Henryk Górecki’s Third Symphony, known as the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, is that rarest of phenomena, an unashamedly classical work that connects with people way beyond the concert hall. The London Sinfonietta’s 1991 recording, with Dawn Upshaw a radiant soloist, topped the US classical chart for more than 40 weeks. Clearly the work’s contemplative sincerity struck a chord in a post-iron curtain world.
The Polish-born composer had commenced his career embracing a gnarly, post-Webern serialism. His shift to sparer textures and Renaissance-inspired harmonies went down like a lead balloon with modernists - Pierre Boulez was heard summing up the Third Symphony at its 1977 premiere in a single word: “Merde!” Górecki didn’t care. He’d witnessed war first-hand and had visited Auschwitz in 1945.
