Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki (; 23 November 1933 – 29 March 2020) was a Polish composer and conductor. His best-known

works Works may refer to: People * Caddy Works (1896–1982), American college sports coach * John D. Works (1847–1928), California senator and judge * Samuel Works (c. 1781–1868), New York politician Albums * ''Works'' (Pink Floyd album), a Pi ...

include '' Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'', Symphony No. 3, his '' St Luke Passion'', '' Polish Requiem'', '' Anaklasis'' and '' Utrenja''. His ''oeuvre'' includes five operas, eight symphonies and other orchestral pieces, a variety of instrumental concertos, choral settings of mainly religious texts, as well as chamber and instrumental works. Born in Dębica, Penderecki studied music at

Jagiellonian University The Jagiellonian University (, UJ) is a public research university in Kraków, Poland. Founded in 1364 by Casimir III the Great, King Casimir III the Great, it is the oldest university in Poland and one of the List of oldest universities in con ...

and the Academy of Music in Kraków. After graduating from the academy, he became a teacher there and began his career as a composer in 1959 during the Warsaw Autumn festival. His ''Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'' for

string orchestra A string orchestra is an orchestra consisting solely of a string section made up of the bowed strings used in Western Classical music. The instruments of such an orchestra are most often the following: the violin, which is divided into first a ...

and the choral work ''St. Luke Passion'' have received popular acclaim. His first opera, '' The Devils of Loudun'', was not immediately successful. In the mid-1970s, Penderecki became a professor at the Yale School of Music. From the mid-1970s his composition style changed, with his first violin concerto focusing on the

semitone A semitone, also called a minor second, 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 ...

and the

tritone In music theory, the tritone is defined as a interval (music), musical interval spanning three adjacent Major second, whole tones (six semitones). For instance, the interval from F up to the B above it (in short, F–B) is a tritone as it can be ...

. His choral work ''Polish Requiem'' was written in the 1980s and expanded in 1993 and 2005. Penderecki won many prestigious awards, including the

Prix Italia The Prix Italia is an international television, radio-broadcasting and web award. It was established in 1948 by RAI – Radiotelevisione Italiana (in 1948, RAI had the denomination RAI – Radio Audizioni Italiane) in Capri and is honoured with th ...

in 1967 and 1968; the Wihuri Sibelius Prize of 1983; four

Grammy Awards The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

in 1987, 1998 (twice), and 2017; the Wolf Prize in Arts in 1987; and the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public university, public research university in Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. Chartered in 1798 as the Jefferson Seminary, it became in the 19t ...

Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition in 1992. In 2012, Sean Michaels of ''The Guardian'' called him "arguably Poland's greatest living composer". In 2020 the composer's Alma Mater, the Academy of Music in Kraków, was named after Krzysztof Penderecki.

Career

1933–1958: early years

Penderecki was born on 23 November 1933 in Dębica, the son of Zofia and Tadeusz Penderecki, a lawyer. His grandfather Michał Penderecki was a native of Tenetnyky village near

Rohatyn Rohatyn (, ; ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city located on the Hnyla Lypa River in Ivano-Frankivsk Raion, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, in western Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Rohatyn urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Popula ...

(now

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

)Roman Rewakowicz’s memoir about Krzysztof Penderecki
/ref> and belonged to the

Ukrainian Greek Catholic church The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (UGCC) is a Major archiepiscopal church, major archiepiscopal ''sui iuris'' ("autonomous") Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Catholic church that is based in Ukraine. As a particular church of the Cathol ...

. He married Stefania Szylkiewicz of Armenian origin from Stanislau (now

Ivano-Frankivsk Ivano-Frankivsk (, ), formerly Stanyslaviv, Stanislav and Stanisławów, is a city in western Ukraine. It serves as the administrative centre of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast as well as Ivano-Frankivsk Raion within the oblast. Ivano-Frankivsk also host ...

