Górecki Church Songs, Op. 84 Polish Chamber Choir/Jan Łukaszewski Ondine ODE 1428-2D 99:31 mins (2 discs)
One of the great originals of modern music, the Polish composer Henryk Górecki has long been misunderstood. The trouble began not so much with the premiere of his Symphony of Sorrowful Songs in 1977 but with its belated and bestselling success in 1992. Dawn Upshaw’s chart-topper skewed everyone’s view not only of the Symphony but of Górecki’s entire output going back to his firebrand days as leader of the Polish avant garde.
Even during that modernist period, his spirituality was never concealed, but his deeply-held Catholicism began to emerge more clearly in the mid 1970s, notably with an ethereal, thick-textured Amen. Anyone hoping to hear that – or his supplicatory masterpiece Totus Tuus – here may be disappointed. This collection of church song arrangements is more modest in its scope and shows Górecki tackling a task normally left to local organists.
Mostly dating from 1986 but published in 2013, three years after the composer’s death, these 20 pieces range from between one and almost 13 minutes in duration. Recorded in Latin for the first time, they have a consoling lilt and occasionally (as in ‘Sicut parvi amplectamur’) dance along gently; ‘Beati qui eligunt Joseph’ is a rare example of a more striking harmonic treatment. Under its conductor of 40 years’ standing, Jan Łukaszewski, the Gdańsk-based Polish Chamber Choir produces beautifully smooth and glowing tone. The overall effect is sweet, like eating too much sernik (Polish cheesecake) and washing it down with communion wine.
John Allison