Misplaced Pages

#108891

69-531: At the end of the 1970s, the German movement was first recognized by Aribert Reimann , who named seven composers, not previously associated as a group, who had each come to similar positions "in an entirely personal fashion". These seven composers were: Hans-Jürgen von Bose , Hans-Christian von Dadelsen , Detlev Müller-Siemens , Wolfgang Rihm , Wolfgang von Schweinitz , Ulrich Stranz , and Manfred Trojahn . In general, these composers strove for an immediacy between

138-414: A composer rests on his literary operas, including Lear and Das Schloß , and song cycles. He also wrote chamber music , orchestral works and songs. His works were published by Schott . Henryk G%C3%B3recki Henryk Mikołaj Górecki ( / ɡ ə ˈ r ɛ t s k i / gə- RET -skee , Polish: [ˈxɛnrɨk miˈkɔwaj ɡuˈrɛt͡skʲi] ; 6 December 1933 – 12 November 2010)

207-668: A cryptogram that explains the way he built the theme for the symphony using musical letters from the first and last names of Alexandre Tansman . In 2004, Górecki left the piano reduction of Two Tristan Postludes and Chorale for orchestra, which received Op. 82. It was orchestrated by his son Mikolaj Górecki and premiered at the Tansman Festival, on October 16, 2016, at the Polish Radio Witold Lutosławski Studio Hall in Warsaw, by Jerzy Maksymiuk and

276-464: A fearsome reputation among his students for his often blunt personality. According to the Polish composer Rafał Augustyn , "When I began to study under Górecki it felt as if someone had dumped a pail of ice-cold water over my head. He could be ruthless in his opinions. The weak fell by the wayside but those who graduated under him became, without exception, respected composers". Górecki admits, "For quite

345-492: A few years, I was a pedagogue, a teacher in the music academy, and my students would ask me many, many things, including how to write and what to write. I always answered this way: If you can live without music for 2 or 3 days, then don't write...It might be better to spend time with a girl or with a beer...If you cannot live without music, then write.” Due to his commitments as a teacher and also because of bouts of ill health, he composed only intermittently during this period. By

414-502: A great deal of detail about his life and work, including that he achieved cult status thanks to valuable exposure on Classic FM . Discussing his audience in a 1994 interview, Górecki said, I do not choose my listeners. What I mean is, I never write for my listeners. I think about my audience, but I am not writing for them. I have something to tell them, but the audience must also put a certain effort into it. But I never wrote for an audience and never will write for because you have to give

483-594: A local branch of the "Catholic Intellectuals Club", an organisation devoted to the struggle against the Communist Party ( Polish United Workers' Party ). In 1981, he composed his Miserere for a large choir in remembrance of police violence against the Solidarity movement. In 1987, he composed Totus Tuus for John Paul II's visit to Poland. Górecki's music covers a variety of styles, but tends towards relative harmonic and rhythmical simplicity. He

552-466: A local doctor, and delay in proper treatment led to tubercular complications in the bone. The illness went largely untreated for two years, by which time permanent damage had been sustained. He spent the following twenty months in a hospital in Germany, where he underwent four operations. Górecki continued to suffer ill health throughout his life and as a result said he had "talked with death often". In

621-413: A love of music. His father Roman (1904–1991) worked at the goods office of a local railway station, but was an amateur musician, while his mother Otylia (1909–1935), played piano. Otylia died when her son was just two years old, and many of his early works were dedicated to her memory. Henryk developed an interest in music from an early age, though he was discouraged by both his father and new stepmother to

690-454: A more traditional, romantic mode of expression. His change of style was viewed as an affront to the then avant-garde establishment, and though he continued to receive commissions from various Polish agencies, by the mid-1970s Górecki was no longer regarded as a composer of importance. In the words of one critic, his "new material was no longer cerebral and sparse; rather, it was intensely expressive, persistently rhythmic and often richly colored in

