Whether or not the obvious clicking we hear throughout the first six minutes of Miserere is the sound of a censer bathing the basses in incense as they embark on their mammoth (32-minute) journey through the five words of text on which the entire work is based, it seems entirely appropriate that it should seem so; for this is an intensely spiritual, imploringly prayerful work in which Gorecki responds with heartfelt passion to the political events of 1981 (a sit-in by members of Rural Solidarity, the violent breakup of which and General Jaruzelski's subsequent declaration of ''a state of war'' ultimately led to the democratization of Poland). This is as intellectually demanding and emotionally compelling as anything by Gorecki yet released on disc. Lovers of the Third Symphony will fall under its spell straight away, but it should gain respect from those less easily swayed by the opulent orchestral textures of that work, for here Gorecki is using what is probably his favourite medium, the unaccompanied choir. The voices enter in a series of layered thirds until, at 26'00'', all ten parts commence an electrifying ascent through the word ''Domine'' to the work's climax which, with the first statement of ''Miserere'', suddenly bathes us in a quiet chord of A minor—a moment as devastatingly effective as an orchestra full of banging drums and crashing cymbals.
John Nelson directs a hypnotic performance which wants for nothing in its impact, his choral forces both emotionally committed and technically excellent. The recording itself is most certainly not technically excellent—that clicking sound is only one of a disturbing number of persistent background rattles, thumps and bangs, not to mention, at 3'42'' in Amen, something which sounds awfully like gunfire from the Chicago streets surrounding the church where the recording was made. That church suffers from a cloudy acoustic and there is a haze of surface noise. In the end, though, it only serves to reinforce this grainy aural picture of those dark, frightening times in Poland's recent history. Our knowledge of subsequent events does nothing to lessen the terror which must have been in Gorecki's heart as he wrote this unforgettable score.'