) and they later moved to Dębica. The rest of the Penderecki family adopted Ukrainian identity and some still live in their ancestral village. Krzysztof met them upon his visits to Ukraine in the 1990s. On his mother's side his grandfather, Robert Berger, was a highly talented painter and director of the local bank at the time of Penderecki's birth; Robert's father Johann, a German

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

, moved to Dębica from Breslau (now

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

) in the mid-19th century. Out of love for his wife, he subsequently converted to

Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

.Schwinger, p. 16. Krzysztof was the youngest of three siblings; his sister, Barbara, was married to a mining engineer, and his older brother, Janusz, was studying law and medicine at the time of his birth. Tadeusz was a violinist and also played piano. The

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

broke out in 1939; Penderecki's family moved out of their apartment, for the Ministry of Food was to operate there. After the war, Penderecki began attending grammar school in 1946. He began studying the violin under Stanisław Darłak, Dębica's military bandmaster who organized an orchestra for the local music society after the war. Upon graduating from grammar school, Penderecki moved to Kraków in 1951, where he attended

.Schwinger, p. 17. He studied violin with Stanisław Tawroszewicz and music theory with Franciszek Skołyszewski. In 1954, Penderecki entered the Academy of Music in Kraków and, having finished his studies on violin after his first year, focused entirely on composition. Penderecki's main teacher there was Artur Malawski, a composer known for his choral and orchestral works, as well as chamber music and songs. After Malawski's death in 1957, Penderecki took further lessons with Stanisław Wiechowicz, a composer primarily known for his choral works.Schwinger, pp. 18–19. At the time, the 1956 overthrow of

Stalinism Stalinism (, ) is the Totalitarianism, totalitarian means of governing and Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from History of the Soviet Union (1927–1953), 1927 to 1953 by dictator Jose ...

in Poland lifted strict cultural censorship and opened the door to a wave of creativity.

1958–1962: first compositions

Upon graduating from the Academy of Music in Kraków in 1958, Penderecki took up a teaching post at the academy. His early works show the influence of

Anton Webern Anton Webern (; 3 December 1883 – 15 September 1945) was an Austrian composer, conductor, and musicologist. His music was among the most radical of its milieu in its lyric poetry, lyrical, poetic concision and use of then novel atonality, aton ...

and

Pierre Boulez Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 19255 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war contemporary classical music. Born in Montb ...

(Penderecki was also influenced by

Igor Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century c ...

). Penderecki's international recognition began in 1959 at the Warsaw Autumn with the premieres of the works ''Strophen'', ''Psalms of David'', and ''Emanations'', but the piece that truly brought him to international attention was '' Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'' (see threnody and atomic bombing of Hiroshima), written in 1960 for 52

string instrument In musical instrument classification, string instruments, or chordophones, are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer strums, plucks, strikes or sounds the strings in varying manners. Musicians play some ...

s. In it, he makes use of extended instrumental techniques (for example, playing behind the bridge, bowing on the tailpiece). There are many novel textures in the work, which makes extensive use of tone clusters. He originally titled the work ''8' 37"'', but decided to dedicate it to the victims of Hiroshima. ''Fluorescences'' followed a year later; it increases the orchestral density with more wind and brass, and an enormous percussion section of 32 instruments for six players, including a Mexican güiro, typewriters, gongs and other unusual instruments. The piece was composed for the Donaueschingen Festival of contemporary music of 1962, and its performance was regarded as provocative and controversial. Even the score appeared revolutionary; the form of graphic notation that Penderecki had developed rejected the familiar look of notes on a staff, instead representing music as morphing sounds. His intentions at this stage were quite Cagean: 'All I'm interested in is liberating sound beyond all tradition'. Another noteworthy piece of this period is the ''Canon'' for 52 strings and 2 tapes. This is in a similar style to other pieces in the late 1950s in its use of sound masses, dramatically juxtaposed with traditional means although the use of standard techniques or idioms is often disguised or distorted. Indeed, the Canon brings to mind the choral tradition and indeed the composer has the players sing, albeit with the performance indication of ''bocca chiusa'' (with closed mouth) at various points; nevertheless, Penderecki uses the 52 'voices' of the string orchestra to play in massed glissandi and harmonics at times – this is then recorded by one of the tapes for playback later on in the piece. It was performed at the Warsaw Autumn Festival in 1962 and caused a riot although curiously the rioters were young music students and not older concertgoers. At the same time, he started composing music for theater and film. The first theater performance with Penderecki's music was ''Złoty kluczyk'' (''Golden Little Key'') by Yekaterina Borysowa directed by Władysław Jarema (premiered on 12 May 1957 in Krakow at the "Groteska" Puppet Theater). In 1959, at the Cartoon Film Studio in Bielsko-Biała, he composed the music for the first animated film, ''Bulandra i diabeł'' (''Coal Miner Bulandra and Devil''), directed by Jerzy Zitzman and Lechosław Marszałek. In 1959, he wrote the score for

