Krzysztof Penderecki Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki (; 23 November 1933 – 29 March 2020) was a Polish composer and conductor. His best known works include ''Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'', Symphony No. 3, his '' St Luke Passion'', ''Polish Requiem'', ''A ...

's Cello Concerto No. 1, also known by its original Italian title Concerto per violoncello ed orchestra, Nr. 1, is a revised version of Penderecki's ''Concerto per violino grande e orchestra'', which was never published nor recorded. It was transcribed for

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

in 1973.

Composition and premiere

The concerto, which was commissioned by Bronisław Eichenholz, was initially conceived for a ''violino grande'', an instrument with five

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

which combines the ranges of the

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

and the

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

. It was finished in 1967 and first performed in

Östersund Östersund (; sma, Staare) is an urban area (city) in Jämtland in the middle of Sweden. It is the seat of Östersund Municipality and the capital of Jämtland County. Östersund is located at the shores of Sweden's fifth-largest lake, Storsjön, ...

on July 1, 1967. Eichenholz played the violino grande on this occasion, and the

Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra ( sv, Kungliga Filharmonikerna or , literal translations, "Royal Philharmonic" or "Royal Philharmonic Orchestra") is a Swedish orchestra based in Stockholm. Its principal venue is the Konserthuset. Hi ...

played under the baton of Henryk Czyż., accessdate=February 16, 2014 However, this version of the concerto was only performed twice and never received much attention. After this performance, it was only performed again once in the Hopkins Center Congregation of the Arts, during the Fourth International Webern Festival, held at

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native A ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. Five years afterwards, Penderecki decided to transcribe the concerto, replacing the violino grande with a cello. It was dedicated to

Siegfried Palm Siegfried Palm (25 April 1927 – 6 June 2005) was a German cellist who is known worldwide for his interpretations of contemporary music. Many 20th-century composers like Kagel, Ligeti, Xenakis, Penderecki and Zimmermann wrote music for ...

, who also premiered it on September 7, 1972, in the

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...

. This transcribed version of the concerto was published by the Polish Music Publishing House and the

Moeck Musikinstrumente + Verlag Moeck Musikinstrumente + Verlag is a leading German manufacturer of recorders and a music publisher. The company was founded in 1925 by ''Hermann Moeck'' (1896-1982) in Celle. In 1960 his son Hermann Alexander Moeck (1922-2010) took over the busi ...

Analysis

The original version of the ''Concerto'' consisted of two movements, namely, ''Quasi purgatorio'' and ''Suoni celeste''. However, the final version is in one movement only. It takes 15 to 20 minutes to perform. It features a lento introduction with an initial cadenza, which was composed ex professo for some of its performances.

Reception

Despite the fact that the first version was only performed twice, it garnered positive reviews from critics. Shirley Fleming, from High Fidelity, called it a fascinating piece.

Notable recordings

Following are some of the most well-known recordings of this piece:

References

{{Authority control Compositions by Krzysztof Penderecki 1972 compositions Contemporary classical compositions