A Lenten Musical Journey, Day 17

Last updated on: March 11, 2015 at 10:01 am by Joseph Susanka

A Lenten Musical Journey, Day 17 2015-03-11T10:01:30-06:00 Joseph Susanka

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Henryk Mikołaj Górecki Polish composer.jpg Taking things in a different direction once again — tacking away from yesterday’s Early (If Strange) Sacred Music — for something much more recent. Something even more unusual (despite the undeniable strangeness of Gesualdo). And something that is also, in a bit of a departure from my prior selections, much longer.

It’s the nearly-contemporary (1981, though not performed ’til 1987) Miserere of Henryk Górecki, a recent Polish composer best known for his searing Symphony of Sorrowful Songs (which is also superb Lenten music, come to think of it). You’ll have to crank it up and be patient, though, because the first 3 minutes are almost inaudible. The half-hour build-to-boil is definitely a “long game,” yes. And it’s a piece that appeals to me more as a whole than it does in sections. But the overall effect is very, very powerful. And definitely Lenten; profoundly so.

The instrumentation and structure are certainly atypical (as is the fact that Górecki deals with the question of tempo by indicating how it should take to perform):

Written for large (120 voices) a cappella mixed choir, a typical performance lasts 35 minutes. The text comprises five words: ‘Domine Deus Noster‘ (Lord our God), which are repeated for the first ten sections, resolved by a chorus of ‘Miserere nobis‘ (Lord have mercy on us) in the eleventh and final section. Both lines of the text are formed as simple but imploring pleas.

Attribution(s): “Polish Composer Henryk Mikołaj Górecki Polish composer” by Lech Kowalski & Włodzimierz Pniewski was scanned from the Polish monthly “Studio” (Nov/Dec 1993, page 8) and licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons; “Bells” via Shutterstock.

Faith

Lenten Music

Music

Previous Post

March 6, 2015

SVS: "20 Feet from Stardom"

Next Post

March 7, 2015 A Lenten Musical Journey, Day 18

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Art Baseball Faith Family Lenten Music Movies Music No Commentary Necessary Parked By the Jukebox Photography Politics Quodlibets Streaming Video Suggestions Summa Short Films Television The Man Behind the Booth Through a Lens, Darkly

Select a Month December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 July 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 November 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz