In 1992, a recording of Henryk Górecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs saw him achieve an unprecedented level of popularity for a contemporary classical composer. The CD went on to sell more than 1m copies. The BBC’s day-long Total Immersion event, however, left out the Polish artist’s most famous piece while exploring other aspects of his output.
Given by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under the authoritative baton of Antoni Wit, the evening concert featured the UK premiere of one of the relatively few works Górecki composed after finding worldwide fame: a Kyrie left incomplete on his death in 2010, its final touches added by his son, Mikołaj. The result represents the best and worst of an uneven creative figure. With its rampant percussion, the orchestral opening aims for drama, but ends up being merely histrionic; however, some of the choral writing – flawlessly executed by the BBC Symphony Chorus – proved magical.
With soprano Marie Arnet and baritone Marcus Farnsworth filtering finely voiced solo contributions into the texture, the Copernican symphony exemplified the same faults and virtues on an even grander scale, with a blatantly hectoring opening moving slowly but surely towards a transcendent close. In its alternation of grandstanding brass fanfares with deliquescent string chords, Old Polish Music, another early work, also outstayed its welcome. The programme’s most consistently impressive item was the relatively brief Harpsichord Concerto, whose neo-classical motor rhythms were brilliantly articulated by soloist Mahan Esfahani.
The day’s earlier events highlighted other facets of Górecki’s art. The Silesian String Quartet offered vivid accounts of the composer’s first two works for the medium that were punchy and lyrical by turns. Pianist Emiko Edwards emphasised the modernist energy of his sonata and four preludes. Best of all was the luminous delivery by the BBC Singers under David Hill of the unaccompanied motet Totus Tuus.
