Penderecki: Orchestral Works
View all works by Penderecki in the main appExplore the complete catalog of Orchestral compositions by Penderecki. This curated list includes composition years, historical Wikipedia context, and interactive audio to add specific tracks directly to your listening queue.
| Title | Year | Actions |
|---|---|---|
| 3 Pieces in Old Style, for orchestra |
Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki (Polish: [ˈkʂɨʂtɔf pɛndɛˈrɛt͡skʲi] ; 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, 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. After graduating from the Academy of Music in Krakow, 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 and the choral work St. Luke Passion have received popular acclaim. His first opera, The Devils of Loudun, was never successful despite repeated revisions. 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 and the tritone. 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 in 1967 and 1968; the Wihuri Sibelius Prize of 1983; four Grammy Awards in 1987, 1998 (twice), and 2017; the Wolf Prize in Arts in 1987; and the University of Louisville 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 renamed in his honour. |
|
| Anaklasis, for string orchestra and percussion |
Anaklasis is a composition for 42 string instruments and percussion, composed in 1960 by the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki. It was first performed at the Donaueschingen Festival in 1960. At this first performance, it was well received by the audience who demanded an encore. The title of the piece, Anaklasis means "Refraction of Light". This idea is expressed through the continuous modulation of timbre in the piece. Anaklasis is also a metrical term used in Greek poetry. Penderecki's biographer, Wolfram Schwinger noted that, "Penderecki has indeed admitted, in his programme note for Donaueschingen 1960 when Anaklasis was first performed, that this metrical definition inspired the rhythmic procedure of the central section, and led to the ideas of rotation and arhythmical progressions as factors governing the rhythms generally." |
|
| Capriccio, for violin and orchestra |
The Capriccio for Violin and Orchestra is a composition by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki. It is one of the five caprices that he composed and one of the two that he composed for a soloist with an orchestra, together with the Capriccio for Oboe and Eleven Instruments. |
|
| Cello Concerto no. 2 |
A cello concerto (sometimes called a violoncello concerto) is a concerto for solo cello with orchestra or, very occasionally, smaller groups of instruments. These pieces have been written since the Baroque era if not earlier. However, unlike instruments such as the violin, the cello had to face harsh competition from the older, well-established viola da gamba. As a result, few important cello concertos were written before the 19th century – with the notable exceptions of those by Vivaldi, C.P.E. Bach, Haydn and Boccherini. Its full recognition as a solo instrument came during the Romantic era with the concertos of Schumann, Saint-Saëns, Lalo and Dvořák. From then on, cello concertos have become more and more frequent. Twentieth-century composers have made the cello a standard concerto instrument, along with the already-rooted piano and violin concertos; among the most notable concertos of the first half of the century are those of Elgar, Prokofiev, Barber and Hindemith. Many post-World War II composers (Shostakovich, Walton, Ligeti, Britten, Dutilleux, Lutoslawski and Penderecki among others) have written at least one. One special consideration composers must take with the cello (as well as all instruments with a low range) is with the issue of projection. Unlike instruments like the violin, whose high range projects fairly easily above the orchestra, the cello's lower notes can be easily lost when the cello is not playing a solo or near solo. Because of this, composers have had to deliberately pare down the orchestral component of cello concertos while the cello is playing in the lower registers. |
|
| Cello Sonata |
A cello concerto (sometimes called a violoncello concerto) is a concerto for solo cello with orchestra or, very occasionally, smaller groups of instruments. These pieces have been written since the Baroque era if not earlier. However, unlike instruments such as the violin, the cello had to face harsh competition from the older, well-established viola da gamba. As a result, few important cello concertos were written before the 19th century – with the notable exceptions of those by Vivaldi, C.P.E. Bach, Haydn and Boccherini. Its full recognition as a solo instrument came during the Romantic era with the concertos of Schumann, Saint-Saëns, Lalo and Dvořák. From then on, cello concertos have become more and more frequent. Twentieth-century composers have made the cello a standard concerto instrument, along with the already-rooted piano and violin concertos; among the most notable concertos of the first half of the century are those of Elgar, Prokofiev, Barber and Hindemith. Many post-World War II composers (Shostakovich, Walton, Ligeti, Britten, Dutilleux, Lutoslawski and Penderecki among others) have written at least one. One special consideration composers must take with the cello (as well as all instruments with a low range) is with the issue of projection. Unlike instruments like the violin, whose high range projects fairly easily above the orchestra, the cello's lower notes can be easily lost when the cello is not playing a solo or near solo. Because of this, composers have had to deliberately pare down the orchestral component of cello concertos while the cello is playing in the lower registers. |
