Gorecki - Miserere - Broad Waters

Miserere, Op 44, 1981
Miserere was written during a difficult period in Polish history. The free trade union, Solidarity, had been gaining support throughout the country, but in March 1981, a demonstration in the city of Bydgoszcz was violently broken up by the militia. By the end of the year, martial law had been imposed on the country. Henryk Górecki, who generally avoids politics and all forms of "officialdom," had begun work on a major choral piece at just that time. As he finished it in June of that year, the composer dedicated the score to "Bydgoszcz." To anyone within the country, this gesture would have been an obvious manifestation of protest against the regime. The authorities must also have understood this, as the piece remained unperformed until 1987, when it was premiered in Bydgoszcz, the same year as the Pope had made a visit to his homeland and perhaps helped to effect something of a retraction of the regime's oppressive policies.
Unlike the first movement of his Symphony No. 3, Górecki's Miserere does not wind down at the end in palindromic reflection of the opening accumulation. Instead, the texture thins and drops to a whisper, then builds back up (in terms of dynamics) to eight-note, and even ten-note, full-choir texture, singing out the petitioning text over and over. At long last, the music pulls in to the middle range, pausing as the texture thins to just two notes. The closing passage is chorale-like, though still modal, setting the second portion of text, "Miserere nobis" ("Have mercy on us"). The A minor triad that ends the piece is solemn, and may communicate a sense of suffering. The resolution Górecki presents is not found in the music as much as in the prayer, in the offering of human suffering to God, perhaps the only possible solution in the midst of oppression. The music, though, does transcend its origins in the political situation in Poland (and the composer's own ill health) to speak with great poignancy and power to audiences around the world.

Amen for chorus, Op 35, 1975
In the 1970s, Polish composer Henryk Górecki, turned his attention almost exclusively to vocal music – a significant change, considering that his early reputation rested exclusively on his orchestral and ensemble works Amen, written in 1975 for the Poznan Spring Music Festival, is his third choral score. The text, being a single word, suggested a more abstract approach to musical structure. As befitting a meditation, perhaps, the piece is designed as a series of "breaths," with the music expanding outward and then back in.
Given the religious focus of most of his pieces through this period, it is clear that Górecki was confirmed in his faith. But his own struggles with illness and external difficulties must have colored his beliefs. Although it is a relatively brief work, one might see expression of the tension between earthly trials and uplifting spirituality in Amen. In any case, it has proved to be an abiding favorite among choirs, both within Poland and abroad.

Euntes Ibant et Flebant, Opus 32, 1972
This piece takes its text from two Psalms, 126 and 95 (the title translates as "they who go forth and weep"), and, while it does feature subdivisions of the choir to create harmonic "resonances" (some voices sustain melodic notes behind the continuation of the main line), it is also strongly modal. The opening three-note motive, outlining the beginning of a minor scale, prefigures the poignant opening of the well-known Symphony No. 3 (1976). Górecki is a master at creating musical forms from very little material, and this work is exemplary. The first half of the piece, in fact, is spun exclusively from the three notes of the opening. An outburst in the middle provides both relief and a heightening of intensity, subsiding again to the opening material (with one addition of a lowered second, which casts a darker hue). The piece closes with a wonderful triadic passage, faintly reminiscent of Orthodox choral chanting.

Szeroka Woda (Broad Waters) Opus 39, 1979
Szeroka woda, which translates as "Broad Waters," is actually a set of five pieces, and is a departure for the composer in that it consists of arrangements of existing folk melodies. Górecki had long been interested in the traditional folk and religious music of his native Poland, but he did not begin integrating these materials into his own music until Old Polish Music, Op. 24, from 1969.
Szeroka woda takes its melodies and texts from a pair of illustrated story books for children. All the texts have some connection, more or less direct, to water – particularly the first, second, and fifth songs, which evoke the Narew and Vistula rivers. The settings are simple and unaffected. The harmonies flow naturally without being traditional. Górecki creates textures that match the texts and are gratifying to sing. In short, these are wonderful little pieces, and they launched a whole series of choral settings that Górecki composed over the next several years, many of which have yet to be published.

Tracks:
1 Henryk Górecki Miserere, Op 44
2 Henryk Górecki Amen for chorus, Op 35
3 Henryk Górecki Euntes Ibant et Flebant, Opus 32
4 Henryk Górecki Wislo Moja, Wislo Szara (My Vistula, Grey Vistula)
5 Henryk Górecki Szeroka Woda (Broad Waters)

* Running time: 1 hr. 7 min.

* Chicago Symphony Chorus, John Nelson, cond.
* Chicago Lyric Opera Chorus, Lucy Ding, cond.
* Lira Chamber Chorus


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