Henryk Górecki (1933-2010)
Complete Works for String Quartet
String Quartet No. 1 Already it is dusk Op. 62 (1988)
String Quartet No. 2 Quasi una fantasia Op. 64 (1991)
String Quartet No. 3 … songs are sung Op. 67 (1994-1995)
Five Kurpian Songs Op. 75 (1999, arr. for string quartet)
Silesian String Quartet
rec. 2008/2014, Concert Hall, Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music, Katowice, Poland
Chandos CHAN20383 [2 CDs: 125]
The Polish composer Henryk Górecki was one of the group of East European composers who grew up under Communism, discovered European modernism and then forged their own paths. His actual or near contemporaries include his compatriot Krzysztof Penderecki, the Estonian Arvo Pårt, the Georgian Kiya Kancheli and the Ukrainian Valentyn Silvestrov. Górecki’s breakthrough work in the West was his third symphony, Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, when the 1992 recording by Dawn Upshaw and the London Sinfonietta under David Atherton turned out to be a huge bestseller. The neo-Romantic idiom of that work is not, however, typical of the rest of his work, such as I have heard, which draws more largely on the modernist idiom which attracted him when he was first able to study it.
Górecki wrote three string quartets, of increasing length. The first is in one movement, though with many changes of pace, and it has the subtitle Already it is dusk. This was a song by a Polish Renaissance composer, which Górecki incorporated into his work, also writing a poem of his on the subject – a translation of the poem is given in the sleevenote. The work itself alternates between moods of energy and calm, covering a great deal of ground in its sixteen minutes.
The second quartet has the subtitle Quasi una fantasia, which recalls the two piano sonatas Op. 27 to which Beethoven gave this description, the second being the celebrated Moonlight sonata. However, the Beethoven reference here is not to either of those works but to a chord sequence in the late string quartet Op. 132, at the point where Beethoven wrote Neue Kraft fühlend (feeling new strenth) in the score. The work is in the standard four movements. The first and third are slow, the first quite desolate in mood. The second movement is fast and furious. The third is an Arioso with numerous changes of mood and tempo. It also contains another quotation, the chorale Wenn ich einmal soll scheiden (When I must one day depart) from Bach’s St Matthew Passion. The finale is basically fast and energetic, though with some darker passages. This is a deeply impressive work, not overshadowed by the occasional reminiscences of Bartók, and indeed worthy to stand beside those quartets.
The third quartet is also a fine work but much more demanding. At nearly an hour in length it is in the same league as Beethoven’s Op. 130 with the Grosse Fuge finale, Schubert’s G major quartet D. 887 or the quartet by César Franck. Furthermore, of the five movements, four of them are slow. The first is anguished and grieving, over a slow repeating figure which has the feeling, though not the rhythm, of a funeral march. The second is more lyrical, but still troubled. The brief middle movement is a scherzo of the sardonic kind I associate with Shostakovich. However, in the middle of this there is a call to attention and then a brief quotation from Szymanowski’s second quartet – you cannot miss it. This passage also begins the fourth movement, which settles down to a slow march, with references to earlier movements. The finale is calm and meditative, the tensions of the preceding movements being now resolved. This is a grim and serious work but a rewarding one.
The Five Kurpian Songs are more than an encore, lasting around twenty minutes. They were originally one of a set of choral songs which Gorecki based on folk songs from the Kurpie region, North-East of Warsaw. Górecki himself suggested having a quartet perform them. No arranger is credited, so I imagine that it is a straight transcription of the choral parts. The five pieces are gentle, rather melancholy but charming. This appears to be the first recording in this form – there are already versions of the original choral setting.
The Silesian Quartet are veterans at this music. Throughout their long career they have, to their credit, made a point of performing and recording contemporary Polish music, much of it little known outside their home country. I expect their best known previous recording in the West has been their cycle of the quartets of Grażyna Bacewicz (review review). They actually first recorded Górecki’s first two quartets in the 1990s, for the Olympia label. These recordings of the three numbered quartets date from 2008, and, as they issued a recording of them on the Polish EMI label that year, I fancy these are the same recordings, though there is nothing in the booklet to say so. The recording of this arrangement of the Five Kurpian Songs was made six years later, but I could not find anything to suggest that it has been previously issued. The recording quality is fine and the booklet informative about the works.
There is a fair amount of competition in these quartets, particularly from the Royal String Quartet on Hyperion. The Royals are a younger team, and their recording dates from 2010 so it is actually more recent than the Silesians. They do not include the Five Kurpian Songs but otherwise honours are even (review). There are other versions too, but whichever you go for, do not overlook these rewarding works.
Stephen Barber
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