''Emanations'', also referred to by its original German title ''Emanationen'' or by its Polish title ''Emanacje'', is a composition for two orchestras by Polish composer

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'', ' ...

. Composed in 1958, it is one of his early compositions.

Composition and premiere

The composition was conceived and written in 1958 and won the second prize at the Polish Composers Union Young Composers Competition, in April 1959. It would eventually be premiered on September 7, 1961, at the Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Music.

Michael Gielen Michael Andreas Gielen (20 July 19278 March 2019) was an Austrian conductor and composer known for promoting contemporary music in opera and concert. Principally active in Europe, his performances are characterized by precision and vivacity, aid ...

conducted the

Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra The Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra (also known in English as the SWR Baden-Baden Freiburg Symphony Orchestra and in German as the Sinfonieorchester des Südwestrundfunks) was a German radio orchestra located in the German cities of B ...

for its premiere. It was dedicated to Tadeusz Ochlewski and 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 bus ...

Analysis

''Emanations'' is scored for two string orchestras that are tuned a

minor second A semitone, also called a half step or a half tone, is the smallest musical interval commonly used in Western tonal music, and it is considered the most dissonant when sounded harmonically. It is defined as the interval between two adjacent no ...

apart. It takes approximately 7 minutes to perform and features the sound-painting compositional style that became a well-known trait of his works from the 60s and 70s, until his first symphony.

Notable recordings

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

References

{{Krzysztof Penderecki 1958 compositions Compositions by Krzysztof Penderecki Compositions for string orchestra Compositions that use extended techniques Contemporary classical compositions