11 November 2018, 12pm
Royal Festival Hall
Southbank Centre
Belvedere Road
London SE1 8XX
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Experience Henryk Górecki’s profoundly moving Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, performed by the London Sinfonietta on Armistice Day.
A symphony of three movements, Górecki’s Symphony No.3 contemplates war through the perspective of a grieving parent or child.
It features three Polish texts, from a 15th-century lament of Mary, mother of Jesus, an 18-year-old woman’s inscription on the wall of a Gestapo cell from the Second World War, and a folk song expressing a mother’s grief during the Silesian uprisings of 1919 – 1921.
The London Sinfonietta are no strangers to this iconic work of holy minimalism: their 1992 recording of the piece has sold over one million copies.
Former Music Director David Atherton conducts the ensemble and soprano Elizabeth Atherton stars in this special performance commemorating 100 years since the end of the First World War, and since the formation of an independent Poland.
Part of 100 for 100. Musical Decades of Freedom, a worldwide PWM Edition project to celebrate 100 years of Polish Independence.
Performers
London Sinfonietta
David Atherton conductor
Elizabeth Atherton soprano
Repertoire
Penderecki: Fanfare for orchestra (UK premiere)
Górecki: Symphony No.3 (Symphony of Sorrowful Songs), Op.36
Górecki’s Symphony of Sorrowful Songs
