Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Composers As Mediators
Composers As Mediators
Górecki and John Luther Adams responded to twentieth-century crises with two signature
works that reflect a desire to remediate the suppression of spiritual forces. Górecki’s
in the composer’s nation, and as an invocation of Roman Catholic traditions that relate to
its biblical text. John Luther Adams’s In the White Silence, a defense of wilderness
a musical idiom based on ecological principles. The object of this study is to illuminate
the role of composers as mediators between corporeal and incorporeal forces, manifesting
by
A Thesis
___________________________________
William V. May, Jr., Ph.D., Dean
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David W. Music, D.M.A., Graduate Program Director
___________________________________
Jean Ann Boyd, Ph.D., Chairperson
___________________________________
Jann M. Cosart, D.M.
___________________________________
Brian R. Marks, D.M.A.
___________________________________
S. Jane Abbott-Kirk, M.M.
___________________________________
Paul C. Grabow, Ph.D.
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J. Larry Lyon, Ph.D., Dean
Page bearing signatures is kept on file in the Graduate School.
Copyright © 2012 by S. Grant Cooper
LIST OF FIGURES iv
LIST OF TABLES v
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS vii
DEDICATION viii
CHAPTER 1. Introduction 1
BIBLIOGRAPHY 110
iii
FIGURES
Page
iv
TABLES
Page
v
MUSICAL EXAMPLES
Page
15. In the White Silence, mm. 310, 557, 793, & 1029 96
vi
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
University School of Music. Dr. Jean Boyd has guided this project since its inception.
Her belief in its first tentative expression provided the impetus that carried the work to its
completion. I am grateful for her faith in new music and new scholarship. During my
time at Baylor University, Dr. Jann Cosart has humbled me with her willingness to invest
this thesis has been characterized by academic insistence and great patience, a skillful
vii
To Jack and Phyllis Fox
viii
CHAPTER ONE
Introduction
Two Premieres
On September tenth, 1987, St. Stanislaw Church in the Polish city of Włocławek
hosted the world premiere of a large-scale choral work by native composer Henryk
Górecki. This event had a long gestation. The work in question, Miserere, opus 44, had
been composed six years earlier in 1981, but due to the sensitive nature of the
undertaking, and to the restrictive political climate of Poland in that era, there was no
hope for its immediate performance.1 In the spring of 1987, Górecki revised his
premiere of Miserere was finally permitted by the authorities later that year, albeit with
eleventh, a second performance took place just north of Włocławek, in Bydgoszcz itself.
Namesake city of the Music Festival and dedicatee of Górecki’s composition, Bydgoszcz
was the site of the incident that inspired Miserere. In March, 1981, a violent encounter
between Rural Solidarity and the Soviet militia had resulted in serious injury to members
of the labor union. On these two evenings in 1987, that event was commemorated by an
a cappella chorus dictated by the composer to consist of at least 120 singers, which
1
Reg Didham, “Henryk Górecki, Miserere,” Program Notes excerpted from Chorus Pro
Musica’s November 8, 1997 concert, http://www.choruspromusica.org/press/Martin/Gorecki1997-
ProgramNotes.html (accessed September 20, 2010).
2
Adrian Thomas, Górecki (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997), 102.
3
Bernard Jacobson, liner notes to Górecki Miserere; Gubaidulina Alleluia, Chandos, CHAN
9523, Compact Disc, 1997.
1
presented Górecki’s most ambitious choral work to date, a composition with text
consisting of only five words: Domine Deus noster, miserere nobis.4 The implications
stemming from the traditions associated with these words and the nature of their musical
setting attest to the spiritual nature of Henryk Górecki, and reflect the struggles of the
In the White Silence was composed in 1998 by John Luther Adams. When it was
premiered that same year by the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble, the breadth and
austerity of the Alaskan tundra was transplanted to the university’s Finney Chapel, the
site of the performance. Using traditional musical elements, the composer capitalized
upon a unique compositional and philosophical vision that had been developing for many
years – a conception of music as place.5 This aesthetic was an extension of his work as
Luther Adams transferred to the chapel not just the almost-tangible sensation of physical
landscape, but a reverence for the wilderness places in Alaska. In the White Silence
acquainted the urban ear with the perception of the sacred in the natural.
These two premieres featured musical compositions that are weighty with
implication. In these works, Górecki and Adams asserted their belief in the metaphysical.
These individuals and these pieces illustrate the ability of a composer to place himself
origin of these works and the philosophies that gave rise to them invite a spiritual
interpretation.
4
Translation: Lord our God, have mercy upon us.
5
John Luther Adams, Winter Music (Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press,
2004), 15.
2
John Luther Adams and Henryk Górecki created music that mediates. Górecki
once stated, “I want to express great sorrow. The war, the rotten times under
Communism, our life today, the starving . . . This sorrow, it burns inside me. I cannot
shake it off.”6 Miserere reflects this preoccupation by expressing the personal and
national sorrow and outrage associated with the events in Bydgoszcz. To accomplish
this, Górecki adopted a text with strong spiritual implications, and a mediatory function
rooted in the liturgical and musical traditions of the Catholic Church. John Luther
Adams has been involved in efforts to preserve the wildernesses of Alaska for over thirty
based expression of spiritual beliefs rooted in the perception of the divine in the natural
world. In the White Silence uses a musical syntax emerging from the composer’s
art, composers are ideally suited for the expression of the spiritual. Adams and Górecki
have composed works that demonstrate a going-between of the sacred and the human.
Miserere and In the White Silence advocate for spiritual forces while evincing a common
human need for the sacred. This bidirectional expression is suggestive of mediation, and
informs the designation of Henryk Górecki and John Luther Adams as spiritual
mediators.
6
“Poland’s sorrowful smash hit – Henryk Górecki,” The Observer (London), 11 April 1993, 21.
3
Spiritual Mediators
The English verb mediate comes from the Latin medius, meaning “middle.” The
noun “median” shares the same root, and denotes a middle value in an ordered sequence
the middle. A mediator is called a “go-between,” signifying an active role in the midst of
two, often opposing entities.8 The function of a mediator is bilateral. Between disparate
intended to represent the interests of each group to the opposite contingent. The degree
concept of a mediator, and to the act of mediation. A mediator may officiate between
individuals or groups, between institutions or ideals, and between all manner of entities
abstract or concrete.
between God and humanity, but for the purposes of this discussion, a spiritual mediator is
an individual who goes between forces that are metaphysical and forces that are
two traditions in which the concept of mediation is integral, namely Judaism and
Miserere hails directly from the Christian tradition, is overtly religious and congruous
with scripture. Though John Luther Adams does not subscribe to any established
7
World Book Encyclopedia, 2000 ed., s.v. “Median,” by Doris F. Hertsgaard.
8
New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, 2009 ed., s.v. “Mediator,” by Kenneth Schenck, 8.
4
religion, he acknowledges a Creator entity, and practices a faith emerging from his own
unique kind of spirituality.9 Furthermore, the sense of In the White Silence is consistent
with the biblical statement that “since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities –
his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly understood from what has been
criterion for the designation of composers as spiritual mediators. According to the New
Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, a sacrifice is any gift offered to “mediate good
sacrifice was offered for one of two reasons, the first of these being to invoke the blessing
9
This spirituality will be discussed at length in Chapter 7.
10
Romans 1:20, New International Version.
11
New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, s.v. “Mediator,” 9.
12
Ibid., 8.
13
I Samuel 7:7-11, King James Version (KJV).
5
In addition to securing God’s blessing, sacrifice in the Old Testament also served to
petition God’s mercy. This is illustrated in the account from Second Samuel when King
prophet and a king. Thus it is clear that one need not be a priest to mediate. However,
authority, it is important to note the instance of Job offering a sacrifice (mediating) in the
It appears that one’s ability to offer sacrifices in the Old Testament was not determined
by social, political, or religious qualifications. Thus, it seems clear that mediation (as
illustrated through this practice) was not restricted to any particular class of people or any
14
II Samuel 24:15-25 (selected), KJV.
15
Job 1:4-5, KJV.
6
particular position. Instances of sacrifice in the Old Testament involved two components:
the individual presenting the offering (Samuel or David in the passages above) and the
physical object being offered (animal and grain in the instances above). Scripture does
not identify which aspect of this practice actually mediated, suggesting that it was the
mediation. And as illustrated in the psalms, sacrifice had an emotional component that
was as important as any physical manifestation: “The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”16 This verse indicates
that the spiritual and emotional state of the mediator is more important than social or
professional qualifications. If politicians, fathers, priests, and prophets were all qualified
capacity.
implied by the present discussion: to increase understanding between sacred and human
sources by promoting metaphysical values. It also identifies the spiritual mediator as any
sincere individual who acts in the void of disparity between the divine and human nature.
The definition of sacrifice as “a gift that mediates between God and humanity” is broad
enough to encompass the art of composition. It cannot be proven that Miserere and In
the White Silence were composed for mediatory purposes, but the circumstances of their
origin reflect the disposition of the biblical sacrifice – the desire for divine blessing and
the petition for mercy and renewal. Miserere is a setting of a traditional text – a plea for
mercy and forgiveness – and was conceived in a nation plagued with violence and
religious persecution. Górecki desired the overthrow of Communism and an end to the
16
Psalm 51:17, KJV.
7
suffering of Poland. As a devout Roman Catholic, he would have sympathized with the
notion of a plea for God’s blessing. In light of the atrocities enacted in Poland during his
lifetime, his composition is readily interpreted as a collective plea for renewal. In the
White Silence is rooted in the evocation of the natural world. It invokes blessing by
developing awareness of, and promoting respect for, the sanctity of the Alaskan tundra.
It petitions mercy by manifesting humanity’s need for unaltered natural places, and by
compositions may be viewed as the product of spiritual mediation. Henryk Górecki and
John Luther Adams are ideal representatives of this concept because both are widely
in an oeuvre replete with sacred titles, texts, and musical genres; John Luther Adams’s is
the White Silence is a signature work of Adams, and readily yields a spiritual reading, as
the composer’s techniques.18 While either composer would illustrate the concept
individually, it is their specific pairing that fuels this discussion. Górecki and Adams
influences, and spiritual perspectives. Though hardly comprehensive, the diversity of this
pairing provides a view of the concept that may be construed as a sort of gamut. If
17
See essay entitled “Credo” in Adams, Winter Music, 143-145.
18
Ivan Moody, “Górecki: The Path to the ‘Miserere.’ Like Arvo Part, Górecki Finds Voices a
Natural Medium for His Music,” The Musical Times, 133/1792 (June 1992): 283.
8
discussion, then it may be expected to be successfully applied to an array of composers
Miserere and In the White Silence are pieces that illustrate composers interceding
between the divine and the human by manifesting spiritual concerns. The following
history and beliefs, and of the circumstances that occasioned their creation. The analyses
of the musical components and structure of these works coincides with their
Miserere will be examined first as a product of the political upheaval and religious
persecution that prevailed in Poland in the composer’s lifetime, and as a derivative of the
musical and textual traditions of the Catholic Church. In the White Silence will then be
landscape and his work as an environmental activist, a connection made apparent in the
9
PART I: HENRYK GÓRECKI
10
CHAPTER TWO
Miserere, opus 44 should be examined in the context of the events that led to its
considered as a response to the political and religious history of Poland during Górecki’s
Henryk Górecki was born on December 6, 1933 in Czernica, a small village near
Rybnik in southern Poland. Rybnik is one of many cities comprising the Silesian coal
mining district that surrounds the large and heavily-industrialized city of Katowice.
Górecki was a lifelong resident of southern Poland, and from the late 1950s until his
death on November 12, 2010, Katowice was the composer’s permanent home.1
Górecki was born to amateur musicians. His mother, who died when he was two
years old, was a pianist, and his father (a railway employee) led dance bands at local
weddings.2 Due to the discouragement of his father and stepmother, Górecki’s musical
training was minimal in his youth, and limited to violin lessons, which he began at age
ten.3 Only as an adult did his professional music training begin in earnest. While
1
Allan Kozinn, “Henryk Górecki, Polish Composer, Is Dead at 76,” New York Times, 12
November 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/13/arts/music/13gorecki.html (accessed May 28,
2011).
2
Thomas, Górecki, xv & xiii.
3
Ibid., xv; Kozinn, “Henryk Górecki, Polish Composer, Is Dead at 76.”
11
Katowice where he studied from 1955 to 1960. Years later, he would become principal
of the Academy.
For many years Górecki’s fame (especially in Western circles) hinged on the
Symphony No. 3 (better known as the “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs”), a piece whose
commercial success in the early 1990s was a cultural phenomenon that drew skepticism
from many in the academic music community. However, the composer’s initial success
came well in advance of this event, and was founded on a modernist idiom that has little
in common with the modal consonance of the third symphony. In the 1950s, Górecki’s
musical voice emerged at the forefront of Poland’s avant-garde. Benefitting from the
post-Stalin thaw, the composer absorbed the influences of Anton Webern and Pierre
Boulez, and his first successes were with gritty serialist works performed at the Warsaw
Autumn Festival. In the 1960s, his music opened up to the influences of Polish folk
music and to sacred traditions of the Polish Church, and became less aggressively
language that tended to celebrate Poland’s religious and cultural past. While the
Symphony No. 3 epitomizes this new idiom, it is equally well-displayed in his other
works of the era, including two choral pieces written for the Pope (Beatus Vir and Totus
In the 1980s, the composer’s poor health necessitated his withdrawal from public
life.4 With the fall of Communism late in 1989, his music began to be well-known
outside Poland for the first time. Górecki continued to compose throughout that decade
and into the 1990s, and accepted multiple commissions from the Kronos Quartet. The
4
Thomas, Górecki, 101.
12
composer’s fourth symphony, slated to have been premiered by the London Philharmonic
honorary doctorates from the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C., the
during the long hospitalization that preceded his death, Górecki was visited by Poland’s
president and presented with the Order of the White Eagle, the country’s most prestigious
Henryk Górecki’s devotion to his faith and to the Roman Catholic Church was
apparent throughout his life and career. An examination of central moments from his
biography as they coincide with the history of the Polish nation and the travails of the
Roman Catholic Church in Poland during his lifetime sets the stage for the consideration
Henryk Górecki spent the majority of his life under a totalitarian government.
During his youth in the 1930s, the continuance of the independent Polish Republic
(created in 1918) was seriously threatened. On both sides it was menaced, by Nazi
Germany to the west and by the Soviet Union to the east. In the late summer of 1939,
these superpowers jointly attacked Poland and sparked the beginning of World War II.
After a month-long resistance to the German-Soviet Pact, Poland was captured and
5
Nonesuch Records Website, “Polish Composer Henryk Górecki Dies at 76,”
http://www.nonesuch.com /journal/polish-composer-henryk-gorecki-dies-at-76 (accessed May 28, 2011).
6
Thomas, Górecki, 106; Kozinn, “Henryk Górecki, Polish Composer, Is Dead at 76.”
7
Kozinn, “Henryk Górecki, Polish Composer, Is Dead at 76.”
13
geographically divided by the aggressors. Two years later, Germany turned and attacked
the Soviet Union, and seized control of the entire Polish nation. Their occupation lasted
for the duration of the conflict. The six years of the War, from 1939 to 1945, decimated
Poland; many of its cities were destroyed (including the capital Warsaw), six million of
its citizens (three million of them Jews) died or were killed, and it suffered under the
systematic and rigorous attempt of the Nazis to eradicate both traditional Polish culture
The situation in Poland improved little after the ending of the War. Upon
Germany’s defeat and withdrawal from Poland in 1945, the Allied forces recognized the
republic, the Committee was a Communist-dominated group manipulated from the outset
by the Soviets, who gained ever-increasing control over the Polish way of life. Though
the vast majority of Poles opposed a Communist government, their resistance was
suppressed with the brute force and political maneuvering of the Soviets. Elections were
controlled, putting Communist officials into power and removing from office those
amongst the populace were quelled by police. Through these methods, Soviet-dominated
Communist rule was established in Poland by 1948, and maintained for the next forty
years.9
As a Soviet state, Polish life was characterized by civil unrest and political
upheaval. Antigovernment protests in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s centered on the
government’s control of the economy, the manipulation of the agrarian system (including
8
World Book Encyclopedia, 2000 ed., s.v. “Poland,” by Janusz Bagajski.