759-548: A new phase in his development, and was said to represent "the most colourful and vibrant expression of the new Polish wave". The festival announced Górecki's arrival on the international scene, and he quickly became a favorite of the West's avant-garde musical elite. In 1991, the music critic James Wierzbicki wrote that at this time "Górecki was seen as a Polish heir to the new aesthetic of post-Webernian serialism, with his taut structures, lean orchestrations and painstaking concern for

SECTION 10

#1732783902109

828-702: A period when Górecki was also absorbing the techniques of twelve-tone serialism . He graduated from the Academy with honours in 1960. In 1975, Górecki was promoted to professor of composition at the State Higher School of Music in Katowice, where his students included Eugeniusz Knapik , Andrzej Krzanowski , Rafał Augustyn and his son, Mikołaj. Around this time, he came to believe the Polish Communist authorities were interfering too much in

897-487: A recording of symphonic music by a 20th-century composer. Commenting on its popularity, Górecki said, "Perhaps people find something they need in this piece of music ... somehow I hit the right note, something they were missing. Something somewhere had been lost to them. I feel that I instinctively knew what they needed." This popular acclaim did not generate wide interest in Górecki's other works, and he pointedly resisted

966-581: A school suburb of Rydułtowy , in southern Poland. In 1952, he began a teacher training course at the Intermediate School of Music in Rybnik , where he studied clarinet, violin, piano, and music theory. Through intensive studying, Górecki finished the four-year course in just under three years. During this time, he began to compose his own pieces, mostly songs and piano miniatures. Occasionally, he attempted more ambitious projects—in 1952, he adapted

1035-405: A spiritual and emotional effort". Adrian Thomas , professor of music at Cardiff University , said, "The strength and startling originality of Górecki's character shone through his music ... Yet he was an intensely private man, sometimes impossible, with a strong belief in family, a great sense of humour, a physical courage in the face of unrelenting illness, and a capacity for firm friendship". He

1104-539: A week. Górecki continued his formal study of music at the Academy of Music in Katowice , where he studied under the composer Bolesław Szabelski , a former student of Karol Szymanowski . Szabelski drew much of his inspiration from Polish highland folklore. He encouraged Górecki's growing confidence and independence by giving him considerable space in which to develop his own ideas and projects; several of Górecki's early pieces were straightforwardly neo-classical, during

1173-626: Is considered a founder of the New Polish School . According to Terry Teachout , Górecki's "more conventional array of compositional techniques includes both elaborate counterpoint and the ritualistic repetition of melodic fragments and harmonic patterns." Górecki's first works, dating from the last half of the 1950s, were in the avant-garde style of Webern and other serialists of that time. Some of these twelve-tone and serial pieces include Epitaph (1958), First Symphony (1959), and Scontri (1960). At that time, Górecki's reputation

1242-483: Is often described as Holy minimalism . By the 1990s a new radical approach to composition began to emerge in Germany, reacting against the New Simplicity's pluralism, which tended to acquire arbitrary features in composers lacking solid technical ability. Reference to earlier styles provoked unfavourable comparisons: the aim of comprehensibility and accessibility was seen to have been better achieved by music of

1311-537: The Kosciuszko Foundation in New York, and presented an early opportunity for Górecki to reach an audience outside Poland. As was usual, he undertook extensive research on the subject, and was in particular concerned with the philosophical implications of Copernicus's discovery, not all of which he viewed as positive. As the historian Norman Davies commented, "His discovery of the earth's motion round

1380-549: The London Sinfonietta and the Schönberg Ensemble, respectively. Songs are Sung is his third string quartet, inspired by a poem by Velimir Khlebnikov . When asked why it took almost 13 years to finish, he replied, "I continued to hold back from releasing it to the world. I don’t know why." During the last decade of his life, Górecki suffered from frequent illnesses. His Symphony No. 4 (oP. 85, 2006)

