Genesis 2: Instrumental songs, Op 19/2

Following upon "Elementi," the first piece of the Genesis cycle, Polish composer Henryk Górecki completed the second of what became a trilogy of pieces in the year 1962. His aim was to reexamine his expressive aim and supporting compositional technique, and try to create a new approach to music that would be forcefully original. Serialism was the dominant aesthetic in Europe at that time, and while Górecki was indebted to this approach for helping him to develop a modern compositional voice, even at this early point in his career (having just completed his training two years earlier) he felt the need to move beyond the stereotypical pointillistic style of the post-Webernian era.
Genesis 2 is scored for the rather strange ensemble of piccolo, trumpet, mandolin, guitar, piano, percussion, and strings. The title, "Canti strumentali," makes reference to song, but there is little to hum along to in this piece. While the aesthetic stance, like the earlier piece, is aggressive, the mixture of instrumental timbres provides the palette for much play of color. The music is built around broad bands of sonority together with shifting attacks and flashes, particularly from the instruments that are plucked or struck. The harmonies are always dissonant, and the dynamics are full-out, right upuntil the final section. There, though, the tone relaxes slightly and the intensity eases off. The piccolo repeats a single two-note phrase over sustained tones in the strings and trumpet and soft strokes of the tam-tams, almost as if trying to break out into a lyrical melody. For that, though, Górecki makes us wait until the third work of the Genesis cycle. ~ James Harley, All Music Guide