9
Ibid.
14
the seizure of private farms), religious oppression, and restricted intellectual and cultural
freedom. In the late 1970s, a long-deteriorating economy reached a new low, with food
workers went on strike, demanding political reforms and improved living conditions.
Led by Polish labor leader Lech Walesa, these workers organized under the banner of
of the turbulent condition of the country, the government officially recognized Solidarity
in late 1980. It was an unprecedented move. Solidarity was the first non-communist
victory for the people of Poland was short-lived.10 In the face of growing unrest and the
public clamor for political reform and increased personal freedoms, the government
imposed martial law in 1981. Solidarity was instantly targeted. Its activities were
suspended and its leaders, including Lech Walesa, were imprisoned. In the following
year, Solidarity was officially outlawed by the Communist government along with all of
This was the environment in which Górecki composed Miserere, a work that
Bydgoszcz, and by indicting the oppressive measures of the Communist Party. This
musical response was influenced by both political and religious factors. The composer
identified with Solidarity, as it was the first group since the War to give significant voice
10
Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, 2nd ed., s.v. “Lech Walesa” and “Solidarity.”
15
The link between Poland and the Roman Catholic Church is inescapable in the
Twentieth Century. Not only are the vast majority of Poles Catholic, but Pope John Paul
II, the head of the Church for over twenty years, was elected to the papacy in 1978 as the
first Polish Pope and the first non-Italian Pope since 1523.11 As both a devout Roman
Catholic and a Pole with a strong sense of national pride, the vicissitudes of religious life
in Poland during his lifetime are integral to a study of Górecki’s music. To understand
World War II. During the Polish Republic, from 1918 to 1939, the Church multiplied the
number of its parishes, significantly added to its clergy, and increased in the number of
adherents to the religious orders. By the time of the War there were 2,000 monastic
foundations in the country, with 4,500 brothers, and 17,000 sisters. The 1936 census
During this era, the Roman Catholic Church established a strong public presence with
social work that included charities, adult education programs, and religious instruction in
the elementary schools. An active Catholic press had 250 religious periodicals in
circulation by the late 1930s, and the Church maintained theological facilities in
numerous cities throughout the country. At the outbreak of the War, the total Roman
11
World Book Encyclopedia, s.v. “Poland.”
12
The primary resource for ensuing information pertaining to the Catholic Church is the following
publication: New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2003 ed., s.v. “The Catholic Church in Poland,” by B. Stasiewski
and Z. Zielinski.
13
Of this seventy-five percent, 11.2 percent were members of the United Catholic Church of
Poland, as revealed by the New Catholic Encyclopedia.
16
Catholic clergy in Poland numbered 13,000. This era of increase was followed by a fifty-
year period of extreme suppression: the systematic attempt of the German National
Socialist Regime to expunge the Church from Poland during their six-year occupation,
and then the post-war efforts of Soviet Communism to eradicate all threats to a
totalitarian state.
During World War II the Roman Catholic Church in Poland was severely
persecuted by both the Nazis and the Soviets. Adolf Hitler called Christianity the
“heaviest blow that ever struck humanity” and his regime declared that “National
Socialism is the doing of God’s will. God’s will reveals itself in German blood. True
Germany nor the Soviet Union could tolerate the presence of a Church that urged her
members to “resist the idolatrous cult of race and state, to stand against the perversion of
Christian doctrines and morality, and to maintain their loyalty to Christ, his church, and
Rome.”15 During the two years of dual occupation, eastern Poland was subject to
religious persecution at the hand of the Soviets, including the restrictions on the
circulation of religious materials and the deportation of both clergy and laity. The
Church was even more oppressed in the Nazi-occupied west where the regime was intent
on the “systematic elimination of the Church from Public life.”16 The Nazi plan to
eradicate the Catholic presence in Poland persisted through the war, and after 1941, was
manifested across the entire country. Throughout Poland, priests were arrested and
exiled, prompting the formation of an underground movement that aided persecuted Jews
14
Bruce L. Shelley, Church History in Plain Language, 2nd ed. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson
Publishers, 1995), 422 & 426.
15
Ibid., 424.
16
New Catholic Encyclopedia, s.v. “The Catholic Church in Poland.”
17
and clerics alike. The activities of the Church were dramatically curtailed: Catholic
higher education was eliminated, along with all vestiges of a previously-thriving Church
press. It was forbidden to recruit or train new clergy, and its charitable activities were
halted. The persecution of the Catholic Church was especially severe in the Warta
In the Warta District members of the hierarchy were brutally beaten; the clergy
was decimated; seminaries, numerous establishments of religious orders, and all
Catholic schools and associations were abolished; ecclesiastical property was
expropriated; sisters were driven from their convents; churches in large part were
closed (in Poznań, for example, of thirty churches only two were left open for
Polish-speaking Catholics and one for German-speaking faithful); wayside
crosses and shrines were destroyed; Polish inscriptions were effaced; and loyalty
to religion was made extremely difficult.17
During the six years of the war and of German occupation, Poland lost one quarter of its
diocesan clergy. Thirteen bishops were arrested or exiled; 3,647 priests, 389 clerics, 341
brothers, and 1,117 sisters were sent to the concentration camps. Of this number, four
bishops, nearly 2,000 priests, 113 clerics, and 238 sisters died.18 In addition, many
Catholic laymen were deprived of legal rights or killed. The Nazi oppression of the
Church during the War paralyzed its activities, decimated its numbers, and all but
With the end of the War in 1945 came the ouster of the Nazis, and improved
conditions for the Roman Catholic Church in Poland appeared promising. Assured by
guarantees of religious freedom from the Polish Committee for National Liberation, the
Church began rebuilding her churches and ecclesiastical institutions, and reinstituting her
ministries and activities. But as the U.S.S.R. gained increasing control of the Polish
17
Ibid.
18
In both the electronic and print version of the New Catholic Encyclopedia, the number of
brothers who died is not mentioned. I have been unable to discover this figure in another resource.
18
government, the clemency never materialized. The Catholic press was censured, and the
in schools, and seminaries and monasteries were forced to close. The government seized
control of Church affairs, and began appointing state-approved priests. Catholic leaders
suspected of antipathy to the Communist party were arrested, imprisoned, or exiled. This
decade of Stalinist oppression was another devastating blow to Catholic life in Poland.
Over the next thirty years, the Catholic Church had to weather the political
upheaval that prevailed in Poland. With the post-Stalin thaw in the mid-1950s came a
brief relenting in Soviet policy toward the Church: imprisoned priests were released,
increased freedom was granted the press, and religious instruction was once again
permitted in schools. However, as the body of Catholics in Poland increased during the
1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, the State recognized the threat to totalitarianism posed by the
Church, and enacted policies to suppress her rapid growth and increased public presence.
These included continued assaults on the press, the prohibition of religious instruction
When the economic crises of the 1970s resulted in widespread strikes, the Church
came out in support of the government opposition, and provided “shelter and succor” for
the protestors.19 Upon its emergence in 1980, the Roman Catholic Church publicly
supported Solidarity, and condemned the Polish government’s attack of the movement
and the imposition of martial law.20 The Church in Poland would continue to suffer in
the 1980s as a result of its position in support of Solidarity, and relations between the
Church and the government were disintegrating when Górecki composed Miserere.
19
New Catholic Encyclopedia, s.v. “The Catholic Church in Poland.”
20
Ibid.
19
Górecki was not immune to the devastating effects of World War II. His youth,
spent in the small village of Czernica, was overshadowed by the Nazi occupation. His
family was engaged in resistance efforts, and he lost a grandfather, an aunt, and an uncle
in the concentration camps.21 Closer to home, only seventy miles from Czernica, the
Polish city of Oswiecim was the site of Nazi Germany’s largest concentration camp.22
Known by its German name, Auschwitz, the camp was in operation from 1940 to 1945,
during which time over one million Jews and 75,000 Poles were exterminated in its
facilities.23 The composer was one of a group of schoolchildren that visited the location
shortly after its unhallowed operations were halted by the Russians at the end of the War.
In a television interview from the early 1990s, the composer conveyed the lifelong impact
I remember when I was twelve years old, we went on a school visit to Auschwitz.
I had the feeling that the huts were still warm . . . The paths themselves – and this
image has never left me – the paths were made from human bones, thrown onto
the path like shingle. We boys – how to walk on this? This is not sand, not earth.
We were walking on human beings.24
Though in later life Górecki made attempts to discount the widely-held notion that his
music, especially the third symphony, deals directly with the atrocities of World War II,
it is clear that the suffering of his nation during German occupation shaped Górecki’s
artistic vision. It was the magnitude of his grasp of the War and of the Holocaust that
21
Michael White, “Music/Record Breaker,” Independent (London), 21 February 1993, 16.
22
Mileages estimated with Google Maps, using modern road systems.
23
The Jewish Virtual Library, “Auschwitz,” by Deborah Dwork and Robert Jan Van Pelt,
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ ejud_0002_0002_0_01609.html (accessed May 28,
2011).
24
Henryk Górecki, quoted in Bernard Jacobson, A Polish Renaissance (London: Phaidon Press
Limited, 1996), 171 & 174.
20
promoted his humble estimation of his role as composer: “Those things are too immense
Górecki suffered both personally and professionally in the ensuing years under
the Communist State. This was illustrated by a significant event from the 1970s that
established his antipathy to Communism and asserted his devotion to the Catholic
Church.
composer was a 1960 graduate of the institution, and had been a permanent resident of
the city for twenty years.26 As a music student at the Academy beginning in 1955,
Górecki’s training had not been inhibited by the restrictive Soviet policies on
experimental art that were heavily enforced in the larger cities of Poland. Fortunately he
“was able to develop his compositional skills away from such inhibiting dogma, although
his compulsory classes in Leninist theory and the singing of exhortatory ‘mass’ songs
were always a reminder of the pressures affecting everyday life.”27 In 1968 Górecki
joined the faculty of the Academy, and was made a professor of composition in 1972.28
But unlike that earlier era, when the peripheral Silesian district of Southern Poland was
1970s was a growing and highly-industrialized city that no longer escaped the State’s
intrusion. In fact, by the time that Górecki became principal of the school, the region had
become, he said, “more oppressed by the Party than Krakow or Warsaw. Katowice was a
25
Jacobson, A Polish Renaissance, 194.
26
Ibid., 171; Adrian Thomas, Górecki, 13.
27
Thomas, Górecki, xvii.
28
Kozinn, “Henryk Górecki, Polish Composer, Is Dead at 76.”
21
new city, industrial; the coal industry – workers, workers, workers. According to the
Party, what they ought to do was just work and be stupid. It was hard to found a
University there.”29 1979 was the Academy’s fiftieth anniversary, and Górecki’s fourth
the post as principal at the Music Academy a “mistake.”30 The Party in Poland possessed
an innate and hostile distrust of intellectualism. This, paired with Górecki’s known
Communist antipathies, allowed the officials in Katowice to make Górecki’s job as head
of the school a frustrating and demeaning one. His actions as principal were subject to
constant scrutiny – all phone calls, meetings, and correspondences were monitored. He
could not develop his staff as he saw fit; the Party (“little dogs always yapping,” he called
them) interfered even with the appointments he would make to the faculty.31 This abuse
came to a head in 1979 in the midst of the school’s anniversary celebrations, when
Górecki’s name was obviously exempted from all publicity announcing the
commemoration of the Music Academy’s jubilee. His name was airbrushed from the
school’s records, and excised from their list of distinguished alumni. Górecki had been
deemed an aberrant and ostracized by the Party in the manner for which they were
notorious. The composer’s twenty-year history with the Music Academy of Katowice no
longer existed. Górecki responded in protest by resigning his position as principal of the
school in 1979. “They forced me to resign,” he said. “Thereafter I was treated as though
I was dead. My name was removed from the records. My students weren’t allowed to
29
Górecki, quoted in Jacobson, A Polish Renaissance, 184.
30
Thomas, Górecki, 94.
31
Jane Perlez, “Henryk Górecki,” New York Times, 27 February 1994, Late Edition – Final, sec. 6,
32; Thomas, Górecki, 95.
22
say they had studied with me. And if I hadn’t resigned I really think they might have
The “catalyst” for these events was a transaction in the previous year between the
composer and Cardinal Wojtyła of Krakow.33 Górecki was commissioned for a work to
Bishop of Krakow who was executed and dismembered by the King of Poland on the
pretense of disloyalty to the crown.34 To posterity, his death was martyrdom, and St.
Stanislaus was eventually canonized by the Church and adopted as the patron saint of
Poland.35 Celebrated for centuries in the nation’s visual arts and music, St. Stanislaus
was widely recognized in the twentieth century as a symbol of Church and State
conflict.36 The nature of this commission unsettled Party officials in Katowice from the
beginning, but when Cardinal Wojtyła was elected to the Papacy on October 16, 1978,
and widely celebrated in a burst of national pride as the first ever Polish pope, the
situation became increasingly tense. Not only was Górecki utilizing explicitly religious
material and an anti-state tradition, he was doing so at the behest of the preeminent
international Christian religious figure. At the time of Cardinal Wojtyła’s elevation to the
Papacy, Górecki had only worked pre-compositionally on the St. Stanislaus project.37
Composition proper began only in late 1978 when it was determined that the work would
32
White, “Music/Record Breaker.”
33
Thomas, Górecki, 95.
34
Ibid., 96.
35
Ibid.
36
Ibid., 95.
37
Ibid.
23
be premiered in June 1979 on the occasion of the first pilgrimage of John Paul II to
Poland as Pope. The composer, eagerly anticipating this event, not only saw the project to
completion but became a member of the committee responsible for the Pope’s reception
in Poland.38 Górecki’s overt demonstrations of religious devotion were more than Party
leaders could abide. Accordingly Górecki was pressured to abandon his public post as
Undaunted by his treatment at the hands of the authorities, Górecki fulfilled the
Pope’s commission with Beatus Vir, a major work for baritone solo, large mixed choir,
and full orchestra. Though it was not his custom, the composer conducted the premiere
himself, which took place in the Cathedral at Krakow. Doing so in the highly publicized
setting of the Pope’s first homecoming was a gesture that exposed Górecki to even
further censure. Following the performance, the Pope reflected on the St. Stanislaus
tradition, and publicly expressed his gratitude to the composer for the “profound
Górecki’s fulfillment of the commission for Beatus Vir and his involvement in the
public reception for the Pope demonstrate his commitment to his faith and to the Roman
Catholic Church.41 It also displays his willingness to act confrontationally (risking career
and reputation) in matters where the dictates of the State are at odds with religious
conviction. The events surrounding the commissioning and premiere of Beatus Vir were
38
Jacobson, A Polish Renaissance,184.
39
Thomas, Górecki, 95.
40
Ibid., 100.
41
In addition, upon his resignation from the Academy, Górecki founded in Katowice a local
branch of the Catholic Intellectuals Club, as described in the following source: Jane Perlez, “Henryk
Górecki,” New York Times, 27 February 1994, Late Edition – Final, sec. 6, 32.
24
a precedent for the injection of music into politically and spiritually charged
circumstances, one that presaged Miserere and Górecki’s alliance with Solidarity.
It has been asserted that in his visit to Poland in 1979, the Pope was “consciously
stoking the fires of rebellion.”42 It appears that the event had a galvanizing impact upon
the populace. In the following year, thousands of striking workers would unite under the
leadership of Lech Walesa. Solidarity would pose the first serious threat to the
Communist State in Poland.43 When Solidarity was outlawed by the government in 1982,
its membership numbered in the millions, and it had spawned many satellite
agricultural union made up of private Polish farmers with a rapidly growing membership
by 1981.
Perhaps because of his rural roots in the small village of Czernica, or because of a
nostalgia for the agrarian Poland that he had known before the Communist
against this group in March of 1981. When the composer received word of the violent
encounter between Rural Solidarity and the Soviet militia, he immediately responded
25
CHAPTER THREE
Miserere Traditions
Miserere, opus 44 unites the event of the altercation between Rural Solidarity and the
Soviet militia with centuries of liturgical tradition by utilizing a biblical text ideally
suited for mediation, and for the expression of personal and national grief.