|
| Chaconne, in memoria del Giovanni Paolo II, for orchestra |
This article lists compositions written for the viola. The list includes works in which the viola is a featured instrument: viola solo, viola and piano, viola and orchestra, ensemble of violas, etc. Catalogue number, date of composition and publisher (for copyrighted works) are also included. Ordering is by composer surname. This pages lists composers whose surname falls into the O to R alphabetic range. For others, see respective pages: List of compositions for viola: A to B List of compositions for viola: C to E List of compositions for viola: F to H List of compositions for viola: I to K List of compositions for viola: L to N List of compositions for viola: S List of compositions for viola: T to Z |
|
| Concerto Grosso, for 3 cellos and orchestra |
The concerto grosso (pronounced [konˈtʃɛrto ˈɡrɔsso]; Italian for big concert(o), plural concerti grossi [konˈtʃɛrti ˈɡrɔssi]) is a form of baroque music in which the musical material is passed between a small group of soloists (the concertino) and full orchestra (the ripieno, tutti or concerto grosso). This is in contrast to the solo concerto which features a single solo instrument with the melody line, accompanied by the orchestra. |
|
| De Natura Sonoris 1 |
De natura sonoris (On the nature of sound) is the title of three works by the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki. De natura sonoris no. 1 (the number was appended later) was composed in 1966. The title was inspired by Lucretius's De rerum natura (On the nature of things). As the title suggests, it is a vigorous exploration of wildly divergent orchestral effects and dynamics. It was premiered on 7 April 1966 at the International Festival of Contemporary Art in the French town of Royan. De natura sonoris no. 2 was composed five years later to a commission by the Juilliard School of Music in New York. Penderecki again took up the theme of vividly contrasting orchestral colouration, including unusual percussive effects: an iron bar is struck by implements such as a hammer and a saw. It was premiered on 3 December 1971 at Juilliard under the conductor Jorge Mester. Both pieces are approximately eight minutes in length each, with De natura sonoris no. 2 being the longer of the two. In 1975 the composer recorded both works with the Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra for EMI. Both of these pieces featured in the Stanley Kubrick film The Shining. In 2012, Penderecki composed De natura sonoris no. 3. |
|
| De Natura Sonoris 2 |
De natura sonoris (On the nature of sound) is the title of three works by the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki. De natura sonoris no. 1 (the number was appended later) was composed in 1966. The title was inspired by Lucretius's De rerum natura (On the nature of things). As the title suggests, it is a vigorous exploration of wildly divergent orchestral effects and dynamics. It was premiered on 7 April 1966 at the International Festival of Contemporary Art in the French town of Royan. De natura sonoris no. 2 was composed five years later to a commission by the Juilliard School of Music in New York. Penderecki again took up the theme of vividly contrasting orchestral colouration, including unusual percussive effects: an iron bar is struck by implements such as a hammer and a saw. It was premiered on 3 December 1971 at Juilliard under the conductor Jorge Mester. Both pieces are approximately eight minutes in length each, with De natura sonoris no. 2 being the longer of the two. In 1975 the composer recorded both works with the Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra for EMI. Both of these pieces featured in the Stanley Kubrick film The Shining. In 2012, Penderecki composed De natura sonoris no. 3. |
|
| Fluorescences |
Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki (Polish: [ˈkʂɨʂtɔf pɛndɛˈrɛt͡skʲi] ; 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, 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. After graduating from the Academy of Music in Krakow, 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 and the choral work St. Luke Passion have received popular acclaim. His first opera, The Devils of Loudun, was never successful despite repeated revisions. 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 and the tritone. 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 in 1967 and 1968; the Wihuri Sibelius Prize of 1983; four Grammy Awards in 1987, 1998 (twice), and 2017; the Wolf Prize in Arts in 1987; and the University of Louisville 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 renamed in his honour. |
|
| Flute Concerto |
