Symphony No. 2 'Copernican'
Op. 31 for Soprano, Baritone, Mixed Choir and Grand Orchestra
Symphony No. 2 ''Copernican'' is a continuation of the tradition of the vocal-instrumental symphonic cycle initiated by Beethoven (Ninth Symphony).This successive monumental ''other-worldly'' composition contemplating the universe was written to mark the 500th anniversary of Nicholas Copernicus' birth. This time, however, the composer comprised the whole work in two movements, the fact, which was not a result of the lack of inventiveness, but an intended device with symbolic meaning. The first movement is a musical picture of the ''mechanism of the world'', while the second is its contemplation. The work's main goal was to present by means of music (instruments, compositional techniques, texts) the discovery of the Polish astronomer that the Earth turns round the sun. In the 1st movement Górecki used the Book of Psalms (145/146.6 and 135/136.7-9) and in the second he included an excerpt from Book 1 of De revolutionibus orbium coelestum by Nicholas Copernicus all the texts in Latin. In the coda crowning the work , i. e. the climactic place of the composition, Górecki wove into the sound layer an excerpt of the original 15th-century anonymous song Laude digna parole (he used it also for the orchestral fanfare Wratislaviae gloria), which he came across in an article by Adam Sutkowski. Górecki ends his second symphonic cycle with the solemn words by the Polish astronomer: ''What indeed is more beautiful than heaven, which of course contains all things of beauty?''
[Based on A. Thomas, Górecki, Kraków 1998, PWM]
- Words: Mikołaj Kopernik
- Language of edition: eng, pol
- Language of text: lat
- Number of pages: 86
- Cover: softcover
- Type: score
- Size: A3 vertical
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