On the evening of March 19, 1981 in the Polish city of Bydgoszcz, members of
Rural Solidarity were participating in a sit-in at the headquarters of the United Peasant
Party of Poland. Though one of the country’s three legally recognized political parties,
the government representation granted to Poland’s 3.5 million private farmers through the
pro-Communist Peasant Party was only nominal.1 By March, Rural Solidarity, or the
membership of 1.3 million, but still the Polish government refused to recognize the
Bydgoszcz to give voice to their grievances and to demand recognition. Before the
evening concluded, events took place that had Poland in an uproar and received
international attention. The New York Times is one of many news sources that reported
1
John Darnton, “Polish Police Break Up Farmer Protest,” New York Times, 20 March 1981,
Late City Final Edition, sec. A, 3.
26
Riot policemen in the central Polish city of Bydgoszcz broke up a
demonstration last night by farmers seeking to form a union, evicting the
protesters from a government building and beating some so severely that they
were hospitalized . . . Details of the incident in Bydgoszcz were sketchy. For
three days, several hundred activist farmers had been occupying the offices of
the Peasants Party . . . The protesters . . . were demanding that the authorities
draft a law by April 10 to permit their organization to be registered as an
independent union. Union sources said that the local council in Bydgoszcz had
met yesterday afternoon to consider the dispute and invited Rural Solidarity
members to attend as observers. When the session broke up, apparently in
disagreement, some activists and some councilmen refused to leave the
building.2
This refusal elicited police force to disperse the crowd. Some 200 of the Soviet militia
entered the building carrying military batons. The members of Rural Solidarity were
forced out through the rear entrance of the building, where they were violently beaten,
many to the point of serious injury.3 One union member described the scene: “We
were thrown out of the building by the back door because the front of the building was
surrounded by a crowd . . . In the backyard we were beaten and our hands were
twisted.”4 The police subjected the protestors to the brutal “path of health,” a
common method for dealing with demonstrators, and their “chief method of torture.”5
Facing raised batons, “the detainee was forced to run the gauntlet, passing through a
long row of policemen, each of whom would strike the victim.”6 One of the victims
was Jan Rulewski, a national Solidarity leader and a “close associate” of Lech Walesa.
2
Ibid.
3
“Riot Police Storm Polish Workers’ Meeting, Scores Hurt,” The Globe and Mail (Toronto),
20 March 1981; Didham, “Henryk Górecki, Miserere.”
4
Didham, “Henryk Górecki, Miserere.”
5
Ibid.; Jan Josef Lipski, KOR: a History of the Workers’ Defense Committee in Poland, 1976-
1981, trans. Olga Amsterdamska and Gene M. Moore, Studies in Society and Culture in East-Central
Europe, eds. Jan T. Gross and Irena Grudinska-Gross (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985), 34.
6
Lipski, KOR: a History of the Workers’ Defense Committee in Poland, 34.
27
Beaten in the head and left lying on the ground, he was one of about twenty activists
This event in Bydgoszcz was one of the first involving police aggression
against Solidarity, and the news of it quickly became known. “Pictures of this
provocative incident were soon seen all over Poland, unrest spread to the nearby
towns of Toruń and Włocławek and suddenly there was a dangerous national crisis.”8
Along with most Poles, Henryk Górecki was incensed. He immediately set to
the work Miserere, a Latin word meaning “have mercy.” The reference here is to more
than just the denotative meaning of the word, however. To commemorate a lifetime
Solidarity and Communism, the composer called on his Catholic faith and invoked an
ancient tradition, the Miserere tradition, with roots going back to Old Testament
times.
Miserere mei, deus. This is a Latin rendering of words first uttered in Hebrew
by the biblical psalmist. They translate “Lord God, have mercy upon me.” There are
three psalms that commence with this petition, but the most famous is the fiftieth.9 In
7
Darnton, “Polish Police Break Up Farmer Protest,” sec. A, 3.
8
Adrian Thomas, liner notes to Górecki, Elektra Nonesuch, 9 79348-2 CD, 1994.
9
This psalm is numbered 50 in the Catholic tradition; in the Protestant Bible it appears as
Psalm 51.
10
The Catholic Encyclopedia, s.v. “Miserere,” http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10352c.
=htm (accessed October 30, 2009).
28
attributed to King David, based on the biblical heading (a statement of authorship that
precedes many of the psalms) that appears in the Hebrew, Greek and Latin
translations, and reads in English “A Psalm of David, when the prophet Nathan came
to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.”11 This heading links the psalm with a
notorious incident in the life of the king, which is biblically recounted in the eleventh
When Bathsheba conceived, King David attempted to conceal his identity as the father of
the child. Bathsheba’s husband Uriah, one of Israel’s soldiers engaged in battle, was
summoned home that he might sleep with his wife and believe himself to be the father of
the child. David even feasted Uriah, and to increase the likelihood of his having physical
relations with his wife, sent him home inebriated (II Samuel 11:6-13). However the ruse
failed, and Uriah returned to battle without having slept with Bathsheba. In a final effort
to conceal his adultery the king sent to Joab, the captain of the armies of Israel,
11
Marti J. Steussy, David: Biblical Portraits of Power (Columbia, SC: University of South
Carolina Press, 1999), 162.
12
2 Sam. 11:2-4, KJV.
29
and there fell some of the people of the servants of David; and Uriah the Hittite
died also.13
Following Uriah’s death, David took Bathsheba into the palace to be his wife, but his
deception remained concealed for only a short time. He was found out when the prophet
Nathan approached him with an accusation of adultery and murder (II Samuel 12:7-15).
forgiveness, as recorded in Psalm Fifty. The first three verses read as follows:
1
Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy loving-kindness; according unto the
multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. 2Wash me thoroughly
from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 3For I acknowledge my
transgressions: and my sin is every before me.14
It should be noted that scholars have questioned the authorship of the fiftieth psalm as
implied by the heading “A Psalm of David.”15 The phrase, which is employed in the
heading of this and many other psalms, could have multiple meanings, including
despite the uncertainty of their historical implication, these headings have given rise to
centuries of religious tradition, and are widely understood as statements of King David’s
Interpreted as David’s response to the charge of adultery and murder, the fiftieth
psalm is credited with establishing a model for the act of repentance.18 It is one of seven
13
II Sam. 11:15-17, KJV.
14
Psalm 50:1-3, KJV.
15
Robert Davidson, The Vitality of Worship: A Commentary on the Book of Psalms (Grand
Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998), 160.
16
Steussy, David: Biblical Portraits of Power, 160.
17
Ibid.
18
The New Catholic Encyclopedia (Detroit, Michigan: Gale Group, 2003), s.v. “Contrition.”
30
psalms referred to as the “penitential psalms,” and it is the best known.19 In medieval and
renaissance Books of Hours its text was paired with images of David observing
Bathsheba from the rooftop, a practice that persisted even to colonial America and the
New England Primer.20 Thus the text has a long-standing tradition as a plea for the
personal plea for forgiveness. It is offered on an individual basis by the offending king
directly to God. Alternatively, the psalmist represents a body, and voices a collective
confession of wrongdoing. According to biblical scholar Marti Steussy, the fiftieth psalm
may be interpreted in three ways, “as national prayer, as any individual’s prayer, and as
the prayer of David, who is both national representative and an individual in personal
relationship to God.”21 As a metaphor for the collective expression of Israel’s sin, this
psalm is especially apt since “adultery – the specific aspect of David’s sin to which the
psalm heading alludes – is one of the major metaphors used to describe national sin.”22
Prevalent in the Jewish tradition, this view of the psalm as both an individual and a
collective expression of contrition was later adopted into the Christian practice.
The fiftieth psalm has been incorporated into centuries of worship in the Catholic
Church. It figures prominently in the Divine Offices: throughout the year it is usually the
first psalm at Lauds, is used in Vespers during the Lent season, frequently recited during
19
Davidson, The Vitality of Worship: A Commentary on the Book of Psalms, 166.
20
Clare L. Costley, “David, Bathsheba, and the Penitential Psalms,” Renaissance
Quarterly 57 no. 4 (Winter 2004): 1235.
21
Steussy, David: Biblical Portraits of Power, 163.
22
Ibid.
31
Holy Week, and spoken almost daily in the prayer following meals.23 The psalm is also
employed in various ceremonies and circumstances that illuminate the Catholic Church’s
understanding of the penitential tradition of the text and its reconciliatory function. For
example, the fiftieth psalm is incorporated into Asperges, the ritual sprinkling of the
clergy, congregation, and altar with holy water in order to “prepare the congregation for
the celebration of the Mass by moving them to sentiments of penance and reverence
suggested by the words of the fiftieth psalm.”24 It is used in ceremonies that reconcile
church buildings and cemeteries that have been profaned or desecrated.25 It is spoken by
penitents being absolved of sin and restored to the Church following their
excommunicate who has “given some sign of contrition before death,” in a ceremony that
From these instances of liturgical use, it is clear that in the Catholic Church the
fiftieth psalm has been closely associated with circumstances resembling those of the
23
The Catholic Encyclopedia, s.v. “Miserere;” New Catholic Encyclopedia, s.v. “Office of the
Dead.”
24
The Catholic Encyclopedia, s.v. “Asperges.”
25
Ibid.
26
Ibid.
27
Ibid.
28
Ibid.
32
reconciliation between God and an offending party. And while the psalm still functions
it is also employed as an appeal for a collective body (the reconciliation of penitents), and
even for the reconciliation of a place (as in a profaned church building). The
interpretation of David’s adultery with Bathsheba as an allegory for the national infidelity
of Israel appears to have found resonance in the Catholic tradition, with Psalm Fifty used
as an expression of penitence both for the individual and for the body of the Church. An
evolution that may be detected in the Church’s application of Psalm Fifty relates to the
role of the priest. Whereas in the biblical account associated with the psalm, the
individual (King David) appeals directly to God, the Catholic tradition interposes a
mediating figure (the priest, or institution of the Church itself) between the penitent and
Deity. This is vividly illustrated by the liturgical instance of the Catholic priest chanting
the Miserere (Psalm Fifty) while carrying the sacrament to the sick. For the purposes of
obtaining God’s mercy for those who are ill, the fiftieth is considered the “best suited” of
the psalms.29 This assessment doubtless arises from both the textual qualities of the
The ancient Davidian legacy, as well as centuries of use in the Catholic Church
had, by Górecki’s day, created a Miserere tradition in Psalm Fifty based on penitence and
intercession. In the process, its application had been expanded to that of a collective
appeal, and its function punctuated with a mediating individual or institution. The
interpretation of the psalm as a national expression resonates with the five-word text of
Górecki’s composition, Domine deus noster Miserere Nobis. King David’s appeal, “have
29
Ibid.
33
mercy upon me” (miserere mei), was expanded by Górecki in Miserere, opus 44 to
Other than its opening supplication, the text of Górecki’s Miserere bears little
resemblance to that of the fiftieth psalm. It is characterized by its brevity and consists, in
its entirety, of five words: Domine Deus noster MISERERE NOBIS. This phrase appears
in the score immediately following the title page, presented prominently and with the
final words capitalized. This treatment certainly emphasizes the words miserere nobis
and exaggerates the plea of the phrase. The composer’s desire to bring attention to this
aspect explains his alteration of the traditional Miserere text. Psalm Fifty is verbose by
which correspond exactly to the phrase Domine Deus noster miserere nobis. Yet, by
titling his composition Miserere, Górecki was certainly invoking the centuries-old
There are two musical works from the Renaissance that can be seen as models for
Górecki’s alteration of the Miserere text for emphatic or dramatic purposes consistent
with the psalm tradition. The first of these is Guillaume Dufay’s motet Ave regina
occurred in 1474).30 The text is a traditional antiphon into which Dufay inserted
personalized pleas. These four interpolations resonate with the traditional Miserere text,
as each commences with the word miserere (“have mercy”). The complete text of the
tropes italicized:
30
Allan Atlas, Renaissance Music (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1998), 98.
34
Hail, queen of heaven, hail, mistress of the angels.
Have mercy on your dying Dufay, or, as a sinner, he will be cast down into the
fires of hell.
Hail, holy source, from whom the light of the light comes forth.
Have mercy, Mother of God, so that the gate of heaven is open to the weak.
Rejoice, glorious one, beautiful above all.
Have mercy on your supplicant Dufay, and may you see beauty in his death.
Farewell, in your perfection, and pray to Christ for us forever.
Have mercy on us, so that we are not damned on high; and help us at the hour of
death, so that we feel peace in our hearts.31
This motet is an early example of the appropriation of the Miserere tradition for purposes
of personal expression, and a precedent for the alteration of the traditional text.
The second example is another motet, Miserere mei, Deus, composed by Josquin
Desprez around the year 1504.32 The text is that of Psalm Fifty, which in this instance is
set in its entirety, but again with alterations. Josquin inserts the opening phrase of the
psalm between each of its nineteen verses, as demonstrated in the textual excerpt below
Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving-kindness: according unto
the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
Have mercy upon me, O God.
Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
Have mercy upon me, O God.
For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
Have mercy upon me, O God. 33
Josquin’s reiteration of the miserere appeal forms a strong structural element of the
motet, and increases the dramatic emphasis of the psalm text. Along with the motet by
31
Allen Atlas, ed., Anthology of Renaissance Music (New York: W.W. Norton and Company,
1998), 489.
32
Atlas, Renaissance Music, 274.
33
Atlas, Anthology of Renaissance Music, 492.
35
Górecki’s composition Miserere and the brevity of its text may be seen as a
distillation of the original Miserere, a paring of the psalm text to its essential dramatic
and spiritual core in a treatment that has a precedent in compositions from the
Renaissance. But what of the four hundred intervening years of evolving musical
tradition between these examples and the year 1981? Beginning in the 1960s, Górecki
began to favor composition in an archaic vein that drew inspiration from ancient and
sacred sources.34 This trend was well-established by 1981, and Miserere is composed in
a chant-based modal idiom that clearly utilizes the sacred musical traditions of the
Catholic Church. These Renaissance models are notable for the ways in which they alter
the ancient text by emphasizing a particular phrase while still promoting the traditions
associated with its original iteration, a trend that is readily apparent in Górecki’s
Henryk Górecki was a devout Roman Catholic, and a composer of sacred music
that drew inspiration from the ancient musical and liturgical traditions of his Church. As
such it is valid to assume that the composer was aware of the strong traditions associated
with the Miserere when he created a work of the same name, and that he was invoking
them for dramatic and expressive purposes. Like the original iteration of David’s psalm,
Górecki’s Miserere represents the grief associated with a specific incident. The
composer identified and condemned the events of his nation as he witnessed them in his
day. To address the incident at Bydgoszcz, and the suffering of his nation at the hands of
the Communist state, Górecki harnessed a religious tradition rooted in penitence and
spiritual mediation, positing himself in the same light as the psalmist who offered a
national confession, and as the priest who chanted “have mercy” to absolve the
34
Jacobson, A Polish Renaissance, 178.
36
excommunicated. Miserere, opus 44 presents a strongly unified set of circumstances that
support the assertion that the composer was mediating for his nation, including the
incident that the work commemorates, the traditions associated with its text, and finally
the music itself. The musical setting and compositional processes at work in Miserere
highlight the mediatory appeal of the Davidian tradition, and profoundly reflect the
37
CHAPTER FOUR
twentieth century that is rooted in sacred traditions. The identity of this composition
emerges from its many references to Gregorian chant, and its careful musical treatment of
Miserere, opus 44 is a work for eight-part a cappella chorus conceived for the
large force of at least 120 singers. Comprised of eleven movements, its total length in
entries of its eight voices in ascending order.1 Beginning with the second basses, in each
ascending arpeggio from the initial entrance on A to the climactic arrival of the second
noster miserere nobis. The composer’s strategic development of the musical and
dramatic tension anticipates the presentation of the penitential plea, and is resolved only
1
These eight voices are, in the order of their appearance, Bass II, Bass I, Tenor II, Tenor I, Alto II,
Alto I, Soprano II, and Soprano I.
2
This discussion uses the following octave designation system: C1 C c c′ c′′ c′′′ c′′′′ (whereby
middle C is c′).