A flute concerto is a concerto for solo flute and instrumental ensemble, customarily the orchestra. Such works have been written from the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up through the present day. Some major composers have contributed to the flute concerto repertoire, with the best known works including those by Mozart and Vivaldi. Traditionally a three-movement work, the modern-day flute concerto has occasionally been structured in four or more movements. In some flute concertos, especially from the Baroque and modern eras, the flute is accompanied by a chamber ensemble rather than an orchestra. |
|
| Fonogrammi, for flute and chamber orchestra |
Fonogrammi, for flute and chamber orchestra, is a composition by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki. It was finished in 1961 and was published by Schott Music, even though it remained initially unpublished. |
|
| Horn Concerto, "Winterreise" |
This is a selected list of musical compositions that feature a prominent part for the natural horn or the French horn, sorted by era and then by composer. |
|
| Largo, for cello and orchestra |
The following is an incomplete list of works by the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki. Source: |
|
| Partita, for harpsichord, electric guitar, bass guitar, harp, double-bass, and orchestra |
The Partita for Harpsichord and Orchestra, sometimes also referred to as Partita for Harpsichord, Electric Guitar, Bass Guitar, Harp, Double Bass, and Chamber Orchestra or Harpsichord Concerto, is a composition by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki. It was finished in 1971 and is Penderecki's only major composition for a harpsichord soloist. |
|
| Piano Concerto |
A cello concerto (sometimes called a violoncello concerto) is a concerto for solo cello with orchestra or, very occasionally, smaller groups of instruments. These pieces have been written since the Baroque era if not earlier. However, unlike instruments such as the violin, the cello had to face harsh competition from the older, well-established viola da gamba. As a result, few important cello concertos were written before the 19th century – with the notable exceptions of those by Vivaldi, C.P.E. Bach, Haydn and Boccherini. Its full recognition as a solo instrument came during the Romantic era with the concertos of Schumann, Saint-Saëns, Lalo and Dvořák. From then on, cello concertos have become more and more frequent. Twentieth-century composers have made the cello a standard concerto instrument, along with the already-rooted piano and violin concertos; among the most notable concertos of the first half of the century are those of Elgar, Prokofiev, Barber and Hindemith. Many post-World War II composers (Shostakovich, Walton, Ligeti, Britten, Dutilleux, Lutoslawski and Penderecki among others) have written at least one. One special consideration composers must take with the cello (as well as all instruments with a low range) is with the issue of projection. Unlike instruments like the violin, whose high range projects fairly easily above the orchestra, the cello's lower notes can be easily lost when the cello is not playing a solo or near solo. Because of this, composers have had to deliberately pare down the orchestral component of cello concertos while the cello is playing in the lower registers. |
|
| Polymorphia, for 48 strings |
Krzysztof Eugeniusz Penderecki (Polish: [ˈkʂɨʂtɔf pɛndɛˈrɛt͡skʲi] ; 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, 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. After graduating from the Academy of Music in Krakow, 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 and the choral work St. Luke Passion have received popular acclaim. His first opera, The Devils of Loudun, was never successful despite repeated revisions. 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 and the tritone. 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 in 1967 and 1968; the Wihuri Sibelius Prize of 1983; four Grammy Awards in 1987, 1998 (twice), and 2017; the Wolf Prize in Arts in 1987; and the University of Louisville 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 renamed in his honour. |
|
| Sinfonietta no. 1, for piano and orchestra |
This is a list of compositions for piano and orchestra. For a description of related musical forms, see Concerto and Piano concerto. |
|
| Symphony no. 1 |
The Symphony No. 1 by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki was composed in 1973. It was published by Polish Music Publishing House and Schott Music and has never been expanded or revised. |
|
| Symphony no. 2, "Christmas Symphony" |
Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki wrote his Symphony No. 2 during the winter of 1979–80. Sometimes referred to as the "Christmas Symphony" (the opening phrase from the Christmas carol "Silent Night" occurs three times during the symphony), neither the score nor the parts (Schott Music, Mainz 45 791) make any reference to this moniker. |
|
| Symphony no. 3 |
