Gregorian Chant in the 20th Century

Wow!  I didn't mean to take a break like that, but somehow the holidays just happened.  It feels great to be back!

In my last post, I introduced Gregorian chants and talked about their influence on early classical music.  Gregorian chant experienced a resurgence of popularity in the classical fan world starting in 1994, when the Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo de Silos released their CD Chant (which ended up going triple platinum).  Gregorian chant is still popular today, but decades before its popular resurgence, a number of 20th century composers were drawing inspiration from chant to create new, more modern kinds of sacred music.

Henryk Górecki (pronounced guh-RETS-kee) was a Polish composer who passed away in 2010.  Born in 1933, Górecki started out his musical career at the age of 18 teaching music to grade school children.  At the age of 19, he enrolled in a teacher training course at the Intermediate School of Music in Rybnik, in southern Poland.  It was there that he began trying his hand at writing music.  Góreci went on to continue his studies at the Katowice Academy of Music, and later became a professor of music there.  Because cultural exchanges between Poland and the West were extremely limited, Górecki's work was little known outside of Poland until after the end of Polish Communism in 1990.

As a young composer, Górecki drew his inspiration from Webern, Schoenberg, and other twelve-tone or post-tonal composers.  What does this mean?  Well, if you've ever said or heard somebody say, I really like classical music, but I can't understand that 20th century modernist crap, it sounds horrible - Górecki was one of those.  If you want a good example from this period of Górecki's compositional life, look for his Symphony no. 2, op. 31.  However, during the 1970s Górecki gradually moved away from this style and turned to a less dissonant, more lush, lyrical and expressive, and simpler musical style.  

Górecki's Miserere, written in 1981, is an example of his later style.  The Miserere is a product of the Solidarity movement, which eventually led to the fall of Communism and the birth of democracy in Poland.  Górecki wrote the Miserere as a response to the Communist government assault on members of the Solidarity movement in the city of Bydgoszcz in March of 1981.  After the Bydgoszcz events, the Polish government outlawed the Solidarity movement and imposed martial law, which caused the Miserere to not be able to be performed until 1987.

I'm going to give a link to a Youtube video for this piece:

For a free recording, it's not bad, but I think this is a piece you really should consider adding to your collection.  This is the recording I own, and I think it's superb:

Amazon - Gorecki Miserere

The text of the Miserere is simply:

Domine Deus, Deus noster, miserere nobis.

Oh God, our God, have mercy upon us.

The Miserere starts as a slow, gently rolling, somewhat mournful Gregorian-inspired chant.  The first section is a simple repetition of the words Domine Deus, Deus noster sung only by the basses.  In the second section, the basses continue with the same musical theme, but are joined by the baritones in two-part harmony.  In each successive section, the next higher voice comes in: first the tenors, then the altos, and finally the sopranos.  As each new voice comes in, the harmonies become more lush and complex.  The emotional contrast within each section becomes greater as well - sometimes the music is meditative and contemplative, other times powerful and ecstatic.  

The contrast between sections 8 and 9 is particularly striking.  Section 8 is pure chant - a simple melody sung by the women, against a drone sung by the men.  In section 9, the whole choir comes together in eight-part harmony - first in a great swelling entreaty, then in quiet prayer.   The tenth section mimics sections 8 and 9, but more percussively, more insistently, as if desperately begging for God's attention.  Domine, Domine, Domine, DOMINE!

Then finally, in the last section, we arrive at our conclusion.  Miserere nobis.  Have mercy upon us.  And with that, our prayer ends as simply as it began.  Our meditation is over.  Life goes on.

Next time, I'll be introducing two more 20th century composers whose work is inspired by Gregorian chant.  I hope you like their work as much as I do!