National Youth Choir of Great Britain, Mike Brewer - Totus Tuus: Choral Music of Henryk Gorecki (2012)

The massed voices of the National Youth Choir of Great Britain are ideally suited to the choral music of Górecki; music of a monumental radiance which demands a huge and rich sonority. Alongside the ever-popular 'Totus Tuus', this resplendent recording also contains two recent works here receiving their premieres on disc – the luminous 'Lobgesang' and the thrillingly massive 'Salve Sidus Polonorum', for choir, organ, two pianos and percussion.

This disc traces his choral music from his 1972 setting of Psalms 126 & 95 'Euntes Ibant Et Flebant' through to his 'Lobgesang' (Song of Praise), written in 2000.

Henryk Mikolaj Górecki (1933-2010) made his reputation as a leader of the Polish avant-garde in the 1950s. Inspired by folk and religious influences, the emotional power and clarity of his music has attracted a wide public following. He became know as one of the 'holy minimalists', along with John Taverner and Arvo Pärt, after his Symphony No.3 'Symphony of Sorrowful Songs' featuring Dawn Upshaw, was played by Classic FM.