Jan Łomnicki Jan Łomnicki (30 June 1929 – 18 December 2002) was a Polish film director and screenwriter. A graduate of the National Film School in Łódź. He directed more than thirty films between 1954 and 2000. His 1976 film ''To Save the City'' () ...

's first short fiction film, ''Nie ma końca wielkiej wojny'' (''There is no End to the Great War'', WFDiF Warszawa). In the following years he created over twenty original musical settings for dramatic and over 40 puppet performances, and composed original music for at least eleven documentary and feature films as well as for twenty-five animated films for adults and children.

''The St. Luke Passion''

The large-scale '' St. Luke Passion'' (1963–66) brought Penderecki further popular acclaim, not least because it was devoutly religious, yet written in an avant-garde musical language, and composed within Communist Eastern Europe. Various different musical styles can be seen in the piece. The experimental textures, such as were employed in the ''Threnody'', are balanced by the work's

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

form and the occasional use of more traditional

harmonic In physics, acoustics, and telecommunications, a harmonic is a sinusoidal wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the ''fundamental frequency'' of a periodic signal. The fundamental frequency is also called the ''1st har ...

and melodic writing. Penderecki makes use of

serialism In music, serialism is a method of composition using series of pitches, rhythms, dynamics, timbres or other musical elements. Serialism began primarily with Arnold Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique, though some of his contemporaries were also ...

in this piece, and one of the tone rows he uses includes the

BACH motif In music, the BACH motif is the motif (music), motif, a succession of note (music), notes important or characteristic to a musical composition, piece, ''B flat, A, C, B natural''. In Letter notation, German musical nomenclature, in whi ...

, which acts as a bridge between the conventional and more experimental elements. The Stabat Mater section toward the end of the piece concludes on a simple chord of D major, and this gesture is repeated at the very end of the work, which finishes on a triumphant E major chord. These are the only tonal harmonies in the work, and both come as a surprise to the listener; Penderecki's use of tonal triads such as these remains a controversial aspect of the work. Penderecki continued to write sacred music. In the early 1970s he wrote a Dies irae, a

Magnificat The Magnificat (Latin for "y soulmagnifies he Lord) is a canticle, also known as the Song of Mary or Canticle of Mary, and in the Byzantine Rite as the Ode of the Theotokos (). Its Western name derives from the incipit of its Latin text. This ...

, and Canticum Canticorum Salomonis (

Song of Songs The Song of Songs (), also called the Canticle of Canticles or the Song of Solomon, is a Biblical poetry, biblical poem, one of the five ("scrolls") in the ('writings'), the last section of the Tanakh. Unlike other books in the Hebrew Bible, i ...

) for chorus and orchestra.

De Natura Sonoris and other pieces in the 1960s and early 1970s

Penderecki's preoccupation with sound culminated in ''De Natura Sonoris I'' (1966), which frequently calls upon the orchestra to use non-standard playing techniques to produce original sounds and colours. A sequel, ''De Natura Sonoris II'', was composed in 1971: with its more limited orchestra, it incorporates more elements of post-

Romanticism Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

than its predecessor. This foreshadowed Penderecki's renunciation of the avant-garde in the mid-1970s, although both pieces feature dramatic

glissando In music, a glissando (; plural: ''glissandi'', abbreviated ''gliss.'') is a wikt:glide, glide from one pitch (music), pitch to another (). It is an Italianized Musical terminology, musical term derived from the French ''glisser'', "to glide". In ...

s, dense clusters, use of harmonics, and unusual instruments (the musical saw features in the second piece). In 1968 Penderecki received the State Prize 1st class. During the jubilee of the