38
acchieved by a careful man
nipulation off range, rhytthm, tempo, harmony, annd expressivve
in
ndications, designed
d to emphasize
e th
he emotionall and spirituaal thrust of thhe text and
trradition. Thiis analysis seeeks to direcct attention tto those mussical aspects of Górecki’s
work
w that emp
phasize the ancient
a Miseerere; namelly, an origin in the musiccal traditionss of
Gregorian
G chaant, and a strructural and emotional pprojection thhat highlightss the penitenntial
an
nd mediatory
y componen
nts of the tex
xt.
th
he monophon
nic texture of
o the second
d basses intooning a tradittional Latin text in fluid
qu
uarter-note rhythms
r in a musical passsage that is distinctly m
modal. Whilee the note A is
In
n the first mo
ovement, and throughou
ut its entiretyy, Miserere iis unmeteredd, with a textt-
drriven setting
g that evokess the free rhy
ythm of channt. The rhythhmic duratioons and the
sttructure of th
he phrases co
orrespond to
o the syllabicc stresses off the Latin texxt, as shownn in
ex
xample 1.
Example 1: Miserere, opus 44, 1st mvt., mm. 1-4, Bass II.4
The
T lento tem
mpo marking
g and piano dynamic
d leveel of this moovement alsoo help to sugggest
th
he plaintive quality
q of Grregorian chaant. In addittion, the conjjunct musicaal line, restriicted
3
The pitch
p A, howev ver, is the true and
a overall “finnal” of Misererre, since harmoonic resolutionn at
th
he macro-level occurs on an A-minor
A chord in the final moovement of thee piece, thus thhe analysis of thhe
work
w in the conttext of the aeollian mode (the criterion for thhis determinatiion will be furtther discussed iin an
en
nsuing section)).
4
Henry
yk Górecki, Misserere, opus 44
4 (Krakow: Po lskie Wydawnnictwo Muzyczzne, 1990), 1.
39
to
o the range of
o a fifth, is reminiscent
r of
o the stepw
wise contour and limited range familiiar in
th
he less-ornatte musical iteems of early
y monophonyy. These passsages are reecitation-likee,
teending to hov
ver on the th
hird note of the
t aeolian m
mode (the noote C), as in the passage
sh
hown in exam
mple 2. Wh
hile this is no
ot an examplle of a psalm
m-tone formuula, per say, and
th
hough the ov
verall musicaal effect of th
his reciting-ttone passagee is dramaticc rather thann
ch
hant.
Example 2: Miserere, opus 44, 1st mvt., mm. 5-8, Bass II.5
With the
t entrancee of the first basses
b in moovement twoo, Miserere aassumes an
reeplaced by an
a emphasis on thirds and
d sixths, the two voices of these passages move in
th
he note-for-n
note ratios frrequently enccountered inn early polypphony. The m
musical linees
in
nteract in parrallel, contraary, and simiilar motion, maintainingg the text-driven rhythmss and
ph
hrase structu
ures of the fiirst movement, as shownn in examplee 3.
5
Ibid.
6
Ibid., 2.
40
In
n the ensuing
g movementts of Misererre, continuedd parallel moovement in tthe lower vooices
iss ornamented
d by the tend
dency of the newly-enterring upper vvoices to dispplay a degreee of
melodic
m indep
pendence. This
T is emph
hasized in thee eighth movvement withh the dramatiic
ceessation of th
he textural build-up
b thatt has been occcurring systtematically iin each of thhe
prrevious mov
vements. Th
his brief rumination in reeduced texturres reassertss the chant
in
nspirations of
o the work, and
a reframes its modal uunderpinningg. This passsage featuress the
seecond sopran
nos. The ran
nge of this movement
m (fr
from b to c′′ iin the sopranno part), andd its
em
mphasis on the
t note E, as
a shown in example
e 4, ssuggests a teemporary rellocation to thhe
Hypophrygian
H n mode.
Example 4: Miserere, opus 44, 8th mvt., mm.. 1-10., Sopranno II, Alto, Basss/Tenor. 7
7
Ibid.,
I 18.
41
Not coincidentally, perhaps, this movement evokes the mystical quality of In principio
omnes, the well-known chorus from Hildegard von Bingen’s musical drama Ordo
virtutum. This work is in the Phrygian mode, and its florid monophonic musical line is
often interpreted over a drone on the final (E, as is the case in Miserere). The
which is crucial in establishing an anticipatory mood prior to the entrance of the final
voice part in movement nine, and is a further instance of Górecki’s reliance on medieval
chant.
more homophonic in nature, the work never abandons the plaintive, chant-like quality
established in the opening. With its references to the church modes, a text-derived
setting, and contemplative rhythms and pacing, Miserere invokes the religious traditions
composition also emphasizes the Miserere tradition by highlighting the most crucial
component of the Miserere text. The musical structure and dramatic projection of the
David’s psalm, this is in the opening phrase, Miserere mei. In Górecki’s composition,
this plea is the final two words of the five-word text: Miserere nobis. This is strategically
withheld for over thirty minutes, and its appearance in the final moments of the piece is
reaches a fevered pitch in the penultimate movement, just prior to its presentation.
42
Paired
d with the grradual build--up of musiccal texture occcasioned byy the successsive
en
ntrances of the
t individuaal voice partts, Górecki’ss treatment oof range, dynnamics, temppo,
harmonies, an
nd expressiv
ve indications unite to em
mphasize thee arrival of “miserere nobis”
ass the musicaal and dramaatic climax of the compo sition. Thesse developm
ments are chaarted
Table 1. Comp
positional and Structural Devvelopments in M
Miserere, opuss 44.
he addition of
th o voice parts in each succceeding moovement, thiss range graddually expandds,
frrom an octav
ve in the seco
ond movemeent to a tenthh in the thirdd movement, an eleventhh in
th
he fourth mo
ovement, and
d so on until in the ninthh movement tthe range enncompasses tthree
43
octaves. The only interru
uption in thiss progress occcurs in the eeighth moveement, whenn the
raange is reducced to two octaves from a nearly thrree-octave raange in the ppreceding
movement.
m Paired
P with a reduction in
n texture (seeven-part texxture is reducced to four pparts
in
n this movem
ment), this trreatment of range
r providdes a dramatiic set-up for the entrancee of
th
he final voice part (sopraano one) in movement
m niine (whereinn the range ddevelopmentt is
lo
ow end of the range in Miserere.
M Fo
or the majoritty of the pieece, this is deemarcated byy the
op
pening note of the piecee, the low A on
o which thee second bassses enter in movement oone.
This
T boundarry is carefully
y observed throughout
t thhe piece, wiith the bassess (briefly)
sttraying below
w this note only
o in the seeventh and ttenth movem
ments. The loowest tone oof the
en
ntire work, low
l D in the second bassses, is carefuully reservedd for the finaal moments oof
Miserere,
M as shown
s in exaample 5. Th
his imparts inncreased sollemnity to thhe last movem
ment
8
Ibid., 32.
44
The careful development of range in Miserere is echoed by the treatment of the
work’s dynamic markings and expressive indications. Almost without exception, the first
eight movements of the work are marked piano at their outset, and have soft dynamic
indications throughout their duration. However, with the gradual addition of voices, the
dynamic level of each succeeding movement builds upon that of the previous movement.9
The arrival of the second sopranos in movement nine is attended by the unprecedented
marking of fortissimo. This climactic moment is eclipsed only by the dynamic level of
the highly emotive tenth movement, which ranges from pianissimo all the way to
fortississimo when the choir splits into a ten-part divisi. This evolution in the dynamic
levels corresponds to the textural build-up of the piece, and to its emotional projection as
dictated by the expressive indications that attend the opening bars of each movement.
The first movement is simply marked Lento-Błagalnie.10 In the second movement, this
the work, and culminates in the tenth movement. Here the indications are so copious the
composer appears to have actually run out of room for their notation. This extract
appears below as example 6, where the indication reads Sempre poco a poco stringendo e
aumentare la tensione e l’espresione. In this tenth movement, the emotional tension that
has been steadily increasing since the opening of the piece reaches an absolute crux.
9
With 120 singers divided evenly between eight parts, the ensemble is augmented by fifteen
voices in each succeeding movement. This would naturally be expected to result in ever-increasing
amplitude, which is indeed the case with both commercially available recordings.
10
Błagalnie appears in the expressive indications throughout Miserere, and translates
“imploringly.” It is notable as one of the few Polish indications in the score.
45
Example 6: Miserere, opus 44, 10th mvt., opeening indicatioon.11
The mounting
m sen
nse of agitatiion occasionned by the dyynamic levells and expresssive
The
T tempos of
o the first ten movementts of Góreckki’s composiition are preccisely indicaated
with
w metrono
ome marking
gs in the scorre. The temppo of these tten movemennts generallyy
in
ncreases with
h each succeeeding moveement. Thouugh there aree exceptions to this
(m
movement fiive, for instaance, is slow
wer than the ppreceding moovements), tthe overall teempo
prrogression in
n Miserere is from slow to fast. Thee metronomee indicationss appear in thhe
fo
ollowing ord
der, with each figure den
noting quarteer-note beatss-per-minutee, as marked in
th
he first ten movements
m of
o Miserere:
48 → 48-50 → 52
2 → 54-56 → 46 → 58-660 → 54 → 56 → 69-722 → 92-96
th
he most insisstent expresssive indicatio
ons. It is thee fastest; it iss the most aggitated. In tthis
next-to-last movement,
m Górecki’s
G pen
nitents workk to a feveredd pitch. Thee harmonic
movement.
m
Thoug
gh rooted in the aeolian mode,
m the fi rst through tthe tenth moovements of
Miserere
M end
d unresolved on the note B (or on a B
B-derived chhord) in a sorrt of large-sccale
11
Góreecki, Miserere, opus 44, 26.
46
suspension that prolongs a sense of irresolution for a full half-hour of music.
Furthermore, the intervallic content of each movement grows more dissonant as the work
thirds, sixths, and unisons. The third movement introduces every interval but the second,
but the emphasis continues to be on “consonant” thirds and sixths. Seconds appear in the
fourth movement, and become more prominent in the ensuing movements. In the tenth
movement they are asserted in the most dissonant moments of the piece. A mounting
sense of irresolution is augmented in the final bars of this movement when the heretofore
ten-part texture is reduced to two parts, and concludes on a major second on B and A.
The long-delayed arrival of the integral text in the eleventh and final movement is also
With regard to mode and the harmonic projection of this work, it should be noted
that though this analysis has assigned Miserere to the aeolian mode, some of its
movements suggest the key of C major. Though the piece is completely diatonic (i.e.
there are no altered notes), the use of triadic harmonies impart to it a suggestion of
tonality that increases as Miserere develops. The composition is structured around the
harmonic delay created by phrases and movements that terminate on the second note of
the aeolian mode (the note B), a practice that persists for the entire piece. But as the
implications of this motion evolve. While in the first movements of the work, the
resolution to the final (as in the monophonic movement one; refer again to example 2), in
later movements, due to the development of triadic harmonies, this same procedure is
47
more
m suggestive of a harm
monic suspen
nsion in a toonality. Exam
mple 7 show
ws a passage that
which
w could be
b considereed as conclud
ding with a hhalf cadencee in the key oof C major.
Example 7: Miserere, opus 44, 6th mvt., mm.. 35-41, Alto I and II, Tenor I and II, Bass I and II.12
This
T developm
ment of the harmony
h (fro
om the aeoliian mode to C major) coorresponds too the
em
motional trajjectory of Miserere.
M Th
he triumphannt quality of tthe climacticc ninth
movement
m (in
n which the final
f voice part
p enters) iss the result oof a gradual transition frrom a
pensive modee to a bright major key. However, thhis movemennt, which seeemingly sugggests
which
w is moree pan-diaton
nic than tonaal, and cadennces on the sttrident intervval of a secoond.
This
T second is
i a suspension that anticcipates the reeturn of the aaeolian modde in the finaal
movement
m off the work. Though
T Miseerere featurees passages tthat appear tto depart from
ma
modal
m framew
work, it both
h begins and ends in the aeolian modde. It is diatoonic throughhout,
an
nd though it may suggesst C major (aas well as thee Phrygian m
mode in the eeighth
12
Ibid., 12.
48
movement), this is the result of the compositional procedure – the illusions are transitory,
and the harmonic progressions are seldom functional in a traditional tonal sense.
Moreover, the emotional impact of Miserere stems from its being rooted in the
contemplativeness of mode. Though the work may foray into a bright, tonal area, it is
meditative calm.”13 The progressive tension of the work, culminating in the extreme
agitation of the tenth movement, represents a sort of emotional catharsis from which the
musical and emotional closure. It is marked piano, and shades to pianissimo in the final
passages. It is the only movement for which the composer did not prescribe a metronome
suspended, timeless quality. It is darkly shaded by the lowest tones of the work when the
basses descend to D. The harmonic progressions are consonant, cadencing in the aeolian
mode. It is slow and sustained, a daring structural component and a brief counterpart to
the protracted passages of anguish that precede it. It is adroitly endowed with enough
musical and emotional gravity to offset the weighty half-hour build-up that it resolves.
Miserere draws to a close with a hushed cadence on the modal final (an a-minor chord), a
13
Moody, “Górecki: The Path to the ‘Miserere.’ Like Arvo Part, Górecki Finds Voices a Natural
Medium for His Music,” 283.
49
long-sought harmonic resolution, and with the utterance of the psalmist-inspired plea,
miserere nobis.
and its actions, and is simultaneously religious and political in nature. Its origins in the
sacred traditions of the Catholic Church are unconcealed, as is its adamant support of
Solidarity. Both defied the State censor, and this during a time when relations between
the Church and the governments of Eastern Europe were in continuing disrepair. In May
of 1981, the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II took place in St. Peter’s Square
in Vatican City. The Pope was hospitalized for ten days with life-threatening wounds
inflicted by two bullets fired at close range.15 The design on the Pope’s life was widely-
rumored to have been engineered by the Bulgarian Secret Service and the Russian Secret
Police.16 In 1984 a Catholic priest from Warsaw, Jerzy Popiełuszko, was murdered by
state police. His body was later recovered in Włocławek, Poland (the city that would be
Given its nature, there was absolutely no prospect for the immediate performance
1981. Consequently none was planned, and for six years the work lay unattended.
Following his resignation from the Music Academy of Katowice and his very public
support of the Pope on his visit to Poland in 1979, Górecki withdrew for a time from
14
Thomas, liner notes to Górecki.
15
Henry Kamm, “Pope Meets in Jail with His Attacker,” New York Times, 28 December 1983,
Late City Final Edition, sec. A, 1.
16
New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2003 ed., s.v. “Papacy: 1978-1988,” by G.H. Williams.
17
Thomas, Górecki, 96 & 102.
50
public life. Between 1981 and 1989, he made no public appearances in Poland, either
live or via radio or television.18 This is attributable to both the composer’s health, which
had been volatile since childhood and declined sharply in the 1980s, and to the
imposition of martial law in Poland at the end of 1981, when the personal freedoms of
Górecki and of all Poles were severely limited.19 As a subsidiary of Solidarity, Rural
Solidarity was outlawed in 1982. Along with most proponents of a free government in
Poland, it was forced underground during the turbulent years of the 1980s.
Henryk Górecki stated in 1994, “All my life I've done what I've wanted and I've
always fought for what I wanted to fight for, and I will continue to fight for those ideals.
Some people take an automatic gun and shoot. I can only fight with my notes on the
page.”20 In addition to being his protest, perhaps these “notes on a page” of Miserere
were also Górecki’s plea. Perhaps he assumed the role of mediator and represented the
grief of his people to the only entity who, in such difficult times, seemed capable of
bringing relief to the oppressed Polish nation. Górecki knew as well as any the horrors of
the War, and the anguish of the Soviet occupation of his country. Perhaps these notes
were Górecki’s dialogue with the God of the Catholic faith, who in the traditions of
scripture responded to the individual willing to represent a grieving people and mediate
for their deliverance. For the purpose, he selected a text and a tradition with centuries of
intercessory application, a penitential plea that had been restoring individuals and church
bodies since biblical times. He set these words movingly, with an elaborate musical
18
Tadeusz Marek and David Drew, “Górecki in Interview (1968) – and 20 Years After,” Tempo
168 (March 1989), 29.
19
Thomas, Górecki, 101.
