ABSTRACT
In February 1993, a new recording of Henryk Górecki's Third Symphony, the “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs,” reached the no. 6 position on the British pop album charts, outselling new releases by Madonna and REM. 1 It was twice the fastest climber on that chart, achieving silver and gold record status in the same week, while in the United States it appeared on Billboard's classical charts for 134 consecutive weeks. Never before had a recording of any piece of art music attained such sudden and spectacular success; that it should happen with a slow and somber contemporary symphonic work by a relatively unknown Polish composer was, to many observers, even more bizarre. 2
