Sublime Polish Melodies

Krzysztof Penderecki - Violin Concerto No. 1
Górecki - Symphony No. 3 (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs)

Michał Dworzynski conductor
Barnabas Kelemen violin
Allison Bell soprano
London Philharmonic Orchestra

In the mid-1970s the composer Henryk Górecki asked a specialist in Polish folk music if he had discovered any interesting old melodies. The folklorist responded with a simple Silesian song in which a mother mourns her recently killed son. ‘It is not sorrow, despair or the wringing of hands’, wrote Górecki, ‘it is just the great grief and lament of a woman who has lost her son.’ The composer used the song in his Third Symphony, whose anguished beauty has no parallel in music and was a contributing factor to its huge commercial success. Joining it here is the rhapsodic Violin Concerto by his compatriot Krzysztof Penderecki, and to conduct, the Polish maestro Michał Dworzynski.

This concert is generously supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute as part of the Polska Music Grant programme.

Free pre-concert event | 6.15pm–6.45pm | Royal Festival Hall
Michał Dworzynski discusses the evening’s programme.