Krzysztof Penderecki (1933-2020)

[bhodges]

For Penderecki fans, this concert is a year away, but might be worth making plans for.  The Yale School of Music is sponsoring this concert at Carnegie Hall:

April 30, 2010
Carnegie Hall
Penderecki Conducts Penderecki
Four orchestral works spanning his career

Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima (1960)
Capriccio for Violin and Orchestra (1967) - Syoko Aki, violin (who performed it with Penderecki at Yale in 1974)
Concerto for Horn and Orchestra, Winterreise (2008, American premiere) - William Purvis, horn
Symphony No. 4, Adagio (1989) - winner of 1992 Grawemeyer Prize

--Bruce

[Maciek]

Concerto for Horn and Orchestra, Winterreise (2008, American premiere) - William Purvis, horn

*raises eyebrows*

[Maciek]

raises in the intransitive sense, so to speak

[bhodges]

Does that mean I should start investigating hotel rooms for your visit? 

--Bruce

[not edward]

*raises eyebrows*

I have a bootleg mp3 of this one. I was deeply unimpressed, but can upload it if you'd like.

[Maciek]

Nah, thanks, the title is what really got me interested. I think I'll live without hearing the actual music - especially after that mini-review.

Might be interesting to hear Penderecki himself conduct the Threnody though. But no, Bruce, as much as I think any pretext would be good enough to come over for a visit, I don't think I'll be coming.

[MDL]

Andrew Clements, in his review of Utrenja in the Guardian (01/05/09):

"The performance... is excellent but the music itself is contrived and calculated, as if Penderecki knew he had hit upon a winning formula in the Passion and was only too keen to apply it shamelessly again."

What absolute bollocks! The sound worlds of the Passion and Utrenja are completely different; the Bach-like chorales and doomy Romantic string melodies which are so prominent in the former are completely absent from the latter. Certainly, Penderecki can be accused of recycling ideas in his later neo-Romantic phase, but to my amateur ears, the Passion and Utrenja are as different as Berg's Wozzeck and Lulu.

The new Naxos recording is very good, although it's a shame that the eerie wooden clattering (what the hell is making that noise?) in the second movement of the Entombment, such a striking effect in Ormandy's and Markowski's recordings, is almost inaudible in Wit's.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

The sound worlds of the Passion and Utrenja are completely different; the Bach-like chorales and doomy Romantic string melodies which are so prominent in the former are completely absent from the latter.

I agree. I had the old Philips recording of Utrenja, and I could never make it through the piece from beginning to end because it was such a sonic assault. The Passion on the other hand is very well-paced and laid out in a highly coherent fashion. I think having to work within the Passion narrative forced Penderecki to pay more attention to the dramatic structure.

[MDL]

I agree. I had the old Philips recording of Utrenja, and I could never make it through the piece from beginning to end because it was such a sonic assault.

Erm, fair enough!    Actually, I do prefer the first half of Utrenja to the second which can be a bit much if you're not geared up for it.

[Maciek]

the eerie wooden clattering (what the hell is making that noise?) in the second movement of the Entombment

I believe the sound is made by a kołatka (or probably more than one of them). I'm not sure what the correct English word is. Maybe it's clapper?? In catholic liturgy (not sure about elsewhere) bells are not tolled and the organ is not played during the period between the Gloria at the Mass of the Lord's Supper (evening before Good Friday) and the Gloria of the Easter Vigil (evening of Holy Saturday). A kołatka (clapper?) is a wooden device that is used in place of bells in the period between those two Glorias. At least that's the tradition in Poland. So in that period during Transubstantiation clappers (if that's the word) are used instead of bells. The sound forms a very distinctive part of the aural experience of the Easter Triduum.

[MDL]

I believe the sound is made by a kołatka (or probably more than one of them). I'm not sure what the correct English word is. Maybe it's clapper?? In catholic liturgy (not sure about elsewhere) bells are not tolled and the organ is not played during the period between the Gloria at the Mass of the Lord's Supper (evening before Good Friday) and the Gloria of the Easter Vigil (evening of Holy Saturday). A kołatka (clapper?) is a wooden device that is used in place of bells in the period between those two Glorias. At least that's the tradition in Poland. So in that period during Transubstantiation clappers (if that's the word) are used instead of bells. The sound forms a very distinctive part of the aural experience of the Easter Triduum.

