NOSPR / Boreyko / Copernicus and the Planets / Festival Katowice Culture Nature - NOSPR

In March 1913, Gustav Holst was enjoying a Spanish holiday with his friends. They spent their time discussing music and astrology, his companions deeming Holst to be “extraordinarily well versed in” these fields. It took four years for the idea to materialise – the composer never attempted to conceal the fact that large orchestral forms proved quite difficult for him, and eventually, instead of the symphony he had originally planned, created “a series of mood pictures”.  

The piece, which Holst himself likened to a series of slides smoothly transitioning into one another, consists of seven portraits of planets, painted with music just as clearly as they had been described by medieval astrologists in their almanacs. 

Górecki wrote his Symphony No. 2, the "Copernican", for the great astronomer’s 500th birth anniversary. The “godfather” of this epic work, written for soprano, baritone, mixed choir and orchestra, was the director Krzysztof Zanussi. As Górecki recalled later, „Zanussi said, that actually, Kopernik (…) was one of the greatest tragedies ever to have happened in the history of the human spirit (…). We ceased to be the hub of the universe and became nothing facing infinity. It was then that the whole topic became clear to me, obvious for musical interpretation. Hence, the duality of the two-movement Symphony: first, the whole – so to speak – mechanism of the world, and then, contemplation.” 

Dorota Kozińska 

Concert duration (intermission included): approximately 110 minutes

Tickets:

We encourage to purchase festival carnet with a discount (20% for at least three concerts and 25% for at least five concerts).

Check out the side events of the Katowice Culture Nature Festival!