Canon
Where to start with Górecki
Essential works to know this composer by — spread across their styles-
OrchestralSymphony no. 3, op. 36, "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs"
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Vocal5 Songs from Kurpie, op. 75
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KeyboardCantata, op. 26
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ChamberLittle Fantasia, for violin and piano, op. 73
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Orchestral3 Dances, op. 34
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Orchestral3 Intermezzos, for 2 clarinets and string orchestra
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Orchestral3 Pieces in the Olden Style
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VocalBeatus vir, for baritone, mixed chorus and orchestra, op. 38
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OrchestralCanticum Graduum, op. 27
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OrchestralConcerto Notturno, for violin and orchestra
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OrchestralConcerto-Cantata, op. 65
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OrchestralDivertimento, for string orchestra
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OrchestralFarewell, for string orchestra
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OrchestralHarpsichord Concerto, op. 40
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VocalLobgesang, for choir, op. 76
Listening guide
Hand-curated paths into Górecki's catalogueMost Popular
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Symphony No. 3 ”Symphony of Sorrowful Songs”
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String Quartet No. 1 ”Already It Is Dusk”
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Totus Tuus (choral)
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Kleines Requiem für eine Polka
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Symphony No. 2 ”Copernican”
Most Acclaimed
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String Quartet No. 2 ”Quasi una Fantasia”
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Kleines Requiem für eine Polka
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Symphony No. 3
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Beatus Vir (for baritone and orchestra)
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String Quartet No. 3 ”...Songs are Sung”
Most Weird
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Symphony No. 1his first symphony — percussion, strings, piano; aggressive clusters and aleatory; nothing like his later minimal style
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Choros I for stringsearly modernist work — string clusters
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Ad matremearly work showing the transition from aggressive to contemplative
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Kleines Requiem für eine Polkaa polka beat becomes a memorial — the juxtaposition is intentional and deeply strange
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Lerchenmusik for clarinet, cello, pianoa three-piece meditation
Similar composers
Same era, overlapping styles — by genre & period affinityWorks 29
- Orchestral
- ● Symphony no. 3, op. 36, "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs"
- 3 Dances, op. 34
- 3 Intermezzos, for 2 clarinets and string orchestra
- 3 Pieces in the Olden Style
- Canticum Graduum, op. 27
- Concerto Notturno, for violin and orchestra
- Concerto-Cantata, op. 65
- Divertimento, for string orchestra
- Farewell, for string orchestra
- Harpsichord Concerto, op. 40
- Male requiem dla pewnej polki, op. 66
- Old Polish Music, op. 24
- Overture, for string orchestra
- Symphony no. 2, for soprano, baritone, mixed chorus and orchestra, op. 31, "Copernicana"
- Vocal
- 5 Songs from Kurpie, op. 75
- Beatus vir, for baritone, mixed chorus and orchestra, op. 38
- Lobgesang, for choir, op. 76
- Miserere, op. 44
- O Domina Nostra, for soprano and organ, op. 55
- Piesni koscielne
- Pieśni Maryjne, for choir, op. 54
- Szeroka Woda, for chorus, op. 39
- Totus tuus, op. 60
- Wislo Moja, Wislo Szara, op. 46
- Keyboard
- Cantata, op. 26
- Chamber
- Little Fantasia, for violin and piano, op. 73
- Sonata for 2 violins, op. 10
- Sonatina in one movement for violin and piano, op. 8
- Variations, for violin and piano, op. 4