People's Republic of Poland The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

he received the Commander's Cross (1974) and the Knight's Cross of

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

(1964). Towards the end of the decade, Penderecki received a commission to write for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the founding of the United Nations. The result was ''Kosmogonia'', a piece of twenty minutes for 3 soloists (soprano, tenor, bass), mixed choir and orchestra. The

Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic (LA Phil) is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California. The orchestra holds a regular concert season from October until June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from ...

premiered the piece on 24 October 1970 with

Zubin Mehta Zubin Mehta (born 29 April 1936) is an Indian conductor of Western classical music. He is music director emeritus of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) and conductor :wikt:emeritus, emeritus of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Mehta's father ...

as conductor and Robert Nagy as tenor. The piece uses texts from ancient writers

Sophocles Sophocles ( 497/496 – winter 406/405 BC)Sommerstein (2002), p. 41. was an ancient Greek tragedian known as one of three from whom at least two plays have survived in full. His first plays were written later than, or contemporary with, those ...

and

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

in addition to contemporary statements from

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and American astronauts to musically explore the idea of the

cosmos The cosmos (, ; ) is an alternative name for the universe or its nature or order. Usage of the word ''cosmos'' implies viewing the universe as a complex and orderly system or entity. The cosmos is studied in cosmologya broad discipline covering ...

1970s–2020: later years

In the mid-1970s, while he was a professor at the Yale School of Music, Penderecki's style began to change. The Violin Concerto No. 1 largely leaves behind the dense tone clusters with which he had been associated, and instead focuses on two melodic intervals: the

and the

. This direction continued with the Symphony No. 2 (1980), which is harmonically and melodically quite straightforward; the symphony is sometimes referred to as the "Christmas Symphony" due to the opening phrase of the

Christmas carol A Christmas carol is a Carol (music), carol on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas and holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French or ...

Silent Night "Silent Night" () is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria. It was declared an intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO The United Nations Educati ...

'' appearing three times during the work. Penderecki explained this shift by stating that he had come to feel that the experimentation of the avant-garde had gone too far from the expressive, non-formal qualities of Western music: 'The avant-garde gave one an illusion of universalism. The musical world of Stockhausen,

Nono Nono may refer to: Places * Nono, Argentina, a municipality in the Province of Córdoba * Nono, Ecuador, a parish in the municipality of Quito in the province of Pichincha * Nono, Illubabor, Oromia (woreda), Ethiopia, or Nono Sele ** Nono, Illub ...

, Boulez and Cage was for us, the young – hemmed in by the aesthetics of socialist realism, then the official canon in our country – a liberation...I was quick to realise however, that this novelty, this experimentation, and formal speculation, is more destructive than constructive; I realised the Utopian quality of its Promethean tone'. Penderecki concluded that he was 'saved from the avant-garde snare of formalism by a return to tradition'. Penderecki wrote relatively little chamber music. However, compositions for smaller ensembles range in date from the start of his career to the end, reflecting the changes his style of writing has undergone. In 1975 the

Lyric Opera of Chicago Lyric Opera of Chicago is an American opera company based in Chicago, Illinois. The company was founded in Chicago in 1954, under the name 'Lyric Theatre of Chicago' by Carol Fox (Chicago opera), Carol Fox, Nicola Rescigno and Lawrence Kelly, w ...

asked him to write a work to commemorate the US Bicentennial in 1976; this became the opera ''

Paradise Lost ''Paradise Lost'' is an Epic poetry, epic poem in blank verse by the English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The poem concerns the Bible, biblical story of the fall of man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their ex ...

'' Owing to delays to the project, however, it did not see its premiere until 1978. The music continued to illustrate Penderecki's move away from avant-garde techniques. It is tonal music, and the composer explained: "This is not music by the angry young man I used to be". In 1980, Penderecki was commissioned by

Solidarity Solidarity or solidarism is an awareness of shared interests, objectives, standards, and sympathies creating a psychological sense of unity of groups or classes. True solidarity means moving beyond individual identities and single issue politics ...

to compose a piece to accompany the unveiling of a statue at the

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

shipyards to commemorate those killed in anti-government riots there in 1970. Penderecki responded with ''Lacrimosa'', which he later expanded into one of the best-known works of his later period, the '' Polish Requiem'' (1980–84, 1993, 2005). Later, he tended towards more traditionally conceived tonal constructs, as heard in works such as the Cello Concerto No. 2 and the

Credo In Christian liturgy, the credo (; Latin for "I believe") is the portion of the Mass where a creed is recited or sung. The Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed or the Apostles' Creed are the primary creeds used for this purpose. History After the ...

