Symphony No.2 "Copernican" - Henryk Górecki

Описание: Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, Polish Radio Choir and Silesian Philharmonic Choir conducted by Antoni Wit. Andrzej Dobber as the baritone and Zofia Kilanowicz as the soprano.

I - (♩ = 92) - Molto lento (♩ = 30-2) - Tempo I. Marcatissimo (♩ = 92) - Tutti marcato (♩ = 98-100) - Furioso e marcatissimo (♩ = 60) - Tranquillo e semplice (♪ = 120) - Furioso e marcatissimo (♩ = 60) - Tempo (♩ = 76-8) - (♩ = 60): 0:00
II - Lento sostenuto e contemplativo (♩ = 52) - (♩ = 76) - Lento. Tranquillissimo, cantabillissimo (♩ = 46) - Lento sostenuto e contemplativo (♩ = 52) - Con massima espressione, súbito (♩ = 63-6) - Lento. Tranquillissimo, cantabillissimo (♩ = 46) - Lo stesso tempo, sostenuto e contemplativo (♩ = 46) - Molto lento e semplice (♩ = 40): 16:31

Górecki's Symphony No.2 was composed in 1972, being commissioned by the Kosciuszko Foundation to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the birth of Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus. The work was premiered on June 22 of 1973, performed by the National Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra & Chorus conducted by Andrzej Markowski, along with Andrzej Hiolski as the baritone and Stefania Woytowicz as the soprano.

The symphony is scored for large orchestra, choir, baritone and soprano on texts from Psalms No.145, 6 and 135, along with an excerpt from Copernicus' "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium". The symphony is divided in two large movements, the first extremely dissonant and the second expressively lyrical. Górecki undertook extensive research on the subject, and was particularly taken by the philosophical implications of Copernicus' discovery, not all of which he viewed as positive. His discovery, of the earth's motion round the sun, caused the most fundamental revolutions possible in the prevailing concepts of the human predicament.

The first movement is an almost relentless evocation of the imperturbable machinations of the universe. It begins with grinding, dissonant "chorale"built on whole-tone chord on full orchestra, punctuated by pounding drums. These massive sonorities circle slowly around a narrow progression, not leaving, not arriving. There are just a couple of episodes distributed throughout, the first is a quiet, sustained passage for strings, coloured by woodwind chords. The harmonic material isn't significantly different apart from a "black-note" pentatonic sonority. This relative consonance casts a ray of light on the dark musical universe thus far portrayed, and points to the more uplifting second movement.

The second episode is a more active passage, first for low brass and strings. Sharp piercing chords from the rest of the orchestra signal shifts in register, and the music rises incrementally until all the brass, and then the woods, fill out the middle register with densely scored, narrow figurations. A third episode leads to the final section, this time with the addition of the choir. The massed material remains the same, but the voices add the words "Lord, Creator of heaven and earth. He made the sun and the moon." The movement ends with no resolution, just as the universe, seen from the material, scientific perspective, offers none. Any resolution must be found in the spiritual domain, and Górecki moves to that perspective in his finale.

The second movement is a different musical universe. The strings open with the luminous pentatonic chord that had been hinted briefly in the first episode of the previous movement. The baritone enters the same psalm text from before. The static setting draws one toward contemplation and prayer rather than terror and awe. As the baritone rises, so does the orchestra, though the pentatonic chord remains the primary sonority. The soprano takes over from the baritone, climbing up the scale in a manner that points to the famous third symphony.

The harmony shifts to A flat major before repeating the previous passage in compressed form, finishing with a climactic intoning of the rest of the Psalm text: "The sun to rule over the day. The moon and the stars to rule over the night". After a repetition of the text and the musical material, Górecki inserts an extraordinary choral passage which quotes an anonymous XV modal phrase. Appropriately enough, the choir sings a quote from Copernicus himself: "What is more beautiful than the heavens, since they contain everything that is beautiful?" The piece concludes with a huge swelling and dying away of the pentatonic chord, which then resolves to the A flat triad, a dramatic though prayerful close.

[Activate the subtitles to read the lyrics along the music]

Picture: "Astronomer Copernicus" or "Conversations with God" (1873) by the Polish painter Jan Matejko.

Sources: https://bit.ly/3G3FWYe and https://bit.ly/42UEKQQ

To check the score: https://bit.ly/40r3oXM