Composer Henryk Mikołaj Górecki and pianist and Chopin scholar Jan Ekier have been decorated with the Orders of the White Eagle, Poland’s highest state distinction.
Seventy seven year-old Górecki received the order from the First Lady Anna Komorowska and the Head of the Presidential Chancellery Jacek Michałowski in a hospital in Katowice, where he is currently undergoing treatment. The composer has been living in Katowice for many years and is an honorary citizen of the town.
In the late 1950s Górecki was at the forefront of the Polish avant-garde. He also explored the folk music tradition. The simple yet monumental style for which he is today renowned became fully established in the 1970s with such works as Symphony No. 2 ‘Copernican’ (1972), Symphony No. 3 ‘Symphony of Sorrowful Songs’ (1976) and the Psalm setting Beatus vir . In the 1980s, Górecki concentrated on choral settings, sacred music and chamber works.
In the 1990s, the recording of his Third Symphony (by the London Sinfonietta under David Zinman, with Dawn Upshaw as soloist), written in 1976, achieved unprecedented international success, breaking all popularity records and becoming the most successful recording ever of a work by a contemporary composer.
Górecki’s music is performed throughout the world. His most popular pieces include the three string quartets, commissioned and premiered by the Kronos Quartet.
Jan Ekier was decorated with the Order of the White Eagle by President Bronislaw Komorowski at a ceremony in the Presidential Palace.
The Grand Old Man of Polish pianists, he is ninetu seven year-old. He is a prizewinner of the International Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 1937 and has sat on the jury of the event as many as ten times, fro 1949 to 1995. During the just-concluded competition, he was the jury’s honorary chairman.
As a concert pianist, Jan Ekier performed in most European countries, South America and Japan. He has educated several generations of Polish pianists and has also pursued a career as a composer.
He has been Editor-in-Chief of the National Edition of the Works of Fryderyk Chopin since 1959. The publication project, consisting of 36 volumes, was completed earlier this year. (mk)