Penderecki, Krzysztof

Penderecki, Krzysztof (b Debica, 1933). Polish composer. Won all 3 prizes at Warsaw autumn fest. 1959. Teacher at Kraków High Sch. for Mus. from 1958, dir. 1972–87. Teacher at Yale Univ. 1973–8. In 1974 appeared at Salzburg Fest., conducting his Magnificat. After 1960 abandoned Boulez-influenced style and was one of first avant-garde composers to experiment with sounds such as sawing wood, rustling paper, typewriters, knocking, hissing, screeching, etc., and various orig. effects obtained from conventional instr. by unconventional means, in particular microtonal glissandi and dense clusters. In choral mus., the singers are asked to articulate consonants rapidly, to hiss and to whistle. Nevertheless these freakish effects are put to artistic use and his St Luke Passion (1966) was an immediate success with a wide public. In the 1970s, with the Christmas Symphony and the vn. conc., he moved towards a more conservative and traditional idiom, although his Salzburg opera Die schwarze Maske was violently radical. Prin. works:OPERAS: The Devils of Loudun (Diably z Loudun) (1968–9); Paradise Lost (1976–8); Die schwarze Maske (1984–6); Ubu Rex (1990–1).ORCH.: Emanations, 2 str. orch. (1958); Anaklasis, 42 str., perc. (1959–60); Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima (Tren pamieci ofiarom Hiroszimy) 52 str. (1960); Fonogrammi, fl., chamber orch. (1961); Polymorphia, 48 str. (1961); Fluorescences (1961–2); Canon, 52 str., 2 tapes (1962); Sonata, vc., orch. (1964); Capriccio, ob., str. (1964); De natura sonoris (Of the nature of sound) I (1966), II (1971); Pittsburgh Overture, wind (1967); Capriccio, vn., orch. (1967); Prélude, wind, perc., dbs. (1971); vc. conc. No.1 (1966–7, rev. 1971–2), No.2 (1982); Partita, hpd., 5 elec. amplified solo instr., orch. (1971); Actions, jazz ens. (1971); sym. No.1 (1972–3), No.2 (Christmas) (1979–80); Intermezzo, 24 str. (1973); vn. conc. (1976–7, rev. 1988); Als Jabob erwachte (The Dream of Jacob) (1974); Adagio from Paradise Lost (1979); Passacaglia (1988); Adagio (1989).VOICES & ORCH.: From the Psalms of David, ch., chamber ens. (1958); Strophes (Strofy), sop., narr., 10 instr. (1959); Dimensions of Time and Silence (Wymiary czasu i ciszy), ch., chamber ens. (1959–60); Cantata in honorem Almae Matris Universitatis Iagellonicae, ch., orch. (1964); St Luke Passion, narr., sop., bar., bass, 3 ch., boys' ch., orch. (1962–5); Dies Irae, sop., ten., bass, ch., orch. (1967); Utrenja: Part I, The Entombment of Christ, sop., cont., ten., 2 basses, 2 ch., orch. (1969–70), Part II, The Resurrection of Christ, sop., alt., ten., 2 basses, boys' ch., 2 ch., orch. (1970–1); Kosmogonia, sop., ten., bass, ch., orch. (1970); Canticum Canticorum Salomonis (Song of Songs), ch., chamber orch., opt. dance pair (1970–3); Magnificat, bass, boys' vv., 7 male vv., 2 ch., orch. (1973–4); Prelude, Visions, and Finale (Paradise Lost), sop., mez., ten., counterten., 2 bars., ch., orch. (1979); Te Deum, sop., mez., ten., bass, 2 ch., orch. (1979–80); Lacrimosa (Polish Requiem), sop., ch., orch. (1980); Polish Requiem, SATB soloists, ch., orch. (1980–4).UNACC. CHORUS: Stabat Mater, 3 mixed ch. (1962); Miserere (St Luke Passion), opt. boys' ch., 3 mixed ch. (1965); In pulverem mortis (St Luke Passion), 3 mixed ch. (1965); Ecloga VIII (Virgil), 6 male vv. (1972); Agnus Dei (Polish Requiem) (1981); Song of Cherubim (1986); Veni Creator (1987).CHAMBER MUSIC: str. qts., No.1 (1960), No.2 (1968); vn. sonata (1953); 3 Miniatures, cl., pf. (1956); Capriccio per Siegfried Palm, vc. (1968); Capriccio tuba (1980); Cadenza, va. (1984); Per Slava, vc. (1985–6); Prelude, cl. (1987); Der Unterbrochene Gedanke, str. qt. (1988).TAPE: Psalmus (1961); Brigade of Death (1963).