Often called a "mystic minimalist," Polish composer Henryk Górecki has come to be known both for the religious overtones found in his music as well as the conciseness of his compositional method, characteristics which put him in the company of composers like Arvo Pärt and John Tavener.

Religious and minimalist aesthetic alike are featured on this recording from Polish soprano Zofia Kilanowicz and the Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Antoni Wit, in what is perhaps Górecki's most well known work, 1976's heartrending Symphony No. 3, Op. 36, as well as 1963's brief but equally alluring Three Olden Style Pieces.

Known as the "Symphony of Sorrowful Songs," Górecki's Symphony No. 3 is a set of three slow movements for soprano soloist and orchestra, the texts for which deal with pain and loss. The first movement, Symphony No. 3: I. Lento - Sostenuto tranquillo... , marked "sustained but songlike tranquility," begins as if out from the depths with slow moving melodies from the low strings, and builds gradually in intensity and volume to a peak around ten minutes into the movement. A short decline in the intensity follows, just before the orchestra centers on a single note in preparation for the soprano's ethereal entrance. Her words originate in a Polish folk song in which Mary speaks to her son on the cross, lamenting his wounds.

The text of the second movement, Symphony No. 3: II. Lento e largo - Tranquillissimo comprises the chilling but compelling inscription of an 18 year old Polish girl, found on the walls of the Gestapo prison in which she was incarcerated in 1944. As the writer of the text pleaded with her mother not to lament her loss, so the soprano's line and the orchestra's accompaniment ponderously hover around a single note. However, as the girl's inscription ends with a prayer to Mary for support, the singer's melody moves gradually upward. Likewise, the orchestra's music expresses something of hopefulness, a sentiment foreshadowed in the seemingly incongruous, but nonetheless beautiful, shimmering music that opens the movement.

A mother's lament for a son lost in war serves as the basis for the third movement, Symphony No. 3: III. Lento - Cantabile semplice . True to the simple grief expressed in the folk poem, Górecki's musical setting contains neither rage nor howl, but rather is of a low and continually sustained intensity, perhaps representing the continual ache felt by the mother in the loss of her son.

The three shorter and earlier pieces that follow Symphony No. 3 on this recording act as a kind of preliminary to the larger, later work. Written for chamber orchestra, the first piece Three Olden Style Pieces: I. — in this collection is similar to the first movement of the Symphony in its dramatic arc, but condensed into three minutes instead of twenty-seven. The second piece, Three Olden Style Pieces: II. — is perhaps the most unique track on this recording, with its jubilant harmonies and dancing rhythms. The recording ends on a more intense note, Three Olden Style Pieces: III. — , with walls of sound created by complex and pulsing chords in the strings.

Featured Tracks:
Symphony No. 3: I. Lento - Sostenuto tranquillo...
Three Olden Style Pieces: I. —