1449-818: The Order of Polonia Restituta II class and III class and the Order of St. Gregory the Great . The world premiere of his Symphony No. 4 took place on 12 April 2014. It was performed, as originally scheduled in 2010, by the London Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall , London, but with Andrey Boreyko conducting instead of Marin Alsop . Symphony No. 4 is an extensive, 37-minute composition set for an approximately 100-person orchestra with piano and organ obbligato. The composer left

SECTION 20

#1732783902109

1518-760: The historical drama The Crown . In 2017, Canadian choreographer Crystal Pite set the first movement of the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs as a ballet, Flight Pattern . In 2022, she set the whole symphony as a larger work, Light of Passage . French filmmaker Bertrand Blier used Beatus Vir in his 1996 film My Man . When placing Górecki in context, musicologists and critics generally compare his work with such composers as Olivier Messiaen and Charles Ives . He himself said that he also felt kindred with such figures as Bach , Mozart and Haydn , though he felt most affinity with Franz Schubert , particularly in terms of tonal design and treatment of basic materials. In

1587-478: The "most renowned and respected composers of our time", and said that Górecki's music "represents the most positive aspects of the closing years of our century, as we try to heal the wounds inflicted by the violence and intolerance of our times. It will endure into the next millennium and inspire other composers". In 2007, Górecki claimed 32nd place on the list of Top 100 Living Geniuses compiled by The Daily Telegraph . In 2008, he received an honorary doctorate from

1656-489: The 1960s, but by the mid-1970s had changed to a less complex sacred minimalist sound, exemplified by the transitional Symphony No. 2 and the Symphony No. 3 ( Symphony of Sorrowful Songs ). This later style developed through several other distinct phases, from such works as his 1979 Beatus Vir , to the 1981 choral hymn Miserere , the 1993 Kleines Requiem für eine Polka and his requiem Good Night . Górecki

1725-521: The Adam Mickiewicz ballad Świtezianka , though it was left unfinished. Górecki's life during this time was often difficult. Teaching posts were generally badly paid, while the shortage economy made manuscript paper at times difficult and expensive to acquire. With no access to radio, Górecki kept up to date with music by weekly purchases of such periodicals as Ruch muzyczny ( Musical Movement ) and Muzyka , and by purchasing at least one score

1794-623: The Dutch documentary film series Toonmeesters , of which episode 4 (1994) is about Górecki, he likened playing Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart every day to eating healthy whole grain bread every day. In the same episode he said that in Mozart and Schubert he found many new things, new musical answers. Since Górecki moved away from serialism and dissonance in the 1970s, he is frequently compared to composers such as Arvo Pärt , John Tavener and Giya Kancheli . Although none have admitted to common influence,

1863-464: The New Simplicity was ostensibly rebelling, Karlheinz Stockhausen , had anticipated their position through a radical simplification of his style accomplished between 1966 and 1975, which culminated in his Tierkreis melodies. Another writer finds Rihm's inclusive aesthetic better viewed as "an expansion of constructivist concerns . . . than as a negation of them". There is a quite distinct group of composers also active in Germany and elsewhere, to whom

1932-483: The Paris Biennial Festival of Youth. He moved to Paris to continue his studies, and while there was influenced by contemporaries including Olivier Messiaen , Roman Palester , and Karlheinz Stockhausen . Górecki began to lecture at the Academy of Music in Katowice in 1968, where he taught score-reading, orchestration and composition. In 1972, he was promoted to assistant professor, and developed

2001-553: The Sinfonia Varsovia orchestra. Some of Górecki's music has been adapted for film soundtracks, most notably fragments of his Symphony of Sorrowful Songs . They are featured in Peter Weir 's 1993 film Fearless , Julian Schnabel 's 1996 biographical drama film Basquiat , Shona Auerbach 's 1996 film Seven , Jaime Marqués's 2007 film Ladrones , Terrence Malick 's 2012 experimental romantic drama To

