Krzysztof Urbański will conduct two symphonies that occupy a well-deserved place in the contemporary canon of world musical masterpieces. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Symphony in G minor, K. 550 is the middle work of the last three symphonies written a few years before the composer’s death. Henryk Mikołaj Górecki’s Symphony No. 3 was composed in 1976, commissioned by the Südwestfunk in Baden-Baden. It is not known whether Mozart’s work was appreciated during the composer’s lifetime. Until recently, it was even believed that he may never have heard it performed. The Polish composer’s work was rejected by some avant-garde circles, surprised by the sudden simplification of Górecki’s musical language, although the composer himself insisted: ‘I have not swapped my revolutionary clothes for a Franciscan habit’. It was not until the 1992 recording by the London Sinfonietta that the work achieved worldwide success. Today, the Third Symphony is one of the most frequently performed works of twentieth-century Polish music in the world. Similarly, Mozart’s masterpiece enchanted later generations of composers, who eagerly referred to its cantilena melodies. Johannes Brahms himself proudly kept the autographs of the Symphony in G minor. The work of the Viennese classic has no programme, although hidden meanings have been sought in it many times. Górecki, on the other hand, based his work on shocking quotations concerning human tragedy and loss. Both symphonies can be recognised from the very opening. With Mozart, it is a characteristic, lively violin theme, while in the Górecki, it is a canon melody taken from the Kurpie region, appearing in the dark registers of the double basses.
Bartłomiej Gembicki