20
Henryk Górecki, “Composer Henryk-Mikolaj Górecki: A conversation with Bruce Duffie,”
interview by Bruce Duffie, available at the Bruce Duffie website, http://www.bruceduffie.com/
gorecki.html (accessed November 17, 2011).
51
structure calculated for the presentation of an ancient plea, “Lord our God, have mercy
upon us.” Henryk Górecki mediated for the Polish people with spiritual beliefs grounded
in the traditions of the Roman Catholic Church. He interposed himself between a nation
in turmoil, and the omnipotent God of his faith. He stood between the oppressive forces
of Communism and the religious life it attempted to eradicate. Miserere posits Górecki
as spiritual mediator, castigating the evils of Communism and invoking the blessing of
God.
52
PART II: JOHN LUTHER ADAMS
53
CHAPTER FIVE
of the natural world on his musical development. As a young man, his deep commitment
to conservationism became united with his vision as a composer, and gave rise to a
unique musical language. As evidenced by the personal history that yielded In the White
Silence – a musical intercession for the Alaskan Arctic – Adams is optimally positioned
John Luther Adams was born on January 23, 1953 in Meridian, Mississippi. His
youth was spent throughout the eastern United States, in areas ranging from the Deep
South to the North East.1 Although Adams took piano lessons, participated in choir, and
traditional classical musics.2 In his teens, Adams played drums and sang in several
garage bands.3 Initially covering songs by the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, Adams’s
bands eventually began imbibing the sounds of Frank Zappa, Jimi Hendrix, and John
Coltrane.4 Enthusiasm for experimental rock music led “naturally” (as he describes it) to
a discovery of the classical avant-garde of the mid twentieth century. Adams’s passion
1
Alex Ross, “Song of the Earth: A composer takes inspiration from the Arctic,” The New Yorker,
12 May 2008, 76; John Luther Adams, “Sonic Geography of the Arctic,” interview by Gayle Young,
Musicworks 70 (Spring 1998), www.johnlutheradams.com/interview/ gayleyoung (accessed April 10,
2010), 1.
2
Adams, Winter Music, 119.
3
Ross, “Song of the Earth.”
4
Adams, Winter Music, 119; Ross, “Song of the Earth.”
54
for the music of Edgard Varèse, John Cage, Karl Stockhausen, Iannis Xenakis, Harry
Partch, Steve Reich and Conlon Nancarrow eventually surpassed his love of rock and
roll. In particular, his discovery of the minimalist idiom of Morton Feldman, an event
that Adams describes as an “epiphany,” altered the direction of his musical life and
In 1969 the Adams family moved to Macon, Georgia, and the young John was
problem kid,” he never graduated from high school. However in 1970 and 1971 – in
what would have been his senior year – Adams attended Mercer University and began
formal music studies. Here he took the de rigueur courses in music theory and ear
percussion, and composition. This resulted in a portfolio that gained him admittance to
the California Institute of the Arts in 1971, and instigated a move to Los Angeles.6
Studying composition with James Tenney and Leonard Stein, Adams earned his Bachelor
After the conferral of this degree, Adams was accepted for graduate school at
three institutions, but chose not to pursue a master’s degree.7 Ill-suited to an urban
environment, he “fled” the Southern California setting of Cal Arts. Between 1973 and
1975 Adams lived first in rural Georgia, then on a Nez Perce reservation in Idaho, in a
two-year period of searching that culminated in his first trip to Alaska in the summer of
5
Adams, Winter Music, 119.
6
Ibid., 120.
7
Ibid., 31.
55
1975.8 He returned the following two summers, working as an outdoors guide and an
environmental activist for the Wilderness Society and the Alaska Coalition.9 Exposure to
distances, unbroken silences, and incredible qualities of light . . . completely changed the
course of my life and work.”10 In 1978, the composer abandoned the Lower Forty-Eight
From 1979 to 1989, Adams lived outside Fairbanks, Alaska in a solitary cabin one
mile from the nearest road, heated only by a wood stove, and with no running water.
Composing part-time, he maintained a day job from 1982 to 1989 as timpanist and
principal percussionist for the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra and the Arctic Chamber
Orchestra, ensembles that doubled as a “testing ground” for his early works.11 In
addition, the composer produced for the Alaska Public Radio Network a show devoted to
new music. This forum kept him abreast of compositional trends, and put him in touch
In the 1990s, he was composer in residence for the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra,
Anchorage Opera, and the Alaska Public Radio Network, and accepted teaching posts at
8
Adams, “Sonic Geography of the Arctic,” interview by Gayle Young; John Luther Adams, “John
Luther Adams: The Music of a True Place,” interview by Molly Sheridan, NewMusicBox (March 1, 2011),
http://www.newmusicbox.org/articles/john-luther-adams-the-music-of-a-true-place/ (accessed September 7,
2011).
9
Adams, Winter Music 8, 32, 41; Adams, interview by Gayle Young, 1.
10
Adams, interview by Gayle Young, 1.
11
Adams, Winter Music, 32.
12
New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed., s.v. “John Luther Adams,” by Joshua
Kosman; Adams, Winter Music, 32-33.
56
Oberlin College Conservatory and the University of Alaska Fairbanks.13 More recently,
he has taught at Harvard University, and in the 2011 and 2012 school years is serving as
international performances of his works, and has overseen the production of sound
installations in Fairbanks, Alaska, and New York.15 A communicative writer with two
published volumes of essays and journals to his name (and with a third forthcoming), he
views on music and the environment. Along with Cindy Adams, his wife of twenty-two
years, Adams continues to reside in the Fairbanks region (albeit in a larger, 1200 square-
foot home with more amenities), and remains avidly devoted to the preservation of the
John Luther Adams’s appreciation of his adopted state originally emanated from a
Thoreau-like vision of Alaska as the “Last Frontier.” Reflecting on his departure from
the Lower Forty-Eight, he has said “I came here to ‘get away’ from the world . . . I also
came here to help save the wilderness.”16 It is important to note, however, that a
predilection for wilderness places and an interest in nature and native wildlife predates
13
New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, s.v. “John Luther Adams,” by Joshua Kosman.
14
Adams, “The Music of a True Place,” interview by Molly Sheridan.
15
John Luther Adams, The Place Where You Go to Listen: In Search of an Ecology of Music
(Middletown, CN: Wesleyan University Press, 2009), 153.
16
Adams, Winter Music, 182.
57
habitat.17 And ironically, it was in urban Los Angeles (as a student at Cal Arts) that
Adams was first exposed to the environmental movement. He adopted the plight of the
nearly extinct California condor and made sojourns into vestiges of their original habitat
preserved in the Los Padres National Forest.18 “I felt lost in Los Angeles,” says Adams
“but the place made an environmentalist out of me and set me off in search of home,
John Luther Adams visited the Arctic National Wildlife Range for the first time in
the summer of 1977, as an activist for the Wilderness Society and the Alaska Coalition.
Figure 1 shows the boundaries of this remote area, which stretches from the Alaskan
interior north of Fairbanks all the way to the Arctic Ocean, encompassing portions of the
Boreal forest and the Brooks mountain range. Adams was part of a group that
backpacked in the region for nearly two weeks, associated with the effort to promote the
passage of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act.20 Considered the “most
significant land conservation measure in the history of our nation,” this heavily debated
legislation was passed in 1980. ANILCA secured federal protection for over 100 million
acres in Alaska, and tripled the amount of designated wilderness land in the state.21
Adams says, “The small role that I played in that effort remains one of the most deeply
17
Adams, The Place, 70; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Website, “Okefenokee National Wildlife
Refuge,” http://www.fws.gov/okefenokee/ (accessed 9/1/11).
18
Ross, “Song of the Earth.”
19
Adams, Winter Music, 121.
20
This expedition is recorded in a published journal account; see pages 41-56 of Winter Music.
21
National Parks Conservation Association Website, “Alaska National Interest Lands
Conservation Act,” www.npca.org/media_center/fact_sheets/anilca.html (accessed September 1, 2011).
58
periences of my life.”22 As part of thhe Act, the W
saatisfying exp Wildlife Rannge was renaamed
th
he Arctic Naational Wildllife Refuge, acquired addditional prottection, and w
was expandeed to
in
n the effort, and
a the regio
on accrued personal
p signnificance whhen John andd Cindy weree
wed
w in a wild mony in the Refuge in 19989.24 As a result of theese experiencces,
derness cerem
th
he Alaskan Arctic,
A says Adams,
A my soul.”25
“hass become a ppart of the laandscape of m
226
Figure 1. Location
L of the Arctic Nationaal Wildlife Reffuge in Northerrn Alaska (labeeled ANWR).
Thoug
gh he discon
ntinued his in
nvolvement iin organizedd environmenntal efforts w
when
he became a full-time
f com
mposer, Adaams’s work aas a conservationist is onngoing. This
22
Adam
ms, Winter Mu
usic, 100.
23
This area is approx
ximately equal in size to the sttate of South C
Carolina.
24
This incident is desscribed with grreat warmth in the composer’’s journals; seee pages 94-110 of
Winter
W Music.
25
Ibid., 54.
26
Imag
ge found at Uniited States Geo
ological Surveyy Publications Warehouse W
Website,
htttp://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/fs-0028
8-01/image1.giif (accessed Occtober 25, 2011).
59
indictments of the destructive (and self-destructive) inclinations of consumerism in
modern society. Replete with references to the distressing effects of global warming and
climate change, Adams’s writings convey that conservation is clearly an imperative, and
living. The composer admits that there was a struggle when he chose between the
When I left that work [as an environmental activist], I did so with the feeling that
someone else could carry on my part in it, but that no one else could make my
music. Implicit in this choice was my belief that in a different way, music could
matter as much as activism. In recent years as the signs of climate change have
become undeniable . . . I’ve felt with increased urgency my responsibility to live
up to this belief.27
For John Luther Adams, it appears that conservationism and the work of a composer are
not discreet, but entirely compatible spheres. As will be discussed at a later point, the
environment itself serves as the sonic model for Adams’s compositional approach, one
that in recent years he has likened by analogy to the field of ecology.28 Environmental
awareness is apparent even in statements concerning the intended purpose of his life’s
work: “As a composer, I believe that music can contribute to the awakening of our
ecological understanding. By deepening our connections to the earth, music can provide
a sounding model for the renewal of the human consciousness and culture.”29 This
renewal would presumably compel the listener to pursue attentiveness to the natural
27
Adams, Winter Music, 182.
28
Adams, The Place, 1.
29
Ibid.
60
In the White Silence emanates from this philosophy and manifests the same
interest in conservation that Adams displayed as an activist for the Alaska Coalition and
the Wilderness Society. Strongly rooted in both the physical and metaphysical qualities
of Alaska, this work powerfully communicates the composer’s reverence for the
wilderness of the Alaskan Arctic. Silence invites the listener to engage in Adams’s
concern for the environment, to participate in his spiritual awe of the natural world, and
to join in his conviction that the region it evokes is “among the most sacred of places and
artistic integrity by averting the denigration that could be engendered by associating him
trend-derived label would belittle his music by relegating it to the disparaged realm of
propaganda. Every composer of every era has been possessed of a religious, political,
philosophical, and social framework from which he interacts with the world around him
and from which his work emerges. The music of John Luther Adams deserves to be
divested of any monikers that would prejudice its fair assessment. Though the
forthcoming analysis of In the White Silence is contextually based, I would seek to avoid
creating a prejudicial view of the work, by acknowledging that it derives its value not
from the content of the analysis, but from its own inherent qualities.
Nonetheless, In the White Silence has a musical syntax anchored in the particular
geography of the Alaskan arctic. Says Adams, “My work comes directly from the earth,
30
Adams, Winter Music, 25.
61
the sky, the light and the feeling of this very special place on this earth.”31 The following
analysis of In the White Silence situates itself in this affinity for the natural world, and in
this context promotes the view of John Luther Adams as a mediator for the spiritual value
of creation.
31
Ibid., 78.
62
CHAPTER SIX
of northern Alaska. This work is not only endowed with references to physical aspects of
the Arctic, it is invested with the composer’s environmental awareness and ecological
understanding of the region. The following evaluation proceeds from the consideration
of those individual musical elements that suggest physical and auditory place to the
interpretation of the whole work as a sonic entity patterned on the ecological principles of
ecosystem.
In the White Silence was composed in 1998, and premiered in November of the
same year. Funded in part by the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, that institution’s
Finney Chapel played host to the event, with Timothy Weiss conducting Oberlin’s
string orchestra, string quartet, celesta, harp, two vibraphones, and orchestral bells. The
piece was conceived in an “organic” process of manual sketching, listening, and revision,
without electronically generated data, and uses traditional musical notation. In the White
Silence is dedicated to the memory of the composer’s mother, and is also a paean to John
1
Linda Shockley, “John Luther Adams, New Oberlin Composer, Offers World Premiere: In the
White Silence,” Oberlin Online, 21 October 1998, www.oberlin.edu/nerserv/stories/jl adams.html (accessed
September 1, 2011). Though suggestive of religiosity (especially paired with the work’s designation in
memoriam), the location of the premiere – Finney Chapel – is apparently incidental. As partial funders of
the work, Oberlin naturally hosted the premiere. As the largest performance space on that campus, and one
with noted acoustics, Finney Chapel was the obvious setting for the event.
63
Luther Adams’s deep personal attachment to his adopted home.2 The link between In the
White Silence and the Alaskan landscape is established by the composer himself in the
score’s dedication: “The treeless windswept expanses of the Arctic are enduring creative
touchstones for my work, and In the White Silence is an attempt to evoke an enveloping
title, this work represents the frozen, snow-muted guise that prevails throughout much of
the year in the far stretches of the North. In the White Silence and its evocation of the
Alaskan Arctic is an excellent example of John Luther Adams’s musical philosophy and
compositional approach, both of which are grounded in “deep attention to the natural
world.”4
Adams’s commitment to nature was apparent even in his earliest works. In the
White Silence dates from a particular phase in which his approach had become less
“pictorial,” less concerned with landscape as a musical metaphor (where the listener is set
apart from the sounding object as an objective observer), and more concerned with
evoking “the experience, the feeling of being in a place.”5 The composer referred to this
evolution as the “move away from music about place, toward music that is place.”6 In
the 1990s, he adopted the term “sonic geography” to describe a developing aesthetic that,
while increasingly physical in concept, always manifested spiritual awe of the natural
world.
2
Sabine Feisst, liner notes to In the White Silence, Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble, New
World Records 80600-2, CD, 2003, 4; Adams, The Place, 13.
3
John Luther Adams, In the White Silence (Fairbanks, AK: Taiga Press, 1998), ii.
4
Adams, The Place, 1.
5
Ibid., 2.
6
Adams, Winter Music, 15.
64
In the White Silence was not Adams’s first foray onto the “vast, white canvas” of
northern Alaska.7 This geography had preoccupied the composer since he first made the
state his home. Clouds of Forgetting, Clouds of Unknowing, a 1995 precursor to Silence,
Similarly with In the White Silence, Adams sought to convey the experiential sensation of
being physically present in the geography of the Arctic. Listening to In the White Silence
should be like “entering a fluid medium.”9 In the White Silence seeks to evoke the
geographic features of the Arctic with music that is ostensibly physical in its
performance related, notational, and compositional elements that evoke the most striking
characteristics of the Arctic: its whiteness, its vastness, and its silence.
In the form of snow and ice, whiteness is an obvious feature of the Arctic. This
concept is clearly signaled in the title of the work, but only partially. As the composer
explains, “Whiteness is not the absence of color. It is the fullness of light.”10 The
Similarly, In the White Silence is pervaded by references to whiteness (snow) and light.
sonic climate suggestive of whiteness and light. Throughout many sections of the work,
7
Ibid., 57.
8
Ibid., 116.
9
Adams, The Place, 73.
10
Adams, In the White Silence, ii.