2070-631: The United States and the Americas composers like Samuel Barber , Miguel del Aguila and Astor Piazzolla challenged the concept of music as an experiment with works that became instantly popular and remained in the classical music repertoire to this day. In Denmark some fifteen years earlier than the German movement, a less widely known group also called "The New Simplicity" ( Den Ny Enkelhed ) arose, including composers Hans Abrahamsen , Henning Christiansen , and Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen . This

2139-536: The Wonder , Paolo Sorrentino 's 2013 art drama film The Great Beauty , Felix van Groeningen 's 2018 biographical film Beautiful Boy , and Malick's 2019 historical drama A Hidden Life . It has also appeared on television in numerous TV shows, including the American crime drama television series The Sopranos , American TV series Legion , crime thriller television series The Blacklist , and

New Simplicity - Misplaced Pages Continue

2208-464: The academy's activities, and called them "little dogs always yapping". As a senior administrator but not a member of the Party , he was in almost perpetual conflict with the authorities in his efforts to protect his school, staff and students from undue political influence. In 1979, he resigned from his post in protest at the government's refusal to allow Pope John Paul II to visit Katowice, and formed

2277-467: The art, had no boundaries. Polish culture is a wonderful mixture. When you look at the history of Poland, it is precisely the multiculturalism, the presence of the so-called minorities that made Poland what it was. The cultural wealth, the diversity mixed and created a new entity. Henryk Górecki was born on 6 December 1933, in the village of Czernica , in present-day Silesian Voivodeship , southwest Poland. His family lived modestly, though both parents had

2346-414: The beginning of a long relationship between the quartet and Górecki. Górecki's most popular piece is his Third Symphony , also known as the "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs" (Symfonia pieśni żałosnych) . The work is slow and contemplative, and each of its three movements is for orchestra and solo soprano. The libretto for the first movement is taken from a 15th-century lament, while the second movement uses

2415-677: The chords of A and E-flat. Despite the Third Symphony's success, Górecki resisted the temptation to compose again in that style, and, according to AllMusic , continued to work, not to further his career or reputation, but largely "in response to inner creative dictates". In February 1994, the Kronos Quartet performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music four concerts honoring postmodern revival of interest in new music. The first three concerts featured string quartets and

2484-422: The creative impulse and the musical result (in contrast to the elaborate precompositional planning characteristic of the avant garde), with the intention also of communicating more readily with audiences. In some cases this meant a return to the tonal language of the 19th century as well as to the traditional forms (symphony, sonata) and instrumental combinations (string quartet, piano trio) which had been avoided for

2553-613: The darkest of orchestral hues". The first public performances of Górecki's music in Katowice in February 1958 programmed works clearly displaying the influence of Szymanowski and Bartók . The Silesian State Philharmonic in Katowice held a concert devoted entirely to the 24-year-old Górecki's music. The event led to a commission to write for the Warsaw Autumn Festival. The Epitafium ( Epitaph ) he submitted marked

2622-560: The early 1950s, Górecki studied in the Szafrankowie Brothers State School of Music in Rybnik . Between 1955 and 1960, he studied at the State Higher School of Music in Katowice . In 1965 He joined the faculty of his alma mater in Katowice, where he was made a lecturer in 1968, and then rose to provost before resigning in 1979. Between 1951 and 1953, Górecki taught 10- and 11-year-olds at

2691-414: The early 1970s, Górecki had begun to move away from his earlier radical modernism, and was working toward a more traditional mode of expression dominated by the human voice. His change of style affronted the avant-garde establishment, and although various Polish agencies continued to commission works from him, Górecki ceased to be viewed as an important composer. One critic later wrote, "Górecki's new material

2760-406: The extent that he was not allowed to play his mother's old piano. He persisted, and in 1943 was allowed to take violin lessons with Paweł Hajduga, a local amateur musician, instrument maker, sculptor, painter, poet and chłopski filozof (peasant philosopher). In 1937, Górecki fell while playing in a neighbor’s yard and dislocated his hip. The resulting suppurative inflammation was misdiagnosed by

