Composer Henryk Górecki: art or kitsch?

This Saturday, 14 February 2015, Reinbert de Leeuw will conduct the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra in Polish composer Henryk Górecki's (1933-2010) Fourth Symphony at the NTR Saturday matinee. Górecki established his name overnight in 1992, when the CD of his Third Symphony shot to the top of the classical charts like a flare. The recording of this Symphony of sad songs featuring American soprano Dawn Upshaw has since passed over a million copies - a feat few composers can take credit for.

http://youtu.be/bPhrG82nV2c

Its world premiere in 1977, by the way, was not a success. Pierre Boulez, fellow composer and grand inquisitor of the avant-garde shouted "merde!" afterwards; critics spoke of "decadent rubbish" and of "an interminable trip past three folk songs". In this compelling work, Górecki pulled the door of modernism firmly shut behind him. [Tweet "Górecki pulled the door of the avant-garde shut with a firm bang with his Third Symphony"]With his tonal harmonies and sing-along melodies, he made a long nose at all the laws of atonal and serial music. - A mortal sin in the 1970s, but an irresistible pre in the more experience-oriented 1990s. Since then, the debate has raged: is Górecki's music art or kitsch?

The fact that Reinbert de Leeuw, the champion of the avant-garde in the Netherlands, is conducting Górecki's Fourth Symphony can be seen as an indictment. De Leeuw had advocated Górecki's music before, when in 1989 he and his Schönberg Ensemble conducted the world premiere of the specially written Kleines Requiem für eine Polka. That this piece with its simple rhythm and harmony was unanimously slammed by the Dutch press did not prevent him from including Górecki in his renowned series of TV documentaries Tone Masters. And when Philips offered him a carte blanche series in 1995, it dedicated an entire CD to him.

Yet De Leeuw also harboured mixed feelings, and after this he would only rarely perform works by Górecki. In the biography Reinbert de Leeuw, man or melody He says: "When we commissioned the Kleines Requiem, I found him a fascinating figure, the hype around the Third Symphony had not yet erupted. After that, I couldn't believe in those endlessly beautiful triads, that naivete. He is absolutely authentic and pure, but with my background, my knowledge and living in Amsterdam, I cannot achieve that simplicity.' Apparently, De Leeuw has since put aside his objections.

Incidentally, he would have had the Fourth Symphony on his music stand as early as 2010, were it not for the fact that it remained unfinished due to the composer's untimely death. Górecki's son Mikołaj completed it based on a 'particel', a detailed outline with directions for instrumentation, dynamics and so on. According to Mikołaj Górecki, the Fourth Symphony differs significantly from the Third, and is more in line with the considerably more dissonant Second Symphony from 1972. In it, the composer performs monolithic blocks of sound, but also sounds Gregorian-like vocal lines by two soloists on texts by Copernicus.

The Fourth Symphony completed by Mikołaj Górecki was premiered by the London Philharmonic Orchestra in April 2014. Critics' reactions were mixed. 'We were prepared to expect something less contemplative than Górecki's 'Symphony of sad songs', wrote The Daily Telegraph, '...but the two works have more in common than it seems, because of the bombardment of fortissimo dissonance when the Harrison organ breaks through the emphatically hymn-like atmosphere'. The Guardian spoke of 'massive, ferociously contrasting blocks of ideas' and 'frequent repetitions of the opening chords, punctuated by mighty blows on three bass drums'. Conclusion: 'The extremity of such individual ideas and the replacement of any sense of development with sheer repetition, give the symphony the feel of a rough-hewn monument.'

But is it art or kitsch? For that, we will really have to travel to the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam on Saturday, or tune in to the live broadcast on Radio 4.

NTR Saturday matinee, 14 February 2015 Concertgebouw 2.15pm
Radio Philharmonic Orchestra / Reinbert de Leeuw; Jean-Guihen Queyras, cello
Górecki: Symphony no. 4, 'Tansman Episodes'
Sibelius - The Bard
Shostakovich - Second Cello Concerto