Polish composer Henryk Mikolaj Górecki was not hugely prolific, but he was something of a hero to listeners who welcomed the mysticism and transparent emotional expressiveness of his works after he turned from the avant-garde to a more accessible post-Modern tonal language in the mid-1970s. A 1993 recording of his Third Symphony ("Symphony of Sorrowful Songs," 1976), in fact, became an international best-seller. This recording with Antoni Wit leading the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra includes four works typical of his later ...
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Polish composer Henryk Mikolaj Górecki was not hugely prolific, but he was something of a hero to listeners who welcomed the mysticism and transparent emotional expressiveness of his works after he turned from the avant-garde to a more accessible post-Modern tonal language in the mid-1970s. A 1993 recording of his Third Symphony ("Symphony of Sorrowful Songs," 1976), in fact, became an international best-seller. This recording with Antoni Wit leading the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra includes four works typical of his later style. Little Requiem for a Certain Polka, for piano and orchestra (1993) is in four movements whose dramatically contrasting juxtapositions are typical of the Eastern European minimalist and polystylistic trends of the era: a largely tonal language; a predominantly quiet mood punctuated by startling, rambunctious outbursts (which can sound like Shostakovich on an ironically cheerful day); and a cryptic sense of structure and musical development that owes little to earlier models...
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