ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the development of the symphony in the post-avant-garde period (1974–1994). This period, often referred to as the era of postmodernism (the term is discussed), brought the recreation of many traditional values. This influenced the recreating of the genre of the symphony deeply, however achieved in various ways by different composers. Penderecki contributed with creating his own vision of new-Romantic idiom, referred to music by Shostakovich and Sibelius particularly. Górecki created his highly individual, deeply spiritual Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, while Lutosławski pursued his abstract, originally modern musical language. The special place is given to the idea of a symphony as a public statement, in connection with the political context of the 1980s in Poland (election of the Polish Pope, John Paul II, Martial Law, Solidarity movement), with the Symphony No. 6 ‘Polish’ by Meyer and Sinfonia Votiva by Panufnik. The discussion ends in the early 1990s and is closed with the death of Lutosławski in 1994, which closed a certain era in Polish music, including symphonic writing.