65
both the string orchestra and
a the strin
ng quartet proovide a backkground of spaciously vooiced
to
one clusters, as shown in
n example 8. The compooser refers too these clusters as “cloudds,”
Contributing
C to the effectt created by the
t string grroups are tonne clusters inn the
vibraphones, shown in ex
xample 9. Pllaying soft trremolos, theey contributee to the lightsome
ro
oles to the ceelesta and haarp, relying partially
p on tthe ethereal connotationns often attribbuted
to
o these instru
uments, and also supportted by the quuality of the musical maaterial assignned to
th
hem. The rissing and fallling lines in these
t instrum
ments are arppeggio-like and widely
harp part. Th
he spacious voicing
v of th
hese parts annd their instruumental timbbre both
co
ontribute to the work’s evocation
e off the tundra. Complemennted by shim
mmering in thhe
11
Feissst, liner notes to In the White Silence, 6.
12
Adam
ms, In the Whitte Silence, 31.
66
he White Silencce, mm. 41-42,, Tone Clusterss in the Vibrapphones.13
Example 9: In th
vibraphones and
a the airy clusters in th
he strings, thhe celesta annd harp contrribute to the
As is made
m appareent in a referrence in a puublished jourrnal accountt, John Lutheer
Adams
A equatees diatonic pitches
p with whiteness.155 Using onlyy the seven ppitches of thhe
nature, the wo
ork strictly avoids
a the co
oloring effecct of chromatticism or “bllack notes” aas
an
nother refereence to the Arctic
A landsccape.
13
Ibid., 5.
14
Ibid.
15
Adam
ms, Winter Mussic, 76.
16
This analogy is made by Adams himself
h in Win ter Music, 76.
67
Much of the interest of In the White Silence is generated by the snow-like
movement and contour of individual musical lines. Though lyrical in nature, these are
not properly considered melody since they primarily contribute to the polyphonic texture
textures in a third. Despite their individuality of contour and their polymetric interplay,
these lines never compete. Instead they combine in what the composer calls an “all-over
the work’s pandiatonicism, the rising and falling gestures in the harp, celesta, and other
motionless spectator. Along with instrumentation and pitch content, the texture of In the
represented by Adams, seems to run counter to the principles of a sonic art. Yet, its
musical manifestation is crucial, since (like whiteness) it is referenced in the title of the
work: silence. Fortunately the composer clarifies this seeming anomaly by defining
silence as “not the absence of sound” but the “presence of stillness.”18 This notion
the White Silence. Throughout, piano and pianissimo markings prevail. Though
17
Ibid., 61.
18
Adams, In the White Silence, ii.
68
passages in individual parts occasionally occur at louder levels, the combined ensemble
In the White Silence is a very still piece, a suggestion echoed by the rhythmic
aspects of the work. The tempos of Silence, indicated with metronome markings
throughout, range from fifty to eighty beats to the quarter note. It is those passages at the
Lento end of this spectrum that prevail. Further connoting stillness are the extended
passages of long-sustained notes in the strings (the aforementioned “clouds”). Held for
upwards of twenty beats (nearly thirty seconds), these moments are interspersed
throughout the work. Along with the dynamic range and tempos, they contribute to the
When John Luther Adams first encountered the Alaskan Arctic in 1977, he
vast, open, and apparently empty.”19 In addition to whiteness and silence, vastness is
integral to the composer’s perception of the tundra. Adams evokes the physical
Conceived for a traditional concert setting, In the White Silence utilizes basic
Dictating the seating arrangement of the instrumentalists on stage, Adams spatializes the
sound sources of the various musical parts. Reproduced below are these instructions as
19
Adams, Winter Music, 43.
69
The [String] Orchestra should be seated in a wide arc, upstage.
The [String] Quartet should be seated downstage, in a smaller arc.
The Celesta should be seated behind and between the Quartet Violins.
The Harp should be seated behind and between the Quartet Viola and ‘Cello.
The Vibraphones should be situated midstage, between the Quartet and the Orchestra.20
Placing the performing groups at relative distances near-to or far-from the listener orients
the sounding source of the separate musical parts. The result is a sonic illusion
space, and evocative of the great dimensions of the Arctic. If these groups were playing
similar material, or were playing material in a similar way, any active acoustic space
might conceivably negate the effect of their physical separation and create a
identities that augment the perception that they are spatially isolated.
space is strengthened by the dynamic level ascribed to each of these musical groups.
This is especially apparent in the opening section of the work: seated at the greatest
distance from the listener (upstage), the string orchestra is marked pianissimo throughout.
The string quartet, located downstage and nearest to the audience, is marked slightly
louder at mezzo piano. The harp and the celesta, situated intermediately, play in a
dynamic range from forte to fortissimo. Throughout, the vibraphones maintain a piano
dynamic level.
and the dynamic levels assigned to each group, the unique tone color and pitch
sections of the work, sustained tone clusters in the strings are in stark contrast with the
20
Adams, In the White Silence, iv.
70
bright plucking of the harp in ascending arpeggios; hushed tremolo clusters in the
vibraphones and bells contrast with ascending scalar lines on the celesta. The clearly
defined musical identity of each group augments the spatial effect created by the seating
The vast dimensions of the Arctic are also suggested by the work’s structure. In
the White Silence is lengthy by most standards: consisting of 1153 notated measures, it
sheer length of Adams’s work reflects the seemingly interminable stretches of the tundra.
However, its evocation of physical vastness extends to other aspects of the work’s
structure as well.
The form of Silence is based on the manipulation of three musical units that
alternate and repeat to form a total of nineteen sections.22 Roughly equal in terms of
intensity, these sections and the seamless transitions between them avoid the suggestion
touchstone, are characterized by the ghostly presence of the string orchestra intoning
long-sustained tone clusters with notes widely dispersed across a four-octave range.
These “clouds” are alternately introduction and conclusion, or background to the activity
21
“About 75 minutes” is the direction in the score; the recording of the work by the Oberlin
Contemporary Music Ensemble lasts seventy-five minutes and fifteen seconds.
22
These sections are delineated in the score with rehearsal squares progressing from letter A to
letter S.
71
of the other instruments in the A sections. The B portions feature rising lines of two-note
slurs in the string quartet. Uniting in a lush chorale-like texture, the quartet contrasts
with polyrhythmic figurations in the celesta and harp. In the C sections, against an
ostinato of arpeggio-like figures in the celesta, harp, vibraphone and bells, the string
Arch forms are present at multiple levels of the work’s structure. Each of the five
A B A triptychs are in arch form, and more properly labeled A1 B A2 to denote the
extended “cloud” passages that serve as both preface to the first A, and coda to the
second A in each A B A group. These passages never appear adjacent to the interior B
sections:
In addition, the overall form of In the White Silence is an arch, in which the B section of
↓
B
A B A C A B A C A A C A B A C A B A
Ensemble, musicologist Sabine Feisst proposes that In the White Silence “be viewed as an
‘expanded concerto grosso’ due to the alternation of tutti and soli patterns.”23 This
alternation is that of the A sections (in which all members of the ensemble play) with the
B and C sections of the work, which represent the “solo” portions in the concerto grosso
analogy (in B, the vibraphones and string orchestra are omitted, as is the string quartet in
C). While this analogy describes the number of players employed in a given section, it
suggests little of the musical nature of the work. In the White Silence is far removed from
23
Feisst, liner notes to In the White Silence, 6.
72
the spirit of the baroque concerto grosso. Though solo lines are present in the B and C
sections, they are not “soloistic” in the sense of the concerto grosso. They are neither
virtuosic in nature, nor do they emerge with independence from the overall polyphonic
characteristic of the baroque genre is signally absent. This absence, along with the lack
of the harmonic and tonal tension that projects the dramatic arc of the concerto grosso,
suggests that an alternative assessment of the form of Adams’s piece should be sought,
the White Silence to the rotating sections of a rondo. Indeed, the ordering of the nineteen
sections of the work as illustrated by their designation as units A, B, and C, invites the
When interpreted loosely, rondo form (or better yet “rondo-like” form) more accurately
describes both the structure and the spirit of In the White Silence than concerto grosso
form. It is as satisfactory a result as one can expect from the application of a traditional
that the plan of a conventional rondo fails to account for all of the musical units of
Silence. But if the nineteen sections of the work are interpreted as a sort of overlapping
seven-part rondo, in which each ABA unit except the first and the last serves to both
conclude one seven-part rondo and to begin the next, it simultaneously accounts for the
structure of the work and suggests something of its non-developmental spirit. In the
73
following diagram, parentheses are used to indicate those musical units (triptychs) that
ABA C ABA
(A B A) C A B A
(A B A) C A B A
(A B A) C A B A
Harmonically, though, In the White Silence is no more akin to the traditional rondo than
harmonies or the proclivities of individual lines. At neither the level of the phrase nor
that of the overall structure does it possess tension or generate momentum from tonal
references. After all, though In the White Silence is seventy-five minute of music without
pause, its real suggestion of vastness emerges not from its temporal dimensions but from
its non-developmental musical nature. Though the work consists of 1153 measures, this
seems almost incidental; the nature of the music suggests that In the White Silence is only
a brief incision from the ongoing reality of the Alaskan tundra. Neither “overlapping
rondo” nor concerto grosso suggests the true nature of this piece.
An Ecological Interpretation
Consider the dictum of John Cage: “The function of Art is to imitate Nature in her
manner of operation.”24 John Luther Adams often cites these words, saying “I find
myself returning again and again to Cage’s aspiration.”25 He has echoed the injunction
many times: “The natural world is the most fundamental source of human intelligence,
creativity, and culture,” and “sooner or later, everything leads me back to nature as my
24
John Cage, A Year From Monday: New Lectures and Writings (Middletown, Connecticut:
Wesleyan University Press, 1969), 31.
25
Adams, Winter Music, 79.
74
primary source.”26 He has also stated that “nature itself is our deepest source of creative
forms and energy.”27 The natural world is John Luther Adams’s primary sonic resource
and the main source of inspiration for his musical philosophy and compositional
approach. The natural world then is optimally positioned to yield insight into all aspects
of his work, including form. To interpret his work, we should search for metaphors in
keeping with its spirit and that emerge from the composer’s affinity for the natural world.
aligned with the principles of ecology. He wrote in 2004, “For years I’ve explored the
metaphor of sonic geography. Now I sense this expanding toward sonic ecology.”28 Five
years later, in an essay titled “In Search of an Ecology of Music,” the composer pursued
26
Ibid., 127; Adams, The Place, 21.
27
Adams, Winter Music, 23.
28
Adams, The Place, 33.
29
Ibid., 1.
30
Ecology Dictionary Online, s.v. “Ecosystem,” http://www.ecologydictionary.org/ecosystem,
(accessed September 20, 2011).
75
environment interacting as an ecological unit.”31 Ecosystem is an overarching expression
of a separate but dependent identity that emerges from detail at a minute level. In
ecological terms, ecosystem is a dimension of the natural world that is the aggregate of
ecosystem. An ecosystem exists only as the totality of more minute systems, and is
concerned with activity at both the collective and the localized levels. Adams, always in
search of analogues between the natural world and his craft, has elsewhere employed the
sounding ecosystem would represent musical activity at both the level of the community
no traditional methods, this interpretation seeks to acknowledge both the structure and
the spirit of the work. Furthermore, it is in keeping with the composer’s philosophy and
musical aesthetic. In this analogy, sections of In the White Silence interpreted as “sound
communities” alternate with the “sound complex” of its opening and closing material in
an interaction that suggests the various levels of life and interdependency that
characterize an ecosystem.
between the portions that impart overall impression and distant vantage, and those that
emphasize detail and suggest physical nearness. In this analogy, the A sections of the
31
Ibid.
32
Adams, The Place, 103.
76
work can be equated with ecosystem at the collective level and evoke the overall
impression of the Arctic. These frequently recurring “sound complexes” are interspersed
with “sound communities,” the B and C sections of the work. These portions suggest
physical nearness and the contemplation of a more detailed aspect of the Arctic. The
suggestive of a changing perspective, a “zooming out” and “zooming in” on the levels of
assessment of the different sections of In the White Silence. The musical characteristics
of the A sections of the work provide a foil for distinguishing those of the B and C
sections. The initial presentation of each provides a good example of these distinguishing
characteristics, and indicates the nature and interrelationship of each of these units even
in subsequent iterations.
The A sections of In the White Silence represent musical life at the aggregate level
rhythmic activity and texture. The method of pitch presentation in A invokes a “tonal”
totality of sorts: all seven pitches of the diatonic scale are simultaneously sounding at any
point throughout this section. This phenomenon occurs in both string groups and in the
vibraphones. Tone clusters in the string orchestra are distributed in eight voices that
sound all seven pitches of the scale and are doubled at the extremities of a four octave
range (i.e. doubling is in the highest and lowest notes of the cluster). Over the course of
forty-four measures, this cluster moves slowly through eight inversions, beginning with
77
D as a “root” and ascendiing stepwisee with each innversion to d one octavee above.
Example
E 11 shows
s this clluster in “roo
ot position” and in the fiinal inversioon.
A similar procedure at wo
ork in the strring quartet features eighht-voice clussters movingg
th
hrough eightt inversions over
o the shorter span of thirty-two m
measures. A
Ascending
sttepwise mov
vement in thee bass line beginning
b onn D is halted after the thirrd inversionn, but
by
y means of note
n doublin
ng, the ascen
nding scalar ffigure continnues to be em
mphasized inn the
o each inverrsion.34
next-to-lowesst and next-to-top note of
cllusters, both
h vibraphones are playing
g double trem
molos betweeen the intervvals of a seccond,
th
hese tremolo
os cycle slow
wly through eight
e inversiions (doubleed in the highhest and low
west
33
Adam
ms, In the Whitte Silence, 1 & 6.
34
otion, see measures 23-54 of IIn the White Siilence.
To observe this mo
78
notes) but in a close posittion contractted to the rannge of an octtave, as show
wn in exampple
12.
In add
dition to the perpetual so
ounding of thhe work’s toonal palette, aanother
orrientation th
hat the compo
oser impartss to these uniits. The illuusion of sounnd layers existing
in
n background
d, foregroun
nd, and interm
mediate spattial relationsships to the llistener sugggests
seeating arrang
gement of th
he ensemble. As previouusly discusseed, the soundding effect oof
th
his physical orientation is
i augmented
d by the dynnamic levels ascribed to eeach group, with
th
he most distaant group off instrumentss (the string oorchestra) giiven the softtest markingg.
Furthermore, the suggestiion of coexissting dimenssions of sounnd and spacee (evoking thhe
to
otality of eco
osystem) is increased
i by
y the treatmennt of musicaal material inn the string
an
nd the string one clusters that adhere tto a similar pprocess of pitch
g orchestra arre playing to
ph
hysical nearrness of the string
s quartet is paired w
with greater aamplitude, thhus suggestinng
35
Adam
ms, In the Whitte Silence, 5 & 8.
79
foreground), by the number of players in each group, and by vibrato in the string quartet.
The string quartet highlights detail and a “zoomed-in” effect with one voice to a part.
Playing “with normal vibrato” the string quartet evokes warmth and a sense of
presence.36 Upstage, the string orchestra plays senza vibrato with a minimum of two
players to a part, creating an effect that is distant and ethereal. These factors mimic the
effects of foreground and background sound and space layers, and contribute to the
Silence contain the greatest variety of rhythmic activity in the work, and suggest the
through a series of inversions that change at the rate of once every twenty-five to thirty
seconds (approximately every twenty-one and one-third beats). Over the course of forty-
four measures this group makes one cycle through the stepwise ascent of an octave. The
string quartet maintains a quicker rate of change, with inversions every four measures
(every sixteen beats) and a scalar ascent dispersed over the course of thirty-two measures.
The vibraphone manages this ascent in only twenty six measures, with a rate of change
occurring more irregularly every three to five measures. Meanwhile, the harp and celesta
play single-note eighth note and quintuplet passages, respectively (with rates of change
every one-half and four-tenths of a beat). Both parts manage a scalar ascent in the course
36
This directive is included in the score.
37
This rhythmic complexity occurs within the context of an unchanging meter and a fixed tempo.
38
To see this activity enacted in the score, refer to measures 1-64 of In the White Silence.
80
The suggestion of multiple temporal levels in the A sections, of slow moving and
fast moving time realities, suggests a temporal complex. Joined with the tonal totality of
its pitch presentation and the presence of multiple sound layers, this temporal aggregation
emphasizes the concept of a “sound complex.” In addition, the A sections of In the White
Silence are characterized by the presence of the full ensemble. Contrasted with reduced
complex.
