# What do you think of Górecki's "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs"?



## Guest (Aug 14, 2018)

This one came in second in Portamento's game of compositions from the 1970s, so I thought I would make a thread on it asking what you think.






Obviously, this is a piece of music that became quite a 'hit' in the 90s, but the 90s were a long time ago and I have no actual memory of the 90s anyway..........so maybe the general consensus has changed since then idk. My guess is that it is still a widely popular piece of music, albeit one that probably doesn't get too much discussion any more.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

It was an instant favourite when I heard it in the 90s, and has remained so since then (when I last prepared a list of favourite symphonies it was in the top 5).


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## Larkenfield (Jun 5, 2017)

Actually, I believe it was written in 1976 and the recording was released in the early 1990s. This is a good recording but I also like the one by the Polish conductor Antoni Wit.

I believe this a significant work because it helped bring emotional closure in Poland from the sorrow this tremendous country experienced under the devastating dominance of the Nazis and a crazy Hitler - great heroism in the face of staggering odds. Read about the Polish Uprising and the terrible treatment of the Jews who put up a tremendous fight but were eventually crushed.

I also believe that an understanding of the words are essential and at the heart of the symphony and should be fully taken into account. It is considered destressing and depressing to some listeners, but I do not feel that way at all. I do not for a moment believe that's what Gorecki had in mind when he wrote it. The symphony was meant to be a healing, and even one listening in a lifetime can stay with a person for the rest of his or her life.

Lyrics: https://web.ics.purdue.edu/~felluga/holocaust/goreckilyrics696.html


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## Enthusiast (Mar 5, 2016)

Probably I am just being an aging hipster but I never liked it. I was amazed at all the fuss. But actually I was pleased by the fuss - something broadly classical had come a long and inspired huge numbers of people - and I did want to like it.


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## Guest (Aug 14, 2018)

Enthusiast said:


> Probably I am just being an aging hipster but I never liked it. I was amazed at all the fuss. But actually I was pleased by the fuss - something broadly classical had come a long and inspired huge numbers of people - and I did want to like it.


No pressure to like it, I'm not a fan of the piece either, but I think it does have a very pleasant sound.


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## Alkan (Jun 30, 2018)

I listened to it once, and then again for this thread I "sampled" it in a few places. I am not a fan. It doesn't seem to have enough ideas. Just one long sad droning. But I agree with Enthusiast that it's good to pull in a wider audience. I think it's classical pop music, sort of like Carmina Burana.


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## Thomyum2 (Apr 18, 2018)

shirime said:


> I'm not a fan of the piece either, but I think it does have a very pleasant sound.





Alkan said:


> I listened to it once, and then again for this thread I "sampled" it in a few places. I am not a fan. It doesn't seem to have enough ideas. Just one long sad droning. But I agree with Enthusiast that it's good to pull in a wider audience. I think it's classical pop music, sort of like Carmina Burana.


I think that kind of sums up my feeling about it too - I do enjoy listening to it, but I don't find it very interesting.


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## Guest (Aug 14, 2018)

I think it is a great piece of music (which I haven't listened to since the 90's, probably). There is a lot of music I haven't heard from the 90's.


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## Granate (Jun 25, 2016)

It's been really long since I haven't listened to it. My experience with the Naxos Antoni Wit performance was a thunderstroke more than 2 years ago. But it has fallen into oblivion. By the way, I own the CD.

Previous thread: *Poll: Gorecki's 3rd symphony is...*


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## kyjo (Jan 1, 2018)

It’s a deeply moving piece that totally deserves its (at least former) popularity. It’s one of those pieces that grabs me from the very beginning and doesn’t let me go until the very end.


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## larold (Jul 20, 2017)

Aside from the later Three Tenors albums, this was the most recent classical recording that brought new fans to the medium -- the last classical music hit you might say. Norman Lebrecht described it as the album a lot of young people came looking for in London asking, "Do you have that classical record where the girl is saying something but you can't quite tell what?"

The music came from the 1970s but it was David Zinman's recording that put it on the map. It has stayed a consistent seller although the music is rarely heard in concert.

I've heard it a couple times; it never caught my fancy though I can see why it was a worldwide sensation. It spoke to a lot of people for a while anyway.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

It's likely that the 1993 movie "Fearless" starring Jeff Bridges added to the symphony's popularity.


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## Fredx2098 (Jun 24, 2018)

I do enjoy the themes and development, but I think it drags on too much. It's perhaps like an "ambient" symphony it seems. It also seems like a "post-minimal" symphony if there were such a thing. It reminds me a bit of The Sinking of the Titanic by Gavin Bryars, which I'm also not a crazy fan of.


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## starthrower (Dec 11, 2010)

I could never get into it. I find it to be a real downer and I get bored long before it's over.


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