In 1992, Henryk Gorecki’s Third Symphony was released in remembrance of those whose lives were lost in the holocaust. The sheer size of its success could never have been anticipated.

Gorecki had actually written the symphony fifteen years earlier, but it had gone largely unnoticed. In fact, most of his work had been overlooked by everyone except a few devout followers. But with his Third Symphony (entitled; ‘Symphony of Sorrowful Songs’), he managed to connect with an enormous amount of people all around the world. The CD sold over a million copies and left his record label stunned.

The style of Gorecki’s music is a perfect way to illustrate the grief and sadness surrounding the loss of so many innocent lives. His symphony has a very minimalistic sound, but this does not make it cold. On the contrary, there is an incredible amount of emotion in the work and Dawn Upshaw’s beautiful voice brings a lump to the throat and tears to the eyes. It is a very spiritual piece of music with a strong feeling of the otherworldly.

Since he achieved such a huge amount of success, Gorecki has returned to his life of privacy and solitude. The ‘Symphony of Sorrowful Songs’ put him firmly on the map in the Classical world and he could easily have used that publicity. He preferred instead, to return to his life of obscurity and to stay away from as much of the limelight as possible.

Anyone who enjoys music that is built on feelings cannot go far wrong with the work of Henryk Gorecki. He manages to stir a variety of emotions with the use of very few instruments. If you are interested in listening to his music then Symphony No. 3 ‘Symphony of Sorrowful Songs’ is the best place to start.