Symphony No. 2 (Górecki)

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The Symphony No. 2, 'Copernican', Op. 31 (II Symfonia 'Kopernikowska') [Listen (help·info)] was written in 1972 by Henryk Mikołaj Górecki to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the birth of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus. Written in a monumental style for solo soprano, baritone, choir and orchestra, it features text from Psalms no. 145, 6 and 135 as well as an excerpt from Copernicus' book "De revolutionibus orbium coelestium".

Comprised of two movements, a typical performance lasts 35 minutes. The symphony was commission by the Kosciuszko Foundation in New York, and presented an early opportunity for Górecki to reach an audience outside of his native Poland. As was usual, he undertook extensive research on the subject, and was in paticular concerned on the philosophical implications of Copernicus's discovery, not all of which he viewed as positive.^[1] As Norman Davies commented: "His discovery, of the earth's motion round the sun, caused the most fundamental revolutions possible in the prevailing concepts of the human predicament".^[2]