, which received the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for best choral performance for the world-premiere recording made by the Oregon Bach Festival, which commissioned the piece. The same year, Penderecki was awarded the Prince of Asturias Prize in Spain, one of the highest honours given in Spain to individuals, entities, organizations or others from around the world who make notable achievements in the sciences, arts, humanities, or public affairs. Invited by Walter Fink, he was the eleventh composer featured in the annual Komponistenporträt of the Rheingau Musik Festival in 2001. He conducted the Credo on the occasion of the 70th birthday of Helmuth Rilling, 29 May 2003. Penderecki received an honorary doctorate from the

Seoul National University Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a public university, public research university in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the SKY (universities), SKY universities and a part of the Flagship Korean National Universities. The university's main c ...

, Korea, in 2005 and the

University of Münster The University of Münster (, until 2023 , WWU) is a public research university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. With more than 43,000 students and over 120 fields of study in 15 departments, it is Germany's ...

, Germany, in 2006. His notable students include Chester Biscardi and Walter Mays. In celebration of his 75th birthday, he conducted three of his works at the Rheingau Musik Festival in 2008, among them Ciaccona from the ''Polish Requiem''. In 2010, he worked on an opera based on '' Phèdre'' by Racine for 2014, which was never realized, and expressed his wish to write a 9th symphony. In 2014, he was engaged in the creation of a choral work to coincide with the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

centennial. In 2018, he conducted Credo in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

at the 29th Kyiv Music Fest, marking the centenary of Polish independence.

Personal life

Penderecki had three children, firstly a daughter Beata with pianist Barbara Penderecka ( Graca), whom he married in 1954; they later divorced. He then had a son, Łukasz (b. 1966), and daughter, Dominika (b. 1971), with his second wife, Elżbieta Penderecka ( Solecka), whom he married on 19 December 1965. He lived in the Kraków suburb of Wola Justowska. He was also a keen gardener, and established a 16-hectare

arboretum An arboretum (: arboreta) is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees and shrubs of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, many modern arbor ...

near his

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were usually held the lord's manorial courts, communal mea ...

in Lusławice. Penderecki died at his home in Kraków, Poland, on 29 March 2020, after a long illness. He was buried at the National Pantheon in Kraków on 29 March 2022.

Legacy and influence

Popiersie Krzysztof Penderecki ssj 20110627

In 1979, a bronze bust by artist Marian Konieczny honouring Penderecki was unveiled in The Gallery of Composers' Portraits at the Pomeranian Philharmonic in

Bydgoszcz Bydgoszcz is a city in northern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Kuyavia. Straddling the confluence of the Vistula River and its bank (geography), left-bank tributary, the Brda (river), Brda, the strategic location of Byd ...

. His monument is located on the Celebrity Alley at the Scout Square (''Skwer Harcerski'') in

Kielce Kielce (; ) is a city in south-central Poland and the capital of the Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship. In 2021, it had 192,468 inhabitants. The city is in the middle of the Świętokrzyskie Mountains (Holy Cross Mountains), on the banks of the Silnic ...

. The

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...

guitarist and founding member

Jimmy Page James Patrick Page (born 9 January 1944) is an English musician and producer who achieved international success as the guitarist and founder of the Rock music, rock band Led Zeppelin. Page began his career as a studio session musician in Lo ...

was an admirer of the composer's groundbreaking work '' Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima'' during his teenage years. This would be reflected later by Page's use of the violin bow on his guitar. The composer and

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band members are Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Gre ...

guitarist Jonny Greenwood cited Penderecki as a major influence. For Radiohead's 1997 album '' OK Computer'', Greenwood wrote a part for 16 stringed instruments playing quarter tones apart, inspired by Penderecki. Greenwood visited Penderecki in 2012 and wrote a work for strings, ''48 Responses to Polymorphia'', which Penderecki conducted in various performances throughout Europe. Penderecki credited Greenwood for introducing his music to a new generation.

