Henryk Mikolaj Górecki
About the composer
Henryk Mikolaj Górecki was born in 1933 in Czernica, Poland. He studied composition at the State Higher School of Music (PWSM) in Katowice from 1955 to 1960. After a post-graduate course in Paris, he returned to Katowice, where he became a professor of composition at PWSM and later in 1975, its Rector. During the 1960’s Górecki belonged to the most avant-garde composers of his time. This changed during the 1970s. Ad Matrem can be seen as the starting point of a gradual process, away from dissonance towards consonance.
About the Stabat Mater
| Date: | 1971 |
| Performers: | Symphony Orchestra with choir and soprano. |
| Length: | 12.26 minutes |
| Particulars: | Ad Matrem (For the mother) is almost a symphonic poem. Choir and soprano only sing a few sentences and their part can be measured better in seconds than in minutes. |
| Textual variations: | Only the words Stabat Mater Dolorosa are used. |
| Colour bar: |
No colourbar as there is not any complete stanza that is sung. |
Information about the recording
| CD: | Polskie Nagrania PNCD 233: Gorecki |
| More info: | This CD is a recording of three works of Górecki. I received it as a present from Jan Jankovic of Acte Prealables. |
| Orchestra: | Warsaw National Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra. |
| Choir: | Warsaw National Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra. |
| Conductor: | Andrzej Markowski |
| Soloists: | Stefania Wojtowicz, soprano. |
| Other works: | Beatus Vir |
| Code: | 2005 GORE-01 (211) |