2829-430: The first and third movements are written from the perspective of a parent who has lost a child, the second is from that of a child separated from a parent. The completion of Górecki's Fourth Symphony, subtitled "Tansman Episodes", was delayed for many years, partly by Górecki's unease at his newfound fame. Indeed, it had not even been orchestrated when he died in 2010, and his son Mikołaj completed it after his death from

New Simplicity - Misplaced Pages Continue

2898-426: The influence of the early 'naive' period of work from John Cage , and that of Morton Feldman , especially in the case of Zimmermann) to which are applied more intricate musical processes; in the latter respect, the influence of Stockhausen and Mauricio Kagel is clear, though some of the figures concerned believed their aesthetic to constitute a break with the avant-garde as represented in particular at Darmstadt. In

2967-646: The listener something and he has to make an effort in order to understand certain things. If I were thinking of my audience and one likes this, one likes that, one likes another thing, I would never know what to write. Let every listener choose that which interests him. I have nothing against one person liking Mozart or Shostakovich or Leonard Bernstein, but doesn't like Górecki. That's fine with me. I, too, like certain things. Górecki received an honorary doctorate from Concordia University , in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Concordia professor Wolfgang Bottenberg called him one of

3036-501: The logical ordering of pitches". Górecki wrote his First Symphony in 1959, and graduated with honours from the Academy the next year. At the 1960 Warsaw Autumn Festival, his Scontri for orchestra caused a sensation among critics due to its use of sharp contrasts and harsh articulations . By 1961, Górecki was at the forefront of the Polish avant-garde , having absorbed the modernism of Webern, Iannis Xenakis and Pierre Boulez , and his Symphony No. 1 gained international acclaim at

3105-459: The most part by the avant garde. For others it meant working with simpler textures or the employment of triadic harmonies in non-tonal contexts. Of the composers most closely identified with this movement, only Wolfgang Rihm has established a significant reputation outside of Germany. At least three writers have gone so far as to argue that one of the Darmstadt avant-garde composers against whom

3174-402: The past and in more authentic forms. Aribert Reimann Aribert Reimann ( German: ['aʁiːbɛʁt 'ʁaɪman] , 4 March 1936 – 13 March 2024) was a German composer, pianist, and accompanist , known especially for his literary operas. His version of Shakespeare's King Lear , the opera Lear , was written at the suggestion of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau , who performed

3243-461: The piano score and notes left behind by his father. It uses similar repetition techniques as the Second and Third Symphonies, but to very different effect; for example, its opening consists of a series of very loud, repeated cells that together spell out the name of the composer Alexandre Tansman via a musical cryptogram , punctuated with heavy strokes on the bass drum and clashing bitonality between

3312-542: The potential of voices. His first work for the stage was a ballet, Stoffreste , to a libretto by Günter Grass and first performed in 1959. His first opera was in 1965 Ein Traumspiel , to a libretto that Carla Henius based on Strindberg's A Dream Play in the translation by Peter Weiss ; it was premiered on 20 June 1965 at the Opernhaus Kiel . His fourth opera, Lear based on Shakespeare's play ,

3381-607: The presence of the composer, who claimed the work was inspired by Claude Debussy 's compositions for clarinet. His opera Medea , after Franz Grillparzer , was premiered at the Vienna State Opera in 2010, conducted by Michael Boder , with Marlis Petersen in the title role. It was chosen as world premiere of the year by critics. In the early 1970s, Reimann became a member of the Akademie der Künste in Berlin. He

3450-618: The sun caused the most fundamental revolutions possible in the prevailing concepts of the human predicament". By the mid-1980s, Górecki began to attract a more international audience, and in 1989 the London Sinfonietta held a weekend of concerts in which his work was played alongside that of the Russian composer Alfred Schnittke . In 1990, the American Kronos Quartet commissioned and recorded his First String Quartet, Already It Is Dusk , Op. 62 , an occasion that marked

