Gorecki oratorio gets world premiere in Poland

An oratorio by best-selling classical composer Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki had its world premiere in his native Poland Wednesday, five years after his death.

Gorecki composed the hour-long oratorio Sanctus Adalbertus -- which features a symphony orchestra, mixed choir, soprano and baritone -- in 1997 to mark 1,000 years since the death of Poland's patron Saint Adalbert.

A Bohemian missionary, Adalbert brought Christianity to what is now Central Europe and the region encompassing the Baltic states.

"The score, entirely written in Gorecki's hand, is fully completed and didn't require any additional work," Daniel Cichy, head of the PWM Polish musical publishing house told the local Rzeczpospolita daily.

Performed in the southern city of Krakow, the oratorio was broadcast live Wednesday evening on Polish radio.

Known for his simple yet monumental style, Gorecki was at the forefront of Polish avant-garde classical music from the 1950s through the 1970s, exploring Polish folk music and medieval themes.

He became one of the world's most popular classical artists thanks to his doleful Symphony No. 3, also know as the Symphony of Sorrowful Songs.

The symphony, which deals with motherhood and the ravages of war, gained critical acclaim and global popularity after its 1992 re-release featuring American soprano Dawn Upshaw.

Having topped the charts in both Britain and the United States, it sold more than a million copies worldwide, becoming one of the best-selling pieces of contemporary classical music.

The monumental work is inspired by a 15th-century lamentation, a Polish folksong and words scrawled by a prisoner held by the Nazi Gestapo on the wall of a cell in the southern Polish mountain town of Zakopane.

Gorecki died at the age of age 76 in November 2010 following a long illness.