Excellent! Thanks for the reply. Clappers it is (or should that be they are?). As a nominal C of E and practising atheist, I know hardly anything about bog-standard Roman Catholic rituals, so the habits of eastern European Catholics are a complete mystery to me.

Edit: No offence meant to anyone's religious affiliations.

[snyprrr]

I'm curious, what is P's most "morbid" score, and for my purpose I'm choosing his early...I'm gonna call it "morbid Romanticism" phase for considersation:

The Dream of Jacob (74)
Adagirtto (79)

Violin Cto1 (77)

Sym2 "Christmas" (80)
(what IS Sym3???)

Cello Cto2 (82)
Viola Cto (83)

I believe there's a gap of 7-8 yrs before the next onslaught, no? I used to have the Dream and Adagietto (thanks to Penguin Gd?) and apparently they didn't make a great impression. The Violin Cto1 almost made too much of an impression. That was the most evil classical I'd heard; though, it waaas long, and the ideas maybe seemed too simple (or simplistic) to sustain the structure.

So, and rightfully so, I've been scurred to try the Sym2 or Cello2, and I think I know what to expect (this is really no one's fav P, no?), but lately I've just been craving something turgid and dreary and grey and ugly and anonymous. I think I've heard the Viola Cto, but if I did, I'm sure I dismissed it, but I can't remember.

Which one of these pieces is the dubious masterpiece of morbid Romanticism. Or, does another composer hold the key? You must admit, it's a pretty specific sound. Petterrssonn (ack, I just totally forgot how to spell his name!) has way too much life to compete.

Segerstam comes close.

[snyprrr]

I've just heard Cello Cto. No.2 again for the first time (Slava/Erato), and I am quite pleased. It's a fairly amorphous 33min. single mvmt. work, but has quite a few episodes, with a lot of percussion bits. It's in P.'s Romantic mode, though not as "morbid" as I'd hoped, but muuuch better than ever expected. The Violin Cto. No.1 it is NOT. I have a feeling the Viola Cto. won't be as good (haven't heard it in years), but I'm still holding out hope for the "Christmas" symphony.

All 80s Cello Concertos No.2 (Schnittke/Halffter/Penderecki, etc.) written for Rosty seem equally dark to me. Ugly, which means I like it.

[monafam]

A lot of diversity about Penderecki on this thread...

I must say that he is quickly becoming one of my favorite composers.  While my collection is relatively small (Symphonies 2, 3, & 4; Cello Concerto No. 2, Threnody, Credo, etc.) I've liked most of what I have heard. 

[Maciek]

snyprrr, sorry this post comes so many months later. I'm not exactly sure I know what you'd call "morbid" music but I think the 2nd Symphony might indeed fit the bill, at least to some extent. It's exuberantly romantic and rather dark, desperate music on the verge of depression or maybe a rage attack. Or something like that.

The Viola Cto I would not recommend. At least based on the very hazy recollection that I have...

[MDL]

Wit has been busy topping up his Penderecki catalogue. This is from the Naxos website's list of recording sessions. I've no idea when these two CDs will be released, but I'm especially looking forward to hearing new recordings of Kosmogonia and Canticum Canticorum Salomonis.


September & November 2009

Antoni Wit 

PENDERECKI
Orchestral album: Horn Concerto, Partita for Cembalo and Orchestra [to couple with Jacob's Awakening, Anaklasis, De Natura Sonoris No. 1 to 9, all recorded as of April 2009]

Choral album: Kosmogonia, Canticum Canticorum Salomonis, Veni Creator, Strofy [to couple with St Adalbert Hymnus & Cherubin's Song (choir a capella)—both recorded as of April 2009]

Stefan Dohr, horn (Principal Horn, Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra)
E. Stefanska-Lukowica, harpsichord • Olga Pasichnyk, soprano & other singers
Warsaw Philharmonic Choir & Orchestra • Antoni Wit, conductor