The Symphony No. 3 is a symphony in five movements composed between 1988 and 1995 by Krzysztof Penderecki. It was commissioned and completed for the centenary of the Munich Philharmonic. Its earliest version, Passacaglia and Rondo (which later served as the basis for the second and fourth movements of the complete symphony), premiered at the International Music Festival Week in Lucerne, Switzerland, on August 20, 1988. It was performed by the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and conducted by Penderecki. The full symphony premiered in Munich on 8 December 1995, performed by the Munich Philharmonic, again conducted by the composer. The Third Symphony exhibits a number of stylistic features which exemplify Penderecki's music of the 1980s, including motor rhythms, passages of free rhythm, chromatic scalar figures and emphasis on the minor second, dissonant intervals, and expanded percussion section. The work's dense counterpoint, innovative instrumentation, free harmonies, and complex rhythms make it stylistically similar to Penderecki's 1986 opera The Black Mask. |
|
| Symphony no. 4, "Adagio" |
The Symphony No. 3 is a symphony in five movements composed between 1988 and 1995 by Krzysztof Penderecki. It was commissioned and completed for the centenary of the Munich Philharmonic. Its earliest version, Passacaglia and Rondo (which later served as the basis for the second and fourth movements of the complete symphony), premiered at the International Music Festival Week in Lucerne, Switzerland, on August 20, 1988. It was performed by the Lucerne Festival Orchestra and conducted by Penderecki. The full symphony premiered in Munich on 8 December 1995, performed by the Munich Philharmonic, again conducted by the composer. The Third Symphony exhibits a number of stylistic features which exemplify Penderecki's music of the 1980s, including motor rhythms, passages of free rhythm, chromatic scalar figures and emphasis on the minor second, dissonant intervals, and expanded percussion section. The work's dense counterpoint, innovative instrumentation, free harmonies, and complex rhythms make it stylistically similar to Penderecki's 1986 opera The Black Mask. |
|
| Symphony no. 5 |
Krzysztof Penderecki wrote his Seventh Symphony, subtitled "Seven Gates of Jerusalem", in 1996 to commemorate the third millennium of the city of Jerusalem. Originally conceived as an oratorio, this choral symphony was premièred in Jerusalem in January 1997; it was only after the first Polish performance two months later that Penderecki decided to call it a symphony. It is written for two sopranos, alto, tenor, bass, narrator, chorus and orchestra. |
|
| Symphony no. 7, for 5 soloists, speaker, 3 choruses, and orchestra, "Seven Gates of Jerusalem" |
Krzysztof Penderecki wrote his Seventh Symphony, subtitled "Seven Gates of Jerusalem", in 1996 to commemorate the third millennium of the city of Jerusalem. Originally conceived as an oratorio, this choral symphony was premièred in Jerusalem in January 1997; it was only after the first Polish performance two months later that Penderecki decided to call it a symphony. It is written for two sopranos, alto, tenor, bass, narrator, chorus and orchestra. |
|
| Symphony no. 8, for 3 voices, chorus, and orchestra, "Lieder der Vergänglichkeit" |
The following is an incomplete list of works by the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki. Source: |
|
| The Dream of Jacob |
The Dream of Jacob, also referred to as The Awakening of Jacob (Polish: Przebudzenie Jakuba), is a composition by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki. It is scored for large orchestra and was finished in 1974. |
|
| Threnody 'to the Victims of Hiroshima', for 52 strings |
Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima, also translated as Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima (Polish: Tren – ofiarom Hiroszimy), is a musical composition for 52 string instruments composed in 1961 by Krzysztof Penderecki. Dedicated to the residents and hibakusha who were killed or wounded in Hiroshima during the first-ever wartime usage of an atomic weapon, Penderecki's threnody won the Tribune Internationale des Compositeurs UNESCO prize in 1961. |
|
| Viola Concerto |
A viola concerto is a concerto contrasting a viola with another body of musical instruments such as an orchestra or chamber music ensemble. Throughout music history, especially during the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic eras, viola was viewed mostly as an ensemble instrument. Though there were a few notable concertos written for the instrument in this time period, these instances were quite rare and the instrument continued to be ignored. However, during the 20th century, the instrument was revitalized thanks to the work of a number of violists and composers, which led to the commission and composition of many more viola concertos, expanding the repertoire significantly. |
|
| Violin Concerto no. 1 |
Isaac Stern (July 21, 1920 – September 22, 2001) was an American violinist. Born in Poland, Stern moved to the United States when he was 14 months old. Stern performed both nationally and internationally, notably touring the Soviet Union and China, and performing extensively in Israel, a country to which he had close ties since shortly after its founding. Stern received extensive recognition for his work, including winning the Presidential Medal of Freedom and six Grammy Awards, and being named to the French Legion of Honour. The Isaac Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall bears his name, due to his role in saving the venue from demolition in the 1960s. |
|
| Violin Concerto no. 2, "Metamorphosen" |
The following is a list of Grammy Awards winners and nominees from Poland: |