Kronos Quartet/ Henryk Gorecki - Henryk Gorecki: String Quartet No. 3...songs are sung
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Artist: Kronos Quartet/ Henryk GoreckiEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2007-03-20
Music Label: Nonesuch
Soundtracks:
- Adagio- Molto andante- Cantabile
- Largo, Cantabile
- Allegro, Sempre ben marcato
- Deciso-Espressivo me ben tenuto
- Largo-tranquillo
Free Music Notes for Henryk Gorecki: String Quartet No. 3...songs are sung
Free Music Review: 'When people die, they sing songs'
Hit: 5 Stars
Like so many of Henryk Mikolaj G?recki's compositions, his String Quartet No. 3, Opus 67 is inspired or at least references poetry: in the case of this quartet (1994-1995) the poem at its base is a simple four line poem by Russian writer Khlebnikov - "When horses die, they breathe,/ When grasses die, they wither,/ When suns die, they go out,/ When people die, they sing songs." G?recki is a master of sharing the most intimate interstices of the human soul in his haunting music and his third string quartet is for this listener on of his most intimate utterings. It is performed with consummate skill and grace and understated passion by the Kronos Quartet for whom the work was written. It is long (around 50 minutes) but every moment contains substance and beauty.
Some listeners may find the degree of invention subdued and at first hearing that response is understandable. Yet listening to the work multiple times the soulful dignity as well as the inherent optimism of a musical poet sharing a life painted in terror and grounded by the folk music of his native Poland becomes increasingly apparent. There are moments that mark G?recki's sound, slow massive movement of a single repetitive chord altered only by the pulsations of viola or violin. But there are new sounds here: in the second movement marked 'Largo, Cantabile' the string quartet assumes the intonation usually associated with an old fashioned accordion, while in movements single string motifs blossom into romantic songs that are at times suggestive of love songs/folk songs and at other times of sacred hymns.
This Third Quartet, so exceptionally well played by the Kronos Quartet, is far more meditative than extroverted. G?recki speaks to the quiet places within our memories and our minds and somehow makes those private places audible with music so gentle that it defies description. Grady Harp, September 07
Henryk Gorecki: String Quartet No. 3...songs are sung Poster
Henryk Mikolaj G?recki's String Quartet No. 3, Piesni Spiewaja ("...Songs Are Sung"), Op. 67--like its predecessors--was especially commissioned for and dedicated to the Kronos Quartet, whose impassioned, sympathetic performance burnishes it to a fare-thee-well. Approximately a decade of fits and starts separated the work's completion from its premiere, which finally took place in the composer's native Poland on October 15, 2005. Fans of his elegiac, incongruously popular Third Symphony likely somewhat startled by the spiky, dissonant virility that informs so much of G?recki's output. But the present piece would be an ideal follow-up for admirers of his more mystical, minimalist style.Consisting of five movements, it is far longer than either of the previous quartets, commencing with a folkloric theme that seems to pace hesitantly, escalating into slashing anxiety before resolving back into its original loping gait. The somberly serene second movement, with its hymn-like secondary motif, gives way to the borderline frenzy of the third, which periodically veers off into a sweepingly romantic melody. The expository phrase of movement four evokes ectoplasmic recollections of Tchaikovsky's Serenade For Strings, progressing to a throbbing, dance-like tune overlooked by a reedy violin, ultimately fading into prayerful murmuring. The work closes with a peaceful meditation whose emotionally remote wandering is warmed by moments of smiling, reminiscent tenderness. --Christina Roden
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