42 concerts and broadcasts, 8 world premieres and countless emotions – this is what the 8th International Days of Henryk Mikołaj Górecki festival has to offer to the audience. The inauguration will take place on the 10th anniversary of the composer's death, on 12 November 2020, and the last concert will take place on his birth anniversary, on 6 December 2020.
The festival is part of the celebration of the 10th anniversary of the death of Henryk Mikołaj Górecki, the patron of not only the Festival, but also its organiser – the Silesian Philharmonic. It will be an event full of contrasts, presenting various forms, moods and styles, combining tradition with modernity, light with darkness and image with sound. We will be delighted with the diversity of Polish music from different epochs.
The 8th International Days of H.M. Górecki will begin with a prelude on 11 November, presenting exceptional works of sacred music by contemporary composers, including premieres of Psalm by Adrian Robak and Angele Dei by Piotr Pudełko. The inaugural concert will premiere Eugeniusz Knapik's When Suns Die – They Go Out for soprano and string orchestra, based on the same literary text as H.M. Górecki's String Quartet No. 3 '... songs are sung'. The festival will also feature world premiere of the Symphony No. 1 "Un livre sur l'homme" (Book about the man) by Marcel Chyrzyński, which was composed under the influence of the Polish philosopher Roman Ingarden and takes its subtitle from one of his works. Then we will witness the premiere of Aleksander Lasoń's Nimitta. Sinfonia Concertante No. 3 for amplified violin, amplified cello and amplified string orchestra, in which the composer's sons – violinist Krzysztof Lasoń and cellist Stanisław Lasoń – will play solo parts. During the Multimedia Organ Evening, we will hear the premiere of the Interlude by Władysław Szymański, the Rector of the Academy of Music in Katowice, as interpreted by the artist himself. The concert on 4 December will premiere the Symphony No. 8 'Symphony of Biblical Psalms' by Jan Wincenty Hawel, the founder and Honorary Head of the Silesian Chamber Orchestra, as well as composition selected in the H.M. Górecki International Composers' Competition. During one of the concerts, Henryk Mikołaj Górecki's piano pieces will be performed by his daughter, Anna Górecka.
Co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage as part of the "Music" programme operated by the Institute of Music and Dance.
Full programme is available at: https://filharmonia-slaska.eu/