Sound communities are suggested in the B and C sections of In the White Silence
with music that evokes nearness and detail reminiscent of a localized level of the
environment. Among other considerations, B and C feature fewer players and pared
textures, allowing the ear to more easily perceive the individuality and detail of separate
parts. In addition, these sections highlight the group of instruments in closest proximity
to the audience (the string quartet) while that furthest from the audience (the string
orchestra) is tacet throughout. Thus, these portions suggest nearness and close vantage,
As a sound complex, the A sections of In the White Silence are tutti, and the only
ones in which the string orchestra appears. As described, this texture is varied, with tone
clusters in both string groups joined by tremolos in the vibraphones, and scalar and
limited to the string quartet, the harp and the celesta. It has only two textures - the rising
thirds of the dueting harp and celesta, and the interwoven chorale of the string quartet.
The instrumentation of C is slightly thicker with the inclusion of the vibraphone. In fact,
it employs all members of the ensemble excepting the string orchestra, but its gradual
81
textural buildup, featuring canonic entrances in the string quartet, deemphasizes the
presence of so many players. Even at its most active point, it is limited to two textures:
contrapuntal singing lines in the quartet, paired with rising and falling arpeggios in the
other instruments.
In the A sections of the work, the string quartet is combined with the string
orchestra to intone long sustained tone clusters. Though spatially differentiated, the
quartet does not have a musical identity distinct from the orchestra. In the B and C
sections of the work, the quartet emerges from the “cloud” texture of the combined string
groups with polyphonic passages that draw attention to the group’s four distinct voices.
The perception of individual lines emerging from the blanketed texture of the tone
The dynamic markings of the different sections of In the White Silence also
contribute to the suggestion of detail and community. Whereas the markings in A are
varied, both B and C have one dynamic marking (mezzo-forte) applied to all parts. This
single dynamic layer suggests only one field of sound, and projects the musical groups
equally as though they emerge from a single spatial dimension. The markings in A,
mentioned above, the B and C sections of the work are more rhythmically active than the
A sections. This increases the perception of near vantage. This is apparent in the tempos
designated for each section. The first nine iterations of A are marked quarter note = 50-
56; the tenth and final one is marked quarter note = 52. Slightly faster, the five B
82
sections are marked either quarter note = 58 or quarter note = 60. The fastest section, C,
displays the most variety, with the tempos of its four iterations ranging from quarter note
= 72 to quarter note = 80. However, the increased activity of B and C extends beyond
tempo indications to the actual rhythmic values. B is populated with eighth notes, quarter
notes, and half notes, as well as quarter-note quintuplets and sextuplets. The longest
duration in this section (excepting the final chord) is three beats. This compared with the
sustained tone clusters of the A sections that last upwards of twenty-two beats (and that at
a slower tempo). The C section, which progresses at up to eighty beats per minute,
features constant quarter-note sextuplets and septuplets. The longest rhythmic duration in
C is a four-beat whole note. These contrasting rhythms are illustrated in example 13.
Neither the B nor the C sections of In the White Silence have the sustained and timeless
quality of A. Rather, the musical activity of these sections seems immediate and “at
hand.” The increased activity and accelerated tempos, along with nearness suggested by
pared textures, prominence of individual voices, and spatial orientation of these sections,
promote the impression that B and C evoke the sound communities of In the White
Silence.
John Luther Adams has said, “Music can be enriched by not only natural sounds
themselves, but also by the forms and processes of nature.”39 In the White Silence
manifests not only the readily apparent physical properties of the Arctic, with references
to whiteness and light, silence and stillness, and to its geographical vastness, it also
Silence and its structure on the basis of ecosystem acknowledges the composer’s strong
39
Adams, Winter Music, 28.
83
Example 13: In the White Silen nce, mm. 1-6, 63-64,
6 and 17 3-174, Rhythm
mic Profiles of A (upper ), B ((lower
wer right).40
leeft), and C (low
co
onnection with
w the naturral world by employing aan analogy ddrawn from tthe field of
eccology. In addition
a to prroviding insight into thee work, this iinterpretation seeks to
highlight the composer’s philosophy and his belieef that “mussic can contriibute to the
Arctic
A and hu
umanity, med
diating for itts value by ccommunicatiing through m
music a
40
Adam
ms, In the Whitte Silence, 1, 8, & 22.
41
ms, The Place, 1.
Adam
84
following chapter, this reverence extends beyond the physical aspects of the region and
85
CHAPTER SEVEN
When John Luther Adams graduated from California Institute of the Arts in 1973,
he retreated from urban life. The composer implied more than a little antipathy for Los
Angeles when he used the word “fled” to describe his departure from the school’s
setting.1 Adams describes the ensuing period of his life as “restless and unsettled.”2 For
two years he wandered in search of his “true home,” first on a farm in rural Georgia, then
in Idaho on a Nez Perce reservation.3 It was not just any home that the composer sought,
however; John Luther Adams pursued his “spiritual home.”4 In 1975, he identified this
place as Alaska, and shortly thereafter made the state his permanent dwelling. Thirty
years later, Adams testified to his ongoing spiritual relationship with Alaska, saying in
Adams’s interaction with Alaska has always been based on its undeveloped status.
Just as he had “retreated into the woods” of the Los Padres National Forest to escape the
environs of Los Angeles in the early 1970s, Adams sought the far North as an enclave of
1
John Luther Adams, “Tell Me Something, JLA,” interview by Molly Sheridan, Mind the Gap
(June 20, 2008), http://www.artsjournal.com/gap/2008/06/tell_me_something_john_luther.html
(accessed April 10, 2010).
2
Ibid.
3
Adams, “John Luther Adams: The Music of a True Place,” interview by Molly
Sheridan; Adams, “Tell Me Something, JLA,” interview by Molly Sheridan.
4
Adams, Winter Music, 8.
5
Adams, The Place, 34.
86
solitude and wilderness.6 He prized it as an “untouched place,” and initiated a lifestyle
that was in direct contrast to urban living.7 Residing for ten years in a one-room cabin
with minimal amenities, John Luther Adams asserted his ideals and affirmed the value of
Alaska as a stronghold of nature. Clearly his attraction to the state and his designation of
the place as his “spiritual home” emanated from the wilderness character of Alaska.
From the beginning of his romance with the location, John Luther Adams’s
valuation has comprehended not only the physical, but the metaphysical qualities of
Alaska. In the 1970s this understanding informed his adamant defense of the wilderness
that became the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He pled “surely we can leave this last
corner of the Arctic untouched, for the animals and for its intangible value to the human
spirit.” Cognizant of the region’s cultural and religious significance to native groups, he
has stated, “I believe the place we now call the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is among
the most sacred of places and that no amount of material wealth can justify violating or
desecrating it.”8 Describing his personal relationship with the Alaskan Arctic, he says,
John Luther Adams says, “I want music to be like a place in the wilderness.”10 As
demonstrated by the relationship he has sustained with Alaska for over thirty years,
6
Adams, “Tell Me Something, JLA,” interview by Molly Sheridan.
7
Adams, The Place, 34.
8
Adams, Winter Music, 25.
9
Ibid., 25 & 95.
10
Ibid., 164.
87
world, it follows that his perception of the spiritual in nature would be interwoven into
the fabric of his compositions. As has previously been discussed, Adams’s philosophy of
music as place goes beyond mere imitation to the evocation of the sensual experience of
physical presence. Furthermore, this evocation extends even to the spiritual experience
of place.
stimulus of an outdoor setting.11 John Luther Adams, however, has flatly stated “I’m not
anthropocentric view of creation. This approach, he says, resulted in the loss of our
“intimate connections to the Earth.”13 And yet, the composer maintains that pieces like
In the White Silence are intended to evoke “feeling” associated with an outdoors location.
Ironically, this seems to echo the desire that motivated the Pastoral Symphony. Is this
“feeling” that Adams describes an emotional experience? How is the composer able to
pursue objective, transpersonal expression and still communicate his perception of the
Wendell Berry, noted American writer of agrarian essays, asserts that the divorce
of heaven and earth – the removal of the spiritual from the natural world – is a fallacy
88
vision of the divine and made us neglect the wellbeing of the earth. Berry says that “we
must learn to acknowledge that the creation is full of mystery; we will never entirely
understand it. We must abandon arrogance and stand in awe. We must recover the sense
of the majesty of creation, and the ability to be worshipful in its presence.”14 Such a view
reintegrates the natural and spiritual and acknowledges that the presence of the
a place may then be considered as fixed a characteristic as its geographical features. This
removes spiritual observation from the realm of subjective experience. John Luther
Adams’s perception of the spiritual in the Arctic is the result then not of subjective
experience, but of sustained attention to and observation of reality. Thus the composer
can simultaneously reject subjective emotion and embrace the expression of the spiritual.
music as a spiritual discipline. “I have faith,” he says, “But it has no name.” The
composer’s parents were members of the Episcopal Church and as a child, John Luther
Adams was confirmed in that tradition, but he admits that in later life it had no real
resonance for him personally.15 As a young man, his interest in John Cage led to the
taught by Thomas Merton.16 In his twenties, Adams’s interaction with Alaska and with
its native peoples began to profoundly shape his religious views and his concept of the
14
Wendell Berry, The Art of the Commonplace, ed. Norman Wirzba (Berkeley: Counterpoint
Press, 2002), 20.
15
Adams, The Place, 147.
16
Adams, Winter Music, 144.
89
natural world: “Through my experiences in the wilderness and from the wisdom of my
friends and neighbors the Iñupiat, Athabascan, and Yup’ik peoples of Alaska, I’ve come
to recognize all the plants and animals, and the land itself, as my relatives, my family.
This awareness of ‘the spirit in all things’ has become central to my own faith.”17
Adams’s belief in the interrelatedness of all creation is a sort of sanctified ecology that
integrates life, nature, music and faith. He states, “My faith is grounded in the earth, in
the relationships between all beings and all things, and in the practice of music as a
prayer.”19 Though John Luther Adams insists “I’m not interested in art as self-
Those aspirations stem from a spiritual perspective that apprehends the holy in the natural
world. With music as a sacred tool, John Luther Adams draws attention to the
Thus far this discussion has focused on In the White Silence and those musical
elements that suggest physical presence in the Arctic, but reflecting John Luther Adams’s
philosophy and spiritual perspective, the piece should be examined for that which evokes
the spiritual dimension of the Alaskan tundra. The concepts of silence and vastness,
crucial to a sensual evocation of place, are here reinterpreted at the metaphysical level as
17
Ibid., 144.
18
Ibid., 143.
19
Adams, The Place, 28.
20
Adams, “From the Ends of the Earth,” interview by Daniel Varela.
90
An appreciation for silence forms part of John Luther Adams’s attraction to
Alaska. Silence, he says, defines his home as the “keynote of the northern interior.”21
The composer is aware of the growing scarcity of this phenomenon, and expresses
gratitude for its continuance in Alaska, saying “I feel very fortunate to live in a place
Alaska’s quietude is enforced by winter: “rivers are frozen much of the year. Snow mutes
the land. And the wind is calm more often than not.”23 Still, Adams agrees with John
Cage that true silence – the absence of sound – is not a reality. Instead, silence is
stillness. In the natural setting, silence is an escape from man-made noise and activity,
from the ubiquity of technology, and the distractions that proliferate in centers of human
dwelling.
The exterior silence of the Alaskan landscape promotes and has its counterpart in
an interior stillness that is integral to Adams’s life and work. “My work originates in
solitude . . . its heart lies in stillness, in that place where I am alone with the beauty and
the mystery of the world.”24 The silence of Alaska is a natural resource as dear as its
flora and fauna, its wildlife and its landscape, and it is as perilously threatened. Adams
states, “In a world going deaf amid a technological din, silence is a profound metaphor of
the spirit. Much of Alaska is still filled with silence and one of the most persuasive
21
Adams, Winter Music, 8.
22
Ibid., 58.
23
Ibid., 8.
24
Adams, The Place, 62.
91
arguments for the preservation of the original landscape here may be its spiritual value as
Adams cites the influence of Thomas Merton in the development of his spiritual
setting for confronting the inner life, and as an aid to establishing interior stillness as the
analogue to exterior stillness. As far back as the 1960s, Merton lamented the
Now let us frankly face the fact that our culture is one which is geared in many
ways to help us evade any need to face this inner, silent self. We live in a state of
constant semiattention to the sound of voices, music, traffic, or the generalized
noise of what goes on around us all the time . . . All of this can be described as
“noise,” as commotion and jamming which drown out the deep, secret, and
insistent demands of the inner self. With this inner self we have to come to terms
in silence. That is the reason for choosing silence . . . Silence helps draw together
the scattered and dissipated energies of a fragmented existence.26
Like an endangered species, silence is threatened by loss of habitat, and John Luther
Adams ruefully anticipates a day when the hum of motorized planes or snowmobiles will
permeate even the borders of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.27 Moreover, silence
faces the equally grave threat posed by the agitated condition of human beings who find
its presence increasingly untenable. Merton lamented that “modern Western man is
sensory receptors of denizens of the twenty-first century are poorly conditioned for the
25
Adams, Winter Music, 9.
26
Thomas Merton, Essential Writings, comp. Christine M. Bochen (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis
Books, 2000), 74-77.
27
Ross, “Song of the Earth,” 10.
28
Merton, Essential Writings, 78.
92
tolerance, let alone the appreciation of silence. Those settings in which humanity may
rediscover silence are increasingly rare. John Luther Adams celebrates the Arctic as a
translating it into the audible, he mediates for its preservation. In the White Silence
conveys simultaneously the physical sensation of silence/stillness and the state of interior
John Luther Adams has called music “a form of contemplation.”29 In the White
Silence has a meditative quality that echoes the quiescence of the Arctic by promoting
contemplation and the pursuit of interior stillness. Obvious correlations between musical
and spiritual stillness are suggested by the subdued dynamic levels of the work, and by
the ephemeral quality of its textures and timbres. In addition, the pandiatonic tone palette
sense of forward movement. While all diatonic intervals are present in the music, those
that would be considered dissonant in conventional harmonic settings (i.e. seconds and
disruptive function by means of the pandiatonicism. These factors suggest external stasis
and interior stillness. In addition, they impart the composer’s particular kind of
exploration of place. Mountains were to be climbed, rivers forded, and plains crossed.
acquaintance with landscape. “Over the years I’ve come to appreciate the different
29
Adams, Winter Music, 140.
93
quality of experience that comes from staying in one place for an extended time.”30
Sustained attention to the subtleties of the natural world adhere us to place and anchor us
in the present moment. This is the quality of experience that Silence seeks to
experience is more like sitting in the same place while the wind and weather, the light
and the shadow slowly change.”31 Adams’s subtle manipulation of musical material in In
the White Silence suggests the attentive way in which he engages with the Arctic.
This treatment is especially apparent in the B sections of the work, wherein the
to one locale. Occurring over the course of seventy-five minutes, these changes are
barely perceptible to the listener and as unapparent as the subtle shifting of shadows on a
landscape. The B portion of In the White Silence occurs five times, interpolated with ten
iterations of A and four of C. With each repetition of B the intervallic contour of the
musical material is slightly modified. These changes do not alter the distinct musical
In all five iterations of the B section, the chorale in the string quartet is made up
of perpetually ascending four-note figures grouped as two-note slurs. The first statement
of B (referred to hereafter as B1) opens with dueting thirds in the cello and viola, as
shown in example 14. This pattern is repeated at the octave in the violins, but off-set one
beat in the manner of a round. After cycling through all four inversions of the four-note
pattern, midway through B1 the intervals in the chorale expand from a third to a fourth.
30
Ibid., 163
31
Ibid., 138.
94
Example 14: In the White Silen 4, Dueting Thiirds in the Strinng Quartet.32
nce, mm. 63-64
This
T treatmen quent iteratioons of the B unit. B2, whhich begins with
nt continues in all subseq
th
he voice pairrs of the quaartet dueting in fifths, exppands midw
way to the intterval of a sixxth.
