Henryk Górecki - Symphony no 3

G├?┬│recki\'s music covers a variety of styles, but tends towards relative harmonic and rhythmical simplicity. He is considered to be a founder of the New Polish School, and his first works were in the avant-garde style of Pierre Boulez and other serialists. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, G├?┬│recki progressively moved away from his early career as radical modernist, and began to compose with a more traditional, romantic mode of expression. His change of style was viewed as an affront to the then avant-garde establishment, and though he continued to receive commissions from various Polish agencies, by the mid 1970s G├?┬│recki had ceased to be a composer that mattered. In the words of one critic, \"G├?┬│recki├ó∩┐╜∩┐╜s new material was no longer cerebral and sparse; rather, it was intensely expressive, persistently rhythmic and often richly colored in the darkest of orchestral hues.\"[12]

G├?┬│recki\'s most popular piece is his Third Symphony, subtitled Symphony of Sorrowful Songs (Symfonia pie├?∩┐╜ni ├?┬╝a├?∩┐╜osnych). Slow and contemplative, the three movements are composed for orchestra and solo soprano. The words of the first movement are from a 15th century lament; the words of the second from a teenage girl, Helena B├?∩┐╜a├?┬╝usiak, written on the wall of a Gestapo prison cell in Zakopane to invoke the protections of the Virgin Mary; the third movement uses a folk song.

When placing G├?┬│recki in the context of the history of modern art, commentators usually compare his work with such composers as Messiaen, and Ives. He has said that he feels kindred with such figures as Bach, Mozart, and Haydn, though he feels most affinity towards Schubert, particularly in terms of tonal design and treatment of basic materials.[18]

Since G├?┬│recki\'s move away from serialism and dissonance in the 1970s, he is frequently compared to composers such as Arvo P├?┬ñrt, John Tavener, and Giya Kancheli.[18] The term \"holy minimalism\" is often used to group these composers, due to their sharing a simplified approach to musical texture, tonality, and melody, in works often reflecting religious beliefs. However, none of these composers has admitted to common influences.