Górecki at 70: new Kurpian Songs for choir
(September 2003)
Henryk Mikolaj Górecki’s 70th birthday year has brought the premiere of a new unaccompanied choral work, 5 Kurpian Songs. The 25-minute work sets Polish folk texts from the wooded north-eastern Kurpie region of Poland that developed distinctive cultural traditions due to its inaccessibility.The Polish Radio Choir conducted by Wlodzimierz Siedlik gave the first performance of the new work in Warsaw on 30 March, as part of a gala tribute concert at which the composer was presented with the Polish Radio Music Award for "exceptional achievements of special significance to Polish music life". Further performances of 5 Kurpian Songs are given by the Krakow Philharmonic Choir on 28 and 29 November.
Other Górecki 70th birthday events in Poland include a series of performances by the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by its Artistic Director Gabriel Chmura. The orchestra opens the Warsaw Autumn festival with Canticum Graduum on 19 September, and gives performances of Salve, Sidus Polonorum and Beatus Vir at the Bielsko Biela festival of Polish composers on 2 October. The orchestra travels to Italy at the end of October for a concert at the Vatican featuring music by Górecki.
In addition to the new Kurpian Songs, unaccompanied choral works by Górecki include Totus Tuus, Lobgesang, My Vistula and Broad Waters. Visit a complete list of his choral works.
> Further information on Work: Five Kurpian Songs
> Further information on Salve, sidus Polonorum vocal score
Górecki photo © Malcolm Crowthers
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