During his early career, Górecki embraced serialism and concentrated on instrumental ... more
sonorities in the vein of Messiaen. But in his now famous Third Symphony, his atonality disappears into a strategy of gently mounting thematic pitches, taking the strings through all possible registers. All three movements are marked lento, rare for any symphony. The bestselling Nonesuch recording with Dawn Upshaw is the best-known version of this work, but give this Naxos release a try--it's just as good. The sound is excellent and the performances are above reproach. --Paul Cook
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Advantages: deep Disadvantages: need to be keen to listen
A reliving of the second world war thought the eyes the Polish. Written in 1976 and dedicated to his wife, Henry Goreckis third symphoney was first performed in April 1977. Yet it has only had acclaim in recent years. It is a three part story of war. The first movement is dominated at the centre by a setting of the 15th cnetruy polish prayer known as the Holy Cross Lament. It is an amzing display of reversed cannons in the strings, beginning and ending with the double basses. It is only interupted a short time by the fabulous voice of Dawn upshaw and, for that magic moment, the piano strikes almost mystically.
The second movement describes the prayer that was incscibed on wall 3 of cell 3 in the basement of the "Palace" - the Gestapos headquarter in Zakopane. Beneath is the signature of Helena Wanda Blazusiakowna and the words 18 ...
Advantages: Varied movements, esp. 1st and 4th. One of Mahler's most popular works. Disadvantages: 2nd movement a little weak.
to complete it.
--- MUSIC ---
Mahler himself thought of this work as transparent, relatively brief, and non-aggressive. Comprising of 4 movements, it is fairly short compared to his other symphony's and certainly more upbeat, using only a small section of the orchestra compared to his other works. The first movement would almost look like a pyramid if drawn. The start and end are very gradually built up/down (the same melody used at the start and finish) with the climax of the piece about 10mins in with bells and horns making an appearance.
The second movement relies far too much on strings for my liking and lacks the distinctiveness of the 1st movement. The 3rd draws a more subtle manner which makes you believe it is the same as the 2nd at first, but then provides differences to illustrate its superiority; it also leads ...
Advantages: Embodies some of Mahlers most notable music qualities. Disadvantages: Unfinished.
--- OVERVIEW ---
There is supersition that Beethoven died before completing his 10th symphony and so too would Mahler. This turned out to be true, at the age of 50 Mahler died from a serious illness. The different movements of his symphony were left unfinished and put aside for many years until in the 1960's a British musicoligist Deryck Cooke recreated them. To what influence Mr Cooke had over the final version I do not know, but nonetheless the music sounds like Mahler and is otherwise enchanting .
--- MAHLER ---
Nationality: Austrian
Musical Period: Late-Romantic
Born: 1860
Died: 1911
' To write a symphony is, for me to construct a world' - Mahler
Mahler SymphonyNo. 10 Tracks
01. Adagio 26:15
02. First scherzo 12:03
03. Purgatorio oder Inferno 04:30
04. Second scherzo 12:15
05. Finale ...
![Gorecki: Symphony No. 3 Op. 36 [United Kingdom] - Henryk Gorecki](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/92857323.jpg "Gorecki: Symphony No. 3 Op. 36 [United Kingdom] - Henryk Gorecki")
![Bruckner: Symphonies Nos 3 & 4 [SACD]](http://imagesb.ciao.com/iuk/images/icons/no_pic_generic_S.gif){kind=icon}
