The Symphony No. 1 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'', ''A ...

was composed in 1973. It was published by

Polish Music Publishing House The PWM Edition ( pl, 'Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne', abbreviated as PWM) is a music publishing house based in Kraków, Poland. It was founded in 1945 and was the only music publisher in Poland for several years. In 2012 it released the twelfth vo ...

and

Schott Music Schott Music () is one of the oldest German music publishers. It is also one of the largest music publishing houses in Europe, and is the second oldest music publisher after Breitkopf & Härtel. The company headquarters of Schott Music were fou ...

and has never been expanded or revised.

Composition

The composition was commissioned by

Perkins Engines Perkins Engines Company Limited, a subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc since 1998, is primarily a diesel engine manufacturer for several markets including agricultural, construction, material handling, power generation, and industrial. It was establis ...

, one of the best known gas engine manufacturers in

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...

, as part of a series of Annual Industrial Concerts. Penderecki started composing it in 1972. It would eventually premiere at

Peterborough Cathedral Peterborough Cathedral, properly the Cathedral Church of St Peter, St Paul and St Andrew – also known as Saint Peter's Cathedral in the United Kingdom – is the seat of the Church of England, Anglican Bishop of Peterborough, dedicated to Sain ...

on 19 July 1973, with the composer conducting the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

. Three months after its world premiere, it was performed in the composer's own country, at the

Warsaw Autumn Festival Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is official ...

by the

Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra The Warsaw National Philharmonic Orchestra ( pl, Orkiestra Filharmonii Narodowej w Warszawie) is a Polish orchestra based in Warsaw. Founded in 1901, it is one of Poland's oldest musical institutions. History The orchestra was conceived on ...

under

Witold Rowicki Witold Rowicki (born ''Witold Kałka'', 26 February 1914 in Taganrog, Russian Empire – 1 October 1989 in Warsaw) was a Polish conductor. He held principal conducting positions with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and the Bamberg Symphony O ...

. By the time the composition was finished, Penderecki stated that "I was then attempting to make a reckoning of my two decades' worth of musical experience – a time of radical, avant-garde seeking. It was the summa of what I could say as an avant-garde artist", claiming that the compositional style that he had been developing over the previous 15 years had reached its natural conclusion.

Structure

The symphony consists of four continuous movements which take approximately 30 to 35 minutes to perform. This composition is scored for a large orchestra, consisting of 3 flutes (2 & 3 doubling piccolos), 3 oboes (3rd doubling cor anglais), 3 clarinets, bass clarinet, 3 bassoons (3rd doubling contrabassoon), 5 horns, 3 trumpets, 4 trombones, tuba, timpani, 5 percussionists playing 2 triangles, gong, 4 cymbals, 2 tam-tams, 6 tom-toms, 2 bongos, 2 congas, wooden drum, bass drum, woodblock, claves, ratchet, guiro, whip, vibraslap, 5 crotales, iron bar, 5 bells, glockenspiel, 5 Almglocken, harmonium, harp, celesta, piano and strings. The movement list is as follows: * I. Archi 1 * II. Dynamis 1 * III. Dynamis 2 * IV. Archi 2

References

{{Authority control Symphonies by Krzysztof Penderecki 1973 compositions Contemporary classical compositions