Górecki arrived in Katowice in 1955 and he studied at the State Higher Academy of Music from 1955-1960. It was here that Górecki’s strengths as a composer really started to show. Almost immediately after the premiere of one of his first compositions in 1958 he was heralded by the Polish music press as a leader of the new wave of avant garde composers. By 1959 he had written his first symphony which well received in the west as well as Poland. Throughout most of the 1960’s he continued to compose in the modernist style following in the footsteps of such composers as Anton Webern and Pierre Boulez. He made the inevitable move to Paris to further his studies and broaden his compositional palette.
Górecki was as much known for his stubborn sensibilities, blunt sense of humour and anachronistic personality as he was for his incredible talent. In 1968, at the height of his popularity, he decided to take a professorship at the Academy of Music back in Katowice. He would eventually become provost of the Academy. He was notoriously tough on his students saying, ”If you can live without music for two or three days, then don't write – it might be better to spend time with a girl or with a beer." Well said, Henryk.
