Symphony of Sorrowful Songs

Simply unmissable

A profoundly moving contemporary masterpiece, Henrjk Gorecki's Symphony of Sorrowful Song sweeps into the London Coliseum next spring for a limited run, showcasing its poetic ruminations on motherhood and the grief of loss. Direction comes from Isabel Bywater and the conductor will be Lidiya Yankovskaya, with Nicole Chevalier as the piece's soprano.

Premiering in 1977 the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs (or Symphony No.3) has become one of the 20th century's best-selling works for a contemporary classical composer; in no small part thanks to its universal themes and masterful weaving of historical works into a stunning and unforgettable whole. The three movements are taken from real-life inspirations, from a 15th-century lament of the Virgin Mary to words inscribed on a wall of a Gestapo cell in a concentration camp to a  Silesian folk song telling of a mother's search for her son killed in the Silesian uprising. In addition to centralising the experience of motherhood, it also stands as a history of Poland through some of the country's most turbulent times.