Credits:

David Zinman

Description:

In the mid-20th century, musicians in countries under communist regimessuch as Russia and Polandfaced severe repression from the authorities. However, with the launch of the Warsaw Autumn contemporary music festival in Warsaw, Poland, in 1956, restrictions on their creative freedom were suddenly eased, and numerous composers began writing music according to their own visions. Henryk Grecki was one of them, and he gained international recognition through several experimental works. However, by the 1970s, Grecki had turned his back on his avant-garde style and gradually began composing religious and meditative music. In 1976, the Symphony of Sorrows, written for soprano solo and orchestra, is a work emblematic of Grecki during this period; the atmosphere created by the orchestra singing at a leisurely tempo and the soprano singing laments from various eras was indeed fitting for heralding a new e