaks its own language here. Verdi came close to this with his Requiem, but didn't sustain the mood. Górecki sustains the mood and never deviates or disrupts the spirituality of the tone he creates. Immediately after I listened to this CD I went to my cabinet and took out John William's equally evocative and reverential "Saving Private Ryan". The two should be played one after the other, in the order recommended. There are similarities in the two that make the match a good one.

This disc is truly the best of both worlds: an amazingly cheap (cheap! not merely affordable) classical disc of a fascinating piece of musical magnificently performed. Despite the presence of premium priced versions of this haunting piece of music (as well as at least one other very good bargain version), Antoni Wit directing the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra manages to outshine the competition. I knew two previous versions of this before, the famous Nonesuch with David Zinman and Dawn Upshaw, and the Philips with Joanna Kozlowska undertaking the vocals.

I recommend this version over the alternatives for four reasons. First, the price is unbeatable. Second, I believe the performance is marginally better than its competitors. Third, the remarkable singing of Zofia Kilanowicz. Fourth, unlike some recordings of this symphony, the disc contains not only the symphony itself, but "Three Olden Style Pieces," which while not as interesting as the main piece are not without interest. In short, this disc features the best performance, is offered at the best price, and contains more music than its competitors.

I do want to question the logic behind one of the other reviews. A reviewer from Derbyshire has expressed his belief that this music is somehow intellectually inferior and that its effects can be as harmful as a drug. I'm sure this was meant hyperbolically, but even granting this, this seems to me to indicate some confusion. In fact, the point is confusedly made. He grants that in Ravel (in the Bolero, a piece that I like not only less than most of the rest of Ravel's corpus but far less than the Gorecki) repetition is effective, and also in Beethoven. Why Gorecki's use of repetition is supposed (I emphasize "supposed") to be less effective is not made clear. Is it because the symphony is popular? Personally, I find the symphony haunting. The music strikes the listener with the simplicity of simple folks tunes and simple masses. Yes, it produces a stunning emotional reaction and can be almost mesmerizing. I personally do not see how this is a negative.

Although this is almost without question the most popular symphony of the past few decades, it has been subject to some criticism because it isn't sufficiently "modern." I worked for a couple of years at Symphony Center in Chicago, where the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performs. I was fascinated to hear backstage the intense hatred a significant number of the orchestra members had for the work of most recent composers. Someone like Gorecki, however, they liked. To me it seems like a perfect instance of the musicians themselves knowing that the emperors had no clothes. We have, I believe, at present something of a gap between fans of orchestral music and musicians on the one hand, and composers and composition teachers on the other. Contemporary orchestral compositions have been plummeting in popularity in the period following Stravinsky and other composers of the early twentieth century, and I would argue that the impossibility of enjoying these compositions on more than an intellectual level has been one of their greatest problems. I am not arguing that orchestral music should be anti-intellectual, but it can't be merely intellectual, as too much of it is.