3519-611: The temptation to repeat earlier success, or compose for commercial reward. Nevertheless, his music drew the attention of Australian film director Peter Weir , who used a section of Symphony No. 3 in his 1993 film Fearless . Apart from two brief periods studying in Paris and a short time living in Berlin, Górecki spent most of his life in southern Poland. I was born in Silesia....It is old Polish land. But there were always three cultures present: Polish, Czech, and German. The folk art, all

SECTION 50

#1732783902109

3588-467: The term holy minimalism is often used to group these composers, due to their shared simplified approach to texture, tonality and melody , in works often reflecting deeply held religious beliefs. Górecki's modernist techniques are also compared to those of Igor Stravinsky , Béla Bartók , Paul Hindemith and Dmitri Shostakovich . In 1994, Boguslaw M. Maciejewski published the first biography of Górecki, Górecki – His Music And Our Times . It includes

3657-401: The term "geometrical period" for his works between 1962 and 1970. Building on Krzysztof Droba's classifications, she further divides this period into two phases: "the phase of sonoristic means" (1962–63) and "the phase of reductive constructicism" (1964–70). During the mid-1960s and early 1970s, Górecki progressively moved away from his early career as radical modernist, and began to compose in

3726-698: The term 'New Simplicity' is occasionally applied. These are particularly associated with the Cologne School and include such figures as Walter Zimmermann , Johannes Fritsch , Ladislav Kupkovič , Péter Eötvös , Bojidar Dino, Daniel Chorzempa , John McGuire , Mesías Maiguashca , and Clarence Barlow , as well as others from different countries such as Christopher Fox , Gerald Barry , Gavin Bryars , and Kevin Volans . Most of these composers tend to use quite sparse, pared-down musical material (sometimes showing

3795-584: The title role. His opera Medea after Grillparzer's play premiered in 2010 at the Vienna State Opera . He was a professor of contemporary Lied (art song) in Hamburg and Berlin. In 2011, he was awarded the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize for his life's work. Reimann was born in Berlin on 4 March 1936. His father, Wolfgang Reimann  [ de ] , served as choirmaster at Berlin Cathedral ; his mother

3864-596: The words of a teenage girl, Helena Błażusiakówna (Helena Błażusiak), which she wrote on the wall of a Gestapo prison cell in Zakopane to invoke the protection of the Virgin Mary . The third uses the text of a Silesian folk song which describes the pain of a mother searching for a son killed in the Silesian Uprisings . The symphony's dominant themes are motherhood and separation through war. While

3933-419: The works of three living composers: two Americans ( Philip Glass and George Crumb ) and one Pole (Górecki). Górecki's later work includes a 1992 commission for the Kronos Quartet, Songs are Sung ; Concerto-Cantata (written in 1992 for flute and orchestra); and Kleines Requiem für eine Polka (1993 for piano and 13 instruments). Concerto-Cantata and Kleines Requiem für eine Polka have been recorded by

4002-544: Was a Polish composer of contemporary classical music . According to critic Alex Ross , no recent classical composer has had as much commercial success as Górecki. He became a leading figure of the Polish avant-garde during the post- Stalin cultural thaw. His Anton Webern -influenced serialist works of the 1950s and 1960s were characterized by adherence to dissonant modernism and influenced by Luigi Nono , Karlheinz Stockhausen , Krzysztof Penderecki and Kazimierz Serocki . He continued in this direction throughout

4071-756: Was an oratorio singer and voice teacher. As a boy of age 10, he performed in a production of the school opera ( Schuloper ) Der Jasager . He studied at the Musikhochschule Berlin , composition and counterpoint with Boris Blacher and Ernst Pepping , and piano with Otto Rausch. During his studies, he worked as a répétiteur at the Städtische Oper . His first appearances as a pianist and accompanist were in 1957. He moved to Vienna to study musicology in 1958. Working with singers such as Catherine Gayer , Brigitte Fassbaender and Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau increased his sensibility for

