Henryk Mikotaj Górecki (b. 1933)

Symphony No. 2 "Copernican", Op. 31
Beatus vir, Op. 38

The Polish composer Henryk Mikoiaj Górecki was born on 6th December 1933 in Czernica, Silesia. He studied music at the High School of Music in Katowice (now the Academy of Music). In 1960 he graduated with distinction from the class of the composer Bolestaw Szabelski, composer of five symphonies, who had been taught by Karol Szymanowski. Górecki gave his debut concert as a composer in 1958 in Katowice, which led to performances of his works at the "Warsaw Autumn" International Festival of Contemporary Music. These included Symphony No. 1 in 1959 and Scontri in 1960. Shortly afterwards he gained his first significant international success as a composer, winning first prize at the 1961 Biennial Festival of Youth in Paris for Symphony No. 1.

If the style of Górecki's compositions during his first years of study could be