Classical Music & The Gorecki Symphony No.3 – 19th August 2022

Good things come in 3’s. On Friday 19th August, we held a classical music night highlighting some contemporary composers from Eastern Europe.
Both composers whilst having composed the pieces post WWII were drawing upon their rich and difficult heritage from the region to explore themes of loss and journey to better places.

Beginning with Alla Pavlova’s Symphony No.3 Movement 1 (2004 version) we listened to all four movements. Originally released in 2000 the monumental Symphony no. 3 was inspired by a New York monument to Joan of Arc and is characterised by its intense expressive reach. It’s sweeping melodies are easy to absorb and grand crescendos of brass and percussion draw upon famous masters of Russian classical music.
Consistent with her habit of revising her works, Pavlova continued to work on this piece, adding a guitar in a new version which was premiered in 2004. This is the version we played.

The entire 4 movements were streamed from Qobuz through our Taiko SGM Extreme via our Ypsilon DAC1000SE.
If you haven’t heard of Alla Pavlova then it’s a must listen. Very easy to place her in a different century among the great Russian composers.

After a short interval of well known Italian classics (Pizza and Wine) we settled back on for the main advertised event of the Gorecki Symphony No.3 (composed in 1976. What is it about third Symphonies? So many composers hitting their strides by the 3rd attempt ;) This more sombre work has a following among many lovers of contemporary classical. It too follows a journey with themes of martyrdom and the grief of a mother’s loss of her son to dark forces being conveyed by brooding cello introduction on a repetitive metric. It’s known as the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs and we played the vinyl version of the Penderecki / Beth Gibbons version which has struck a chord with new fans who wondered how Portishead could blend with Polish opera.

The subject matter is what links these disparate worlds. Beth Gibbons songs in Portishead are melancholy and her voice is wracked with emotion. Penderecki himself a composer and conductor of challenging material understood the themes contained in the Gorecki Symphony 3. By convincing Beth Gibbons to interpret the material in Polish gives listeners a unique perspective on what it means to understand the emotion in a piece. Beth is not a trained opera singer nor a native Polish speaker but she learned to sing the libretto and understood the back story of a mother’s loss in wartime.

When completed we sat back in silence and then bravely tried to regain our polished composure (pun intended).

Afterwards we enjoyed a lovely dessert (a Pavlova provided by one our listeners who figured a bright cheery riposte was in order – thank you Chris!!).

We played some Portishead and Massive Attack and ended up in modern Bristol. Sometimes a journey into unfamiliar territory can provide new pathways to learn and enjoy music from distant lands.
I’ve collected Gorecki’s for several years and find the solemn nature ultimately upbuilding as the final movement seeks light. I mentioned it was a journey into hell by cello but the way out was thru hints of angelic choir.
The audience reaction was palpable and several remarked later it had touched them deeply.

The power of music!!!
Beats Netflix any day imho…