4140-666: Was due to be premiered in London in 2010 by the London Philharmonic Orchestra , but the event was cancelled due to the composer's ill health. He died on 12 November 2010, in his home city of Katowice , from complications arising from a lung infection. Reacting to his death, the head of the Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music , Professor Eugeniusz Knapik , said "Górecki's work is like a huge boulder that lies in our path and forces us to make

4209-573: Was inspired by Fischer-Dieskau who portrayed Lear in the first performance at the Bavarian State Opera in 1978. The opera became a lasting success with 30 productions as of 2024. His commissioned work, Cantus for Clarinet and Orchestra , dedicated to the clarinetist and composer Jörg Widmann , was premiered on 13 January 2006, in the WDR 's Large Broadcasting Hall in Cologne, Germany, in

SECTION 60

#1732783902109

4278-474: Was largely unknown outside Poland until the late 1980s. In 1992, 15 years after it was composed, a recording of his Symphony of Sorrowful Songs with soprano Dawn Upshaw and conductor David Zinman , released to commemorate the memory of those lost during the Holocaust , became a worldwide commercial and critical success, selling more than a million copies and vastly exceeding the typical lifetime sales of

4347-557: Was married to Jadwiga, a piano teacher. His daughter, Anna Górecka-Stanczyk, is a pianist, and his son, Mikołaj Górecki , is a composer. He was survived by five grandchildren. President of the Republic of Poland Bronisław Komorowski awarded Górecki the Order of the White Eagle , Poland's highest honour, a month before his death. The Order was presented by Komorowski's wife in Górecki's hospital bed. Earlier, Górecki received

4416-445: Was no longer cerebral and sparse; rather, it was intensely expressive, persistently rhythmic and often richly colored in the darkest of orchestral hues". Górecki progressively rejected the dissonance, serialism and sonorism that had brought him early recognition, and pared and simplified his work. He began to favor large slow gestures and the repetition of small motifs. The Symphony No. 2, "Copernican" (II Symfonia Kopernikowska) ,

4485-603: Was not lagging behind that of Penderecki and his status was confirmed in 1960s when Monologhi won a first prize. Even until 1962, he was firmly ensconced in the minds of the Warsaw Autumn public as a leader of the Polish Modern School, alongside Penderecki. Danuta Mirka has shown that Górecki's compositional techniques in the 1960s were often based on geometry, including axes, figures, one- and two-dimensional patterns, and especially symmetry. She proposes

4554-651: Was professor of contemporary Lied at the Musikhochschule Hamburg from 1974 to 1983, then at Berlin's Hochschule der Künste from 1983 to 1998. Reimann was co-editor and pianist of the record label Orfeo 's album series Edition zeitgenössisches Lied (contemporary song). He was honoured repeatedly, including the Grand Cross of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Order of Merit of Berlin . Invited by Walter Fink , he

4623-575: Was seen as a specifically Danish response to the complexity of music of the Darmstadt School, but differed from the later German group in that these composers sought to increase rather than decrease objectivity by using the simplest, impersonal musical material in order to liberate it from the composer’s attitudes and feelings. This term has also been used essentially synonymously with the related but distinct group of composers such as Henryk Górecki , Arvo Pärt , and John Tavener , whose music

4692-574: Was the seventh composer featured in the annual Komponistenporträt of the Rheingau Musik Festival in 1997, in songs and chamber music with the Auryn Quartet, playing the piano himself. In 2011 Reimann was awarded the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize "for his life's work". Reimann was gay and lived in Berlin. Reimann died on 13 March 2024, at the age of 88. Reimann received many awards: Reimann's reputation as

4761-418: Was written in 1972 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the birth of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus . Written in a monumental style for solo soprano , baritone , choir and orchestra , it features text from Psalms no. 145, 6 and 135 as well as an excerpt from Copernicus's De revolutionibus orbium coelestium . It is in two movements, and a typical performance lasts 35 minutes. It was commissioned by

#108891