Editing Henryk Górecki (section)

===Early modernist works===
The first public performances of Górecki's music in Katowice in February 1958 programmed works clearly displaying the influence of Szymanowski and [[Béla Bartók|Bartók]]. The [[Silesian Philharmonic|Silesian State Philharmonic]] in [[Katowice]] held a concert devoted entirely to the 24-year-old Górecki's music. The event led to a commission to write for the Warsaw Autumn Festival. The ''Epitafium'' (''Epitaph'') he submitted marked a new phase in his development,<ref name="stein171" /> and was said to represent "the most colourful and vibrant expression of the new Polish wave".<ref name="thom29">{{harvp|Thomas|1997|p=29}}</ref> The festival announced Górecki's arrival on the international scene, and he quickly became a favorite of the West's avant-garde musical elite.<ref name="Wierz">Wierzbicki, James. [http://pages.sbcglobal.net/jameswierzbicki/gorecki.htm "Henryk Gorécki"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090814012656/http://pages.sbcglobal.net/jameswierzbicki/gorecki.htm |date=14 August 2009}}. ''[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]'', 7 July 1991. Retrieved on 24 October 2008.</ref> In 1991, the music critic James Wierzbicki wrote that at this time "Górecki was seen as a Polish heir to the new aesthetic of post-Webernian serialism, with his taut structures, lean orchestrations and painstaking concern for the logical ordering of pitches".<ref name="Wierz"/>

Górecki wrote his First Symphony in 1959, and graduated with honours from the Academy the next year.<ref name="PMRC" /> At the 1960 Warsaw Autumn Festival, his ''Scontri'' for orchestra caused a sensation among critics due to its use of sharp contrasts and harsh [[Articulation (music)|articulations]].<ref name="PMRC"/><ref name="Wright">{{harvp|Wright|2002|p=362}}</ref> By 1961, Górecki was at the forefront of the Polish [[avant-garde]], having absorbed the [[modernism (music)|modernism]] of Webern, [[Iannis Xenakis]] and [[Pierre Boulez]], and his Symphony No. 1 gained international acclaim at the Paris Biennial Festival of Youth. He moved to Paris to continue his studies, and while there was influenced by contemporaries including [[Olivier Messiaen]], [[Roman Palester]], and [[Karlheinz Stockhausen]].<ref name="thomas9717"/>

Górecki began to lecture at the [[University of Music in Katowice|Academy of Music in Katowice]] in 1968, where he taught score-reading, orchestration and composition. In 1972, he was promoted to assistant professor,<ref name="PMRC" /> and developed a fearsome reputation among his students for his often blunt personality. According to the Polish composer [[Rafał Augustyn (composer)|Rafał Augustyn]], "When I began to study under Górecki it felt as if someone had dumped a pail of ice-cold water over my head. He could be ruthless in his opinions. The weak fell by the wayside but those who graduated under him became, without exception, respected composers".<ref name="Perlez"/> Górecki admits, "For quite a few years, I was a pedagogue, a teacher in the music academy, and my students would ask me many, many things, including how to write and what to write. I always answered this way: If you can live without music for 2 or 3 days, then don't write...It might be better to spend time with a girl or with a beer...If you cannot live without music, then write.”<ref name="Duffie">Duffie, Bruce. "[http://www.bruceduffie.com/gorecki.html Composer Henryk-Mikolaj Górecki: A conversation with Bruce Duffie]". bruceduffie.com, 24 April 1994. Retrieved 22 December 2007.</ref> Due to his commitments as a teacher and also because of bouts of ill health, he composed only intermittently during this period.<ref>Williams, Julie. "[http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2007/Nov07/Gorecki_Williams.htm Henryk Górecki: Composer Profile]". MusicWeb International, 2008. Retrieved on 13 December 2008.</ref>