Henryk Górecki - Symphony No. 4 (Andrey Boreyko)

Information

Composer: Henryk Górecki

• Symphony No. 4 "Tansman Episodes", Op. 85

London Philharmonic Orchestra

Andrey Boreyko, conductor

Date: 2016

Label: Nonesuch

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Review

Over 30 years may separate Górecki’s Third and Fourth Symphonies but it would be misleading to attribute such a long hiatus to some kind of symphonic ‘composer’s block’. The unexpected success of the Third during the 1990s may have played on Górecki’s mind during the intervening years (indeed, the Fourth remained incomplete when he died in 2010, leaving his son Mikołaj to orchestrate the work), but in many respects the two pieces could not be further apart. If the evocation of sorrow and loss lies at the heart of the Third, then the Fourth rails against the fading of the mortal light, defiantly shaking its fist at death.

The rise and swell of the Third is replaced here by a fractured and fissured intensity, projected purposefully on this live recording of the work’s 2014 world premiere by the London Philharmonic Orchestra under Andrey Boreyko. The Fourth Symphony seems haunted by relentless repetitions and a disruptive, disfigured continuity, but shafts of light do occasionally illuminate its dark corners. A rambunctious theme in horns and trombones opens the third movement – a kind of minuet and trio. The first section evokes Mahler in its bucolic boisterousness, while the plangent sonorities of the contrasting section (effectively a trio for piano, violin and cello) call to mind the ‘Louange à l’éternité de Jésus’ from Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time. Likewise, the fourth movement sets off on a twisting, dance-like detour, animated by mischievous folk-like turns on clarinets and oboes.

There is something of a tonal twist at the end, too, but no sooner are we out of the woods than we are dragged back in by the hammer-like blows of the work’s opening and closing theme, itself a musical cryptogram taken from the name of the Polish-born composer Alexandre Tansman (1897-1986). The Fourth Symphony is ostensibly a homage to Tansman; after all, his name generates the work’s principal thematic ideas. In reality, it stands as an impressive musical mausoleum to the many elements that comprised Górecki’s own language – a powerful and personal farewell from one of the 20th century’s most distinctive voices.

— Pwyll ap Siôn

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Henryk Górecki (6 December 1933 – 12 November 2010) was a Polish composer. He studied at the Academy of Music in Katowice. His early works were influenced by Webern, Messiaen and Stockhausen. From the 1960s, his style shifted toward simpler forms incorporating folk, medieval and Catholic elements, often expressing profound sorrow. Górecki gained international recognition after the 1992 recording of his Symphony No. 3: Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, which became a major classical success. He continued composing primarily vocal and chamber works into the 21st century, completing his final composition in 2004.

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Andrey Boreyko (born 22 July 1957) is a Polish-Russian conductor. Born in Saint Petersburg and trained at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory, he gained early recognition at conducting competitions in Katowice (1987) and Amsterdam (1989). Boreyko served as Music and Artistic Director of the Warsaw Philharmonic (2018–2024) and held leadership roles with several orchestras including the Artis–Naples, Hamburger Symphonies, Berner Sinfonieorchester, Düsseldorf Symphoniker, Winnipeg Symphony, and Orchestre National de Belgique. His discography include works by Shostakovich, Pärt and Silvestrov, among others.

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