Works

Penderecki's compositions include operas, symphonies, choral works, as well as chamber and instrumental music.

Film and television scores

Krzysztof Penderecki composed between 1959 and 1968 original music for at least eleven documentary and feature films as well as for twenty-five animated films for adults and children. Some of Penderecki's music has been adapted for film soundtracks. ''

The Exorcist ''The Exorcist'' is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin from a screenplay by William Peter Blatty, based on The Exorcist (novel), his 1971 novel. The film stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Jason Miller (play ...

'' (1973) features his String Quartet and ''Kanon For Orchestra and Tape''; fragments of the Cello Concerto and '' The Devils of Loudun''. Writing about ''The Exorcist'', the film critic for ''The New Republic'' wrote that 'even the music is faultless, most of it by Krzysztof Penderecki, who at last is where he belongs'.

Stanley Kubrick Stanley Kubrick (; July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an American filmmaker and photographer. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Stanley Kubrick filmography, his films were nearly all adaptations of novels or sho ...

's '' The Shining'' (1980) features six pieces of Penderecki's music: '' Utrenja II: Ewangelia'', ''Utrenja II: Kanon Paschy'', ''The Awakening of Jacob'', '' De Natura Sonoris No. 1'', '' De Natura Sonoris No. 2'' and '' Polymorphia''.

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...

has used Penderecki's music in the soundtracks of the films '' Wild at Heart'' (1990), ''

Inland Empire The Inland Empire (commonly abbreviated as the IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County and Or ...

'' (2006), and the TV series ''

Twin Peaks ''Twin Peaks'' is an American Surrealist cinema, surrealist Mystery film, mystery-Horror film, horror Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It Pilot (Twin Peaks), premiered on American Broad ...

'' (2017). In the film '' Fearless'' (1993) by Peter Weir, the piece '' Polymorphia'' was once again used for an intense plane crash scene, seen from the point of view of the passenger played by

Jeff Bridges Jeffrey Leon Bridges (born December 4, 1949) is an American actor. He is known for his Leading actor, leading man roles in film and television. In a career spanning over seven decades, he has received List of awards and nominations received by ...

. Penderecki's '' Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima'' was also used during one of the final sequences in the film '' Children of Men'' (2006). Penderecki composed music for

Andrzej Wajda Andrzej Witold Wajda (; 6 March 1926 – 9 October 2016) was a Polish film and theatre director. Recipient of an Honorary Oscar, the Palme d'Or, as well as Honorary Golden Lion and Honorary Golden Bear Awards, he was a prominent member of the "P ...

's 2007 Academy Award nominated film '' Katyń'', while

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...

's '' Shutter Island'' (2010) featured his Symphony No. 3 and ''Fluorescences''.

Honors and awards

* 1959: 2nd Competition for Young Polish Composers in Warsaw organised by the Polish Composers' Union – Penderecki was awarded the top three prizes for the works he anonymously submitted: ''Stanzas'', ''Emanations'', and ''Psalms of David''; * 1961: Prize of the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

International Tribune of Composers in Paris for ''Threnody''; * 1966: Grand Art Prize of North Rhine-Westphalia for ''St. Luke Passion''; * 1967: Prix Italia for the ''St. Luke Passion''; Sibelius Gold Medal; * 1968:

for the ''Dies Irae'' in memory of the victims of Auschwitz; Grammy Trustees Award for significant contributions, other than performance, to the field of recording; * 1972: City of Kraków Award; * 1977: Herder Prize (Germany/Austria) * 1978: Prix

Arthur Honegger Arthur Honegger (; 10 March 1892 – 27 November 1955) was a Swiss-French composer who was born in France and lived a large part of his life in Paris. Honegger was a member of Les Six. For Halbreich, '' Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher'' is "more even ...

for ''Magnificat'' (France) * 1983: Wihuri Sibelius Prize (Finland); Polish National Award * 1985: Premio Lorenzo Magnifico (Italy) * 1987: Wolf Prize in Arts (Israel);

Grammy The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious a ...

for Best Contemporary Composition * 1990: Grand Cross of Merit of the

Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

; Chevalier de Saint Georges; * 1992:

Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition for ''Adagio – 4 Symphony''; Austrian Medal for Science and Art; * 1993: distinguished Citizen Fellowship at the Institute for Advanced Study at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

, Bloomington, Prize of the International Music Council / UNESCO for Music; Cultural Merit of the

Principality of Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, on the Mediterranean Sea. It is a semi-enclave borde ...

