A Study Of The Holy Minimalism Of Gorecki’s Third Symphony

Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki, who was born in Katowice in1933, is one of the most famous comtemporary composers in Poland. The Third Symphony which was composed in1976was not affirmed because of its special musical languages when premiered in France. But there was a sudden change in90s, and almost everyone was interested in its simplified and meditative musical style.Based on the "holy minimalism" style of the Third Symphony, this dissertation respectively analyse the two aspects of the work:the simplified techniques and the religious connotation. The purpose is to explore the factors and values of his changed musical languages, and to explore the interrelation between ideas and forms of "Holy Minimalism".This thesis consists of an introduction, chapters One to Four, and a conclusion. The introduction part tries to justify the present research approach by telling the cause of this project, overviewing the related research both at home and abroad, and stating the aim of the study. Chapter One studies the composer’s whole life including social-political background, family environment and career development.This chapter also briefly describes Gorecki’s different musical styles in different periods. Chapter Two and Three are concentrated at the technical analysis, and they respectively explore the simplified languages and religious connotation which privode sufficient materials to grasp the obvious music style of the Third Symphony. The first part of Chapter Four is to summarize the causes of "Holy Minimalism" and the technical characteristics, then explain how these characteristics reflect in the Third Symphony. The last fragment explore the major factors for Gorecki to change his technical style from Avant-garde to Holy Minimalism. The conclusion part stands in the history context and clarifies its own standpoint of the connotation and values of the Holy Minimalism of the Third Symphony.