Symphony of Sorrowful Songs

Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki - Symphony No. 3 Oooooo, I am so excited to tell you about this one! Thank you Mr. Robert of the Radish for asking me that "Desert Island Song" question earlier today and making my scour my brain (I know, that shouldn't take too long... haha... you're funny) for my absolute favorites. In doing so, I discovered that the best recording of my absolute favorite "classical" piece is now available on Rhapsody! Now, in the end I didn't choose anything from this album even though it is one of my favorites of all time because I'd probably end up shooting myself if I were listening to this album and stranded on a desert island (or maybe jumping out of a tall palm tree if I didn't have a gun). It is so, so, so, so sad. While I consider myself to be in touch with my emotions and willing to pour myself into music and be moved by it, nothing has evoked such a strong emotional response from me as this one has.

Now, before you get all excited and jump right into this one, let me get you in the right frame of mind. First of all, don't even attempt to listen to this one unless you have a solid 30 minutes set aside in your day to sit down, put this on, and listen to it closely. That's how long the first of three movements is and it is just so incredibly important that you listen to this one straight through and don't lose focus. It is so intense and putting it on as background music is just so inappropriate for this kind of beauty. Secondly, make sure you're wearing waterproof mascara if you are an eye makeup kind of person. And guys, don't invite your "dude" friends over right after this. If you do not have tears running down your face by minute 13, then you are either not following my first instruction above, or you're dead. Thirdly, let me just tell you a little about the piece itself. The first thing you are going to hear is a double bass (yes, the enormous upright bass) playing a beautiful, tragic melody. You might have to turn up the volume to hear this, but hearing it is important. You see, what you are hearing is the first statement of what becomes a huge canon... (or round, for the layfolks out there... you know... row, row, row your boat... ). Listen closely and you'll hear that right after the double bass starts playing the melody the 2nd time, another double bass comes in a little after, playing the same melody in a round. Only difference is that the 2nd double bass is starting a 4th higher than the original double bass. After that 2nd double bass starts playing the melody the 2nd time, a cello comes in playing the same melody in a round as well... and it also starts a 4th higher. This continues further and further up until we finally get to the violins wailing the sorrowful melody, the previous instruments still pushing through the round, the basses reduced to a rumbling, and emotions soaring.

Intense for sure, I see this as the mounting cries of the people of Gorecki's homeland, Poland, during the 2nd World War. Gorecki is strongly patriotic and wrote this symphony for his country. When the canon is in full swing, the violins are practically screaming with the pain of his people, while the now rumbling lower instruments represent, to me, the crumbling buildings, distant bombs, and underlying sounds of destruction and death. Slowly, the fury subsides, the screaming drops out, the rumbling does as well, and we wind down the canon fading out in the middle, peaceful instruments... a sigh of relief as the smoke clears, perhaps.

We are then presented with a bright sound, from the piano.. the striking of a single key. Almost signaling some soft of enlightenment or perhaps realization... as this is followed by the beautiful soprano sounds of Dawn Upshaw singing the Lamentation of the Holy Cross Monastery. The words, in Polish, are a mother crying over a dying son. Perhaps the realization note was the realization that her son had been wounded and is dying. Her voice is now weeping over his body, sorrowful, passionate. Her short prayer then builds into an incredible crescendo as she gives in to the realization that he is dying and we are hurled back into the thickest part of the canon, the wailing and the rumbling at full force. This is, in my mind, as dramatic a moment in classical music history as I canthink of. This is when my tears continually find their way to the surface.

Slowly we are let back down to the ground by the canon as again the peaceful instruments fade out and we are left shellshocked, tired, trying to make sense of all that has just happened...

Ok, phew... that's enough. I do encourage you to listen to the rest of the Symphony as well as it is all beautiful and hard-hitting. As you can tell I love love love this piece and I hope I can introduce it to at least one person out there who ends up feeling the same way about it. Enjoy!