* 1995: Member of the Royal Irish Academy of Music (Dublin); honorary citizen of

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

; Primetime Emmy Award of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences; Pro Baltica Prize * 1996: Primetime

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

of the

Academy of Television Arts & Sciences The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), also colloquially known as the Television Academy, is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the Television in the United States, television industry in the United S ...

, Commander of the

Ordre des Arts et des Lettres The Order of Arts and Letters () is an order of France established on 2 May 1957 by the Minister of Culture. Its supplementary status to the was confirmed by President Charles de Gaulle in 1963. Its purpose is the recognition of significant ...

(France) * 1998: Grammy for Best Instrumental Soloist Performance; Composition Prize for the Promotion of the European economy, Foreign Honorary Member of the

American Academy of Arts and Letters The American Academy of Arts and Letters is a 300-member honor society whose goal is to "foster, assist, and sustain excellence" in American literature, Music of the United States, music, and Visual art of the United States, art. Its fixed number ...

; corresponding member of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts, Munich; Order of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas (Lithuania) * 1999: music Prize of the City of

Duisburg Duisburg (; , ) is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine (Lower Rhine) and the Ruhr (river), Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruh ...

(Germany); Honorary Board of the Vilnius Festival '99 * 2000:

Cannes Classical Award The International Classical Music Awards (ICMA) are music awards first awarded 6 April 2011. ICMA replace the Cannes Classical Awards (later called MIDEM Classical Awards) formerly awarded at MIDEM. The jury consists of music critics of magazines ...

as "Living Composer of the Year"; honorary member of the Society of Friends of Music in Vienna; Officer of the

Order of Merit of the Italian Republic The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic () is the most senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of Italy, President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking honour of the Republi ...

; * 2001:

Prince of Asturias Award The Princess of Asturias Awards (, ), formerly the Prince of Asturias Awards from 1981 to 2014 (), are a series of annual prizes awarded in Spain by the Princess of Asturias Foundation (previously the Prince of Asturias Foundation) to individuals ...

for Art (Spain); Grammy for Best Choral Performance for Credo; Honorary Professor of the

Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) is a provider of tertiary education in Hong Kong. Located near the north coast of Wan Chai on Hong Kong Island, the main campus also functions as a venue for performances. Béthanie (Hong Ko ...

* 2002: State Prize of

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia or North-Rhine/Westphalia, commonly shortened to NRW, is a States of Germany, state () in Old states of Germany, Western Germany. With more than 18 million inhabitants, it is the List of German states by population, most ...

(Germany), Romano Guardini Prize * 2003: Grand Gold Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria; Preis der Europäischen Kirchenmusik (Germany), Freedom of Dębica, Eduardo M. Torner Medal of the Conservatorio de Musica del Principado Asturias in

Oviedo Oviedo () or Uviéu (Asturian language, Asturian: ) is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains th ...

, Spain; honorary director of the Choir of the Prince of Asturias Foundation, Honorary President of the ''Apayo a la Creación Musical'', Judaica Foundation Medal; * 2004: Praemium Imperiale – Music (Japan) * 2005: Order of the White Eagle (Poland); Gold Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis * 2006: Order of the Three Stars (Latvia) * 2008: Polish Academy Award for Best Film Score for ''Katyn'', Commander of the Order of the Three Stars (Latvia),

Order of Bernardo O'Higgins The Order of Bernardo O'Higgins () is an award issued by Chile. It is the highest civilian honor awarded to non-Chilean citizens. This award was established in 1965 and named after one of the founders of the Chilean state, the independentist gener ...

(Chile), Golden Medal of the Minister of Culture (Armenia), Commander of the

Order of the Lion of Finland Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * A socio-political or established or existing order, e.g. World order, Ancien Regime, Pax Britannica * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood ...

