The “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs” is quite possibly the most moving piece of orchestral music ever written, and I am saying this after having heard Mahler 9, Beethoven 9, and Barber’s Adagio for Strings over 20 times a piece.
I must admit, after I heard a recording of this piece, I don’t remember much of the next 2 or 3 days. I can’t concieve of what my Parents and Friends must have thought, because I was walking around in some kind of dream. It was a strange feeling, one that doesn’t leave easily, and even being as intense of a person that I am, I can’t bear to hear this piece more than a few times in a great while. It’s just too real.
Some background on Gorecki’s Masterpiece:
The Symphony is scored for solo soprano voice, 4 Flutes (3 and 4 = 1st and 2nd piccolos) , 4 Clarinets, 2 Bassoons, 2 Contrabassoons, 4 horns, 4 trombones, harp, piano and strings.
One thing that I find interesting is the complete lack of dissonance outside of modal inflections, as well as the absence of nonstandard techniques and the need for virtuosic playing. The music is completely Gorecki, virtually no references to other composers’ music. The entire work is predominantly soft, the dynamics only reaching fortissimo in a few bars.
Here’s where the pain begins, (and tragically ends.)
The words the soprano solo in the second movement are taken directly from an inscription found on a cell wall, in a gestapo prison from the days of Nazi Germany. The inscription was written by an 18 year old girl, who had been seperated from her mother, and knows her demise is drawing near.
I cannot describe to you the overwhelming power of this work. So I will simply let you listen for yourself.
