Henryk Mikołaj Górecki (1933-2010)
Górecki died five days ago, and I've been meaning to make this entry, and avoiding making this entry. Truly, to me personally, Górecki was, and remains, one of the most important of all contemporary composers. Like many people, I came to Górecki by way of his Symfonia pieśni żałosnych (Symphony No. 3, Op. 36, Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, as conducted by David Zinman, with vocalist Dawn Upshaw. I first heard Górecki in 1994, shortly after moving to Athens, Georgia. I've rarely heard anything more beautiful and true. I wanted to post of YouTube clip from Symphony 3, but I can't find one I'm happy with. Instead, here's Lamb's song, "Górecki":
I do not choose my listeners. What I mean is, I never write for my listeners. I think about my audience, but I am not writing for them. I have something to tell them, but the audience must also put a certain effort into it. But I never wrote for an audience and never will write for because you have to give the listener something and he has to make an effort in order to understand certain things. If I were thinking of my audience and one likes this, one likes that, one likes another thing, I would never know what to write. Let every listener choose that which interests him. I have nothing against one person liking Mozart or Shostakovich or Leonard Bernstein, but doesn't like Górecki. That's fine with me. I, too, like certain things.
- Henryk Górecki, April 1994.
Click to viewI do not choose my listeners. What I mean is, I never write for my listeners. I think about my audience, but I am not writing for them. I have something to tell them, but the audience must also put a certain effort into it. But I never wrote for an audience and never will write for because you have to give the listener something and he has to make an effort in order to understand certain things. If I were thinking of my audience and one likes this, one likes that, one likes another thing, I would never know what to write. Let every listener choose that which interests him. I have nothing against one person liking Mozart or Shostakovich or Leonard Bernstein, but doesn't like Górecki. That's fine with me. I, too, like certain things.
- Henryk Górecki, April 1994.