; Thorunium Medal * 2009: Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg; Merit of Armenia * 2011: Viadrina Prize for contributions to Polish-German cooperation (

Viadrina European University European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder) () is a university located at Frankfurt (Oder) in Brandenburg, Germany. It is also known as the University of Frankfurt (Oder). The city is on the Oder River, which marks the border between Germany ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

); Grand Cross of the Order pro Merito Melitensi (Malta) * 2012: Paszport Polityki Award * 2014: Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 1st Class (Estonia) * 2015: Per Artem ad Deum Medal * 2017: Grammy for Best Choral Performance; New Culture of New Europe Award at the Krynica Economic Forum. Penderecki was an honorary doctor and honorary professor of several universities:

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

, Washington, D.C.,

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

, Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, Fryderyk Chopin Music Academy in Warsaw,

, Universities of Rochester,

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

Leuven Leuven (, , ), also called Louvain (, , ), is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipalit ...

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, Poznan and St. Olaf College (

Northfield, Minnesota Northfield is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, Dakota and Rice County, Minnesota, Rice counties in the U.S. state, state of Minnesota. It is mostly in Rice County, with a small portion in Dakota County. The population was 20,790 at the 2020 U ...

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( ; also known as Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a Private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded by members of ...

, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru,

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

(PA), University of St. Petersburg, Beijing Conservatory,

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

and Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität in Münster (Westphalia) (2006 Faculty of Arts). He was an honorary member of the following academies and music companies:

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

(London), Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Rome),

Royal Swedish Academy of Music The Royal Swedish Academy of Music (), founded in 1771 by King Gustav III, is one of the Royal Academies in Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in ...

(Stockholm), Academy of Arts (London), Academia Nacional de Bellas Artes (Buenos Aires), the Society of Friends of Music in Vienna, Academy of Arts in Berlin, Académie Internationale de Philosophie et de l'Art in Bern, and the Académie Nationale des Sciences, Belles-lettres et Arts in Bordeaux. In 2009, he became an honorary citizen of the city of

References

Sources

External links

"Penderecki's violin revolution in Poland"
(Drowned In Sound, 2012)

by Bruce Duffie (March 2000)
Interview with Krzysztof Penderecki
by Galina Zhukova (2011), Журнал ''reMusik'', Saint-Petersburg Contemporary Music Center.
"Krzysztof Penderecki: Turning history into avant-garde".
Video interview by Louisiana Channel, Denmark, 2013. *
Krzysztof Penderecki
Culture.pl
Krzysztof Penderecki's biography
on Cdmc website * *
Not Just 'The Shining': 13 Soundtracks Featuring Krzysztof Penderecki
on Culture.pl
Musical Trace
Pendereckis' film & theatre music (Polish only)
Penderecki's Garden
digital garden from the Adam Mickiewicz Institute launched on 29 March 2021 for the anniversary of his death. {{DEFAULTSORT:Penderecki, Krzysztof 1933 births 2020 deaths People from Dębica 20th-century Polish classical composers 21st-century Polish classical composers Microtonal composers Polish male conductors (music) Polish opera composers Polish male opera composers Polish people of Armenian descent Polish people of German descent Polish people of Ukrainian descent Yale School of Music faculty Grammy Award winners Members of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts Members of the Academy of Arts, Berlin Honorary members of the Royal Academy of Music Alumni of the Academy of Music in Kraków Academic staff of the Academy of Music in Kraków Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Prix Italia winners Wolf Prize in Arts laureates Recipients of the Order of Polonia Restituta (1944–1989) Recipients of the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg Recipients of the Praemium Imperiale Recipients of the Grand Decoration for Services to the Republic of Austria Officers of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Members of the American Academy of Arts and Letters EMI Classics and Virgin Classics artists Emmy Award winners Commandeurs of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres People associated with Dublin City University Recipients of the Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana, 1st Class International Rostrum of Composers prize-winners Herder Prize recipients 20th-century Polish conductors (music) 21st-century Polish conductors (music) Academic staff of the Folkwang University of the Arts 20th-century Polish male musicians 21st-century Polish male musicians Recipients of the State Award Badge (Poland) Recipients of the Order of the White Eagle (Poland) People from Bydgoszcz