Similarly, B3 is presented
d in seventhss and ninths (the intervall of an octavve is bypasseed),
th
hirteenths (siixths). As th
he interval ex
xpands, the ccontour of thhe musical liine of each
itteration beco
omes increassingly disjun
nct, as illustraated by exam
mple 15. Atttendant to thhis
grradual interv
vallic metam
morphosis, th
he five B secctions of Sileence undergoo a progressiive
manipulation
m of musical material
m in th
he B sectionns of the worrk effect a suubtle changee that
fo
or the discov
very of interiior stillness in
i areas wheere natural siilence endurres.
In add
dition to its importance
i as
a a repositorry for naturaal silence, Joohn Luther
Adams
A discov
vers spirituaal value in th
he physical vvastness of thhe Alaskan A
Arctic. The 19.3
million
m acres of the Arctic National Wildlife
W Refuuge are an inncomparablee setting for
ob
bserving thee magnitude of creation and
a the mysttifying operaations of thee natural worrld.
32
Adam
ms, In the Whitte Silence, 8.
95
Example 15: In the White Silen nce, mm. 310, 557, 793, and 1029, Viola annd Cello Parts in the String Q
Quartet
n B2 (upper leftt) B3 (upper cen
in nter) B4 (upper right) B5 (botttom).33
The
T composeer describes the d effect that such observations can hhave on the
t profound
hu
uman spirit: “Standing on
o the bank of
o a great rivver at breakuup or near a ttidewater glacier
mankind;
m they
y allow him to regain peerspective, thhey provide an occasion for catharsis and
fo
or renewal. “The awesome and indiffferent forcees of nature aare stark rem
minders of thhe
in
nsignificancee of our perssonal dramass and passionns. They off
ffer us undenniable
reeassurance th
hat . . . theree are processses at work inn the world far larger, ollder, and moore
co
omplex than derstand.”35
n we can und
33
Ibid., 38, 69, 102, & 131.
34
Adam
ms, Winter Mu
usic, 131.
35
Ibid.
96
Adams states, “The essence of the contemplative experience is voluntary
surrender, purposeful immersion in the fullness of a presence far larger than we are.”36
For the composer, this presence is the wilderness – a place to be enveloped in nature and
to lose a sense of self.37 Seeking transcendence by way of an encounter with the infinite
is certainly not unique to Adams. American novelist Willa Cather expressed this desire
when she famously described happiness as being “dissolved into something complete and
great.”38 Neither is John Luther Adams the first artist to apprehend something sacred in
Annie Dillard, also recognized power in the lands of the North, saying that “the spare
arctic landscape suggest[s] the soul's emptying itself in readiness for the incursions of the
setting for spiritual transcendence. In the nineteenth century this phenomenon was
referred to as the Sublime – something awesome and terrible and beautiful all at once –
and sought by the artists of the day amid scenes of natural phenomena and grandeur.
German artist Caspar David Friedrich expressed the Sublime in his paintings. His 1817
work Wanderer über dem Nebelmeer (“Wanderer Overlooking the Sea of Fog”) is
This work depicts a solitary man made infinitesimal in an imposing mountain setting.
This is a theme that characterizes Friedrich’s work, extolling the power and beauty of
natural landscapes. Friedrich was even drawn to the Arctic, and in the interminable
36
Ibid., 111.
37
Ibid., 164.
38
Willa Cather, My Antonia, Barnes and Noble ed. (New York: Barnes and Noble Books,
1994), 12.
39
Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1974), 281.
97
sttretches of th
he landscapee he apprehended the Subblime. His ppainting Dass Eismeer (““The
Arctic
A Sea”) from
f 1824 depicts
d the Arctic
A (see figgure 2 below
w).
The
T sheer size of the Arcttic National Wildlife Reefuge is difficult to compprehend. Thhe
un
nbroken visttas of the coastal plains stretching
s alll the way too the Arctic O
Ocean – andd its
ex
xpanse is off a kind to dw
warf mankind
d in the spiriit of the nineeteenth-centuury Sublimee.
Jo
ohn Luther Adams
A says that with In the White Siilence he “asspired to evooke those
vastness of th
he Arctic as manifested
m in
i the music has already been considdered – how its
seeventy-five minutes
m of unbroken
u sou
und suggestss the breadthh of the landsscape and hoow
40
Hammburger Kunsthhalle Website, “Gallery
“ of thee Nineteenth Century,” http:///www.hamburgger-
ku
unsthalle.de/index.php/19th_
_Century.html (accessed
( Octoober 3, 2011).
41
Adam
ms, The Place, 2.
98
of the Arctic. Moreover, the musical processes at work in Silence possess a certain
objectivity – these forms and functions are not subject to the listener. The suggestion of
In the White Silence is of a vast sonic object with eternal processes at play, a work that
will go on of its own accord whether or not the listener attends. This is much like nature
that, as Wendell Berry says, reminds man of “the silence and darkness of his own
absence [through its] ability to thrive without him, of his inferiority to and dependence on
it.”42 It is humbling how mindless is nature of the attention of man. The experience of
listening to the seventy five-minutes of In the White Silence parallels this reality by
creating a musical encounter with wilderness: “Wilderness envelops us. It doesn’t care
whether we like it or not. It transcends us, utterly and impassively. We can get lost in
Writing from his native Kentucky, Wendell Berry once surveyed the history of
the interaction of European descendants with the natural world in the United States. He
witnessed to a long history of destruction, and sought to explain the inability of modern
Religion as has been openly practiced in this part of the world has promoted and
fed upon a destructive schism between body and soul, Heaven and earth. It has
encouraged people to believe that the world is of no importance, and that their
only obligation is to submit to certain churchly formulas in order to get to
Heaven. And so the people who might have been expected to care most selflessly
for the world have had their minds turned elsewhere – to a pursuit of “salvation”
that was really only another form of gluttony and self-love, the desire to
perpetuate their lives beyond the life of the world. The Heaven-bent have abused
the earth thoughtlessly, by inattention, and their negligence has permitted and
encouraged others to abuse it deliberately. Once the creator was removed from
the creation, divinity became only a remote abstraction, a social weapon in the
hands of the religious institutions. This split in public values produced or was
accompanied by, as it was bound to be, an equally artificial and ugly division in
42
Berry, Art of the Commonplace, 27.
43
Adams, Winter Music, 164.
99
people’s lives, so that a man, while pursuing Heaven with the sublime appetite he
thought of as his soul, could turn his heart against his neighbors and his hands
against the world.44
In the White Silence is a work calculated to address this schism between heaven and
earth. John Luther Adams’s philosophy of music and his view of the natural world
reintegrates the sacred and the natural. His attraction to the state of Alaska was on the
basis of its undeveloped status and his designation of the place as his spiritual home
highlights a deep understanding of the sacred properties of its landscape and native life.
Adams’s personal spirituality is rooted in the natural world, and in the confluence of
music and nature as a practice of faith. Rather than reveling in self-expression, Adams’s
heaven and earth. John Luther Adams mediates for the natural world by reintroducing a
spiritual dimension to a perception of Alaska and the Arctic, and by reminding the
listener of the profound benefits to the spirit of natural silence, vast physical expanses,
John Luther Adams mediates for the natural world in Alaska, for the specific
landscape of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and for all wildernesses deposited
throughout the state. In the 1970s he mediated for the preservation of the state’s
wilderness status as an activist with the Alaska Coalition and Wilderness Society. As an
natural world, and a philosophy that draws attention to the manifestation of the sacred in
the natural.
44
Berry, Art of the Commonplace, 22-23.
100
In the White Silence mediates for the specific geography of the Alaskan Arctic.
Almost every aspect of the music draws attention to the physical or metaphysical
properties of that place. It testifies to the composer’s respect for its sacred silence and its
between the developer and the intangible manifestations of the divine in the Arctic. He is
a mediator between the greed of consumption that would obliterate all vestiges of
John Luther Adams’s reverence for the particular region of the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge is clear – it is the landscape of his soul, his geography of hope, and his
sacred ground – but the qualities he recognizes and defends in this place are characteristic
The National Park service administers eighty-four million acres of federally protected
land. Of this, approximately one-half is designated wilderness and possesses the same
qualities that John Luther Adams so values in the Arctic Refuge – the absence of
45
Ecology Dictionary Online, s.v. “Wilderness” (accessed September 20, 2011).
101
anthropocentric intrusion.46 But just like Alaska and the Arctic, these wildernesses stand
the federal government’s policy toward these holdings, by new legislation that would
alter their preservation status, by underfunding, air pollution, climate change and even
overuse.47 As climate change manifests itself in Alaska and internationally, John Luther
Adams feels the imperative to listen and to be aware on a global level.48 The composer’s
musical metaphor is extending beyond the North. But by drawing attention to the wonder
of the natural world and by raising awareness of the spiritual value of the particular
wilderness of the Alaskan Arctic, In the White Silence mediates for wildernesses
everywhere. John Luther Adams is a spiritual mediator with a vision that is interposed
between the din of modern society and the sacred silence of the wilderness; between
46
Phone conversation with Jeff Olson at the National Park Service Office of Public Inquiry,
October 6, 2011.
47
National Parks Conservation Association Website, “Who We Are,” and “What We Do,”
http://www.npca.org/media_center/fact_sheets/anilca.html (accessed September 1, 2011).
48
John Luther Adams and Steven Schick, “Hearing, Listening and Composing for the Outdoors,”
interview by Steven Ross Smith, Boulder Pavement [online magazine, 1, no. 1 (January 2010),
http://www.boulderpavement.ca/issue001/ (accessed April 1, 2010).
102
CHAPTER EIGHT
Conclusion
Sacred Manifestations
Henryk Górecki and John Luther Adams are spiritual mediators. As composers,
they interpose themselves between humanity and the metaphysical with art that
simultaneously evinces that which is divine and that which is human. They mediate by
representing humanity’s need for the sacred, and by manifesting the sacred for humanity.
Through their music, these individuals have made known to mankind their intimations of
the divine, and inversely, they have expressed mankind’s deep need for encounters with
the spiritual.
Henryk Górecki and John Luther Adams are composers and spiritual mediators.
This has been demonstrated by the examination of two works in the context of their
their origin. Miserere, opus 44 reflects the history of Poland during Górecki’s lifetime,
including the struggles of the Catholic Church under the Nazi regime and a Communist
Górecki addressed the struggles of his day by invoking an ancient mediatory tradition.
Miserere emerges from the customs connected with David’s Psalm Fifty, and from the
liturgical use of this text in the Catholic Church. The structural and musical components
of the work reflect this association with an origin in sacred chant and in the strategic
103
Miserere and the circumstances of its composition, when joined by the composer’s
adamant demonstrations of support for the Catholic Church and for the tenets of his
personal faith, compellingly support the assertion that Górecki acted as a spiritual
mediator by representing the anguish of the Polish people and invoking the blessing of
concern, and from a belief system rooted in the understanding of nature as an avenue to
the divine. The structural and musical components of In the White Silence support a
nature-based interpretation, and convey not only a physical understanding of the Alaskan
Arctic and of wildernesses, but a spiritual awareness as well. When considered in context
references to the sacred in nature and to man’s need for these manifestations, this
composition dramatically positions John Luther Adams between disparate forces and
music is a vehicle for the communication of the metaphysical; that it is able to convey or
suggest that which is intangible, and unquantifiable. Music, itself intangible, is best-
suited of the arts for the expression of that which eludes assessment and determination.
Music is a language able to convey deep-seated conviction, even the conviction born of
an indefinable source. Music is able to manifest both spiritual abstraction and human
104
Both Adams and Górecki mediate between the sacred and mankind, but on a
subsidiary level, they are also advocates. These composers move between disparate
proponent of the Catholic Church, Górecki advocated for its continuance and health in
the struggle against totalitarian governments. In Miserere he did this with references to
the musical and liturgical traditions of the Church. Likewise, he was an advocate for
Solidarity and Rural Solidarity during the struggle for political representation in the
Bydgoszcz.
Silence advocates for the specific ecosystem of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge by
drawing attention to the physical and spiritual properties of that place. Adams also
overdevelopment, neglect, and global warming. In the White Silence testifies to the
disparate forces. An advocate is attached to and represents the interests of one party,
while the communication and effort of a mediator is bidirectional. Thus, while these
spiritual mediators they go between the human and the metaphysical, giving expression
to both forces.
105
Górecki interposed himself between God and humanity; between God as made
known in the Catholic faith and the Polish nation under Communism. Górecki
represented the sacred to humanity by way of the traditions of the Catholic Church. To a
through the rituals and traditions of his faith. He mediated for mankind by defending the
Catholic Church as its avenue to the metaphysical. Miserere represents humanity’s need
for the spiritual, for the transcendent, for the Sublime. And in the aftermath of World
War II, and nearly a half-century of Communist oppression, perhaps he also represented
the collective need of humanity for absolution, and for renewal. Górecki mediated by
defending the Catholic Church as a portal to the divine, and by expressing the great
Adams mediates between creation and man, between the Alaskan Arctic and
modern life. He mediates for humanity by defending creation against development and
Inversely, he expresses humanity’s collective sorrow for its history of abuse of the natural
world, and represents its plea for the renewal of natural resources and reverence for the
Is the spiritual mediation attributed to John Luther Adams and Henryk Górecki
able to be demonstrated or proven? In 1989, two years after the premiere of Miserere
and eight years after its composition, the Polish government came to terms with a
resurrected Solidarity. The union was legalized once again, and its members were
106
allowed to compete for government office. In the same year, Poland held its freest
elections in over forty years, with non-communists elected to key positions. In the
following year Lech Walesa became president. By 1990, the Communist Party in Poland
no longer existed.1
The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge has for the last thirty years withstood an
insistent demand for domestic oil and gas production in the U.S. A proposed bill entitled
would secure additional protection for the Refuge by preventing drilling in its coastal
waters. Introduced in early 2011, this legislation calls the preservation of “unspoiled
certainly corresponds to the vision of In the White Silence. Is there a connection between
this proposed bill and the music of John Luther Adams? Along with the victories of
Adams and Górecki could (in the realm of the possible) exist, there is surely no causation
between the events that is likely to be able to be demonstrated. The physical and political
developments in Poland and in the Alaskan Arctic are a limited, and perhaps unreliable,
means of determining the efficacy of something that exists at the metaphysical level.
regarding the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge with Adams’s In the White Silence.
1
World Book Encyclopedia, s.v. “Poland.”
2
United States Government Printing Office, H.R. 139, http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-
112hr139ih/pdf/BILLS-112hr139ih.pdf (accessed October 7, 2011).
107
Proponents of music should accustom themselves to the notion that art has effect even in
the cognitive and spiritual dimensions. Its potential should be celebrated with inquiry
that explores all aspects of the function of music, even that which does not yield to
demonstration or quantification.
In the absence of proof, there are convincing circumstances. There are composers
acting with conviction, appropriating poignant musical traditions and using symbolic
materials that result in compositions with remarkable unity of purpose and vision. As
spiritual mediators, John Luther Adams and Henryk Górecki endowed their works with
qualities that transcend the specific contexts of their origin. The art itself communicates
the incorporeal values the composers apprehended in the world. These values
communicate even apart from the circumstances of the works’ conception. As a spiritual
mediator, Górecki’s plea is humanity’s plea. As the listener engages in the musical
schema of Miserere, he becomes party to the composer’s supplication for divine blessing
and the renewal of sacred understanding. As a spiritual mediator, John Luther Adams
perceives the Sublime in nature, and allows the listener to participate in his spiritual awe
of the transcendent forces in creation, with music that evokes the power of wilderness
places.
The music of Górecki has been described as “a huge boulder that lies in our path
confronting the listener with the challenging conviction of an intangible reality – the
existence of the spiritual. They are active agents reconciling the disparity between the
3
Richard Connor, “Polish composer of 'Sorrowful Songs' Górecki dies, aged 76,” Deutsche Welle
Website, 12 December 2010, http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,6225852,00.html (accessed October
24, 2011).
108
metaphysical and the physical. As John Luther Adams has stated, “an artist lives
between two worlds – the one we inhabit and the world we imagine,” and “it is the work
of the artist to imagine and re-imagine the world, both as it is and as we dream it might
be.”4 In the spirit of the Old Testament mediators, John Luther Adams and Henryk
Górecki redirect attention to the divine, and represent the spiritual needs of mankind.
They invoke blessing, and promote mercy and renewal with the art of music.
4
Adams, Winter Music, 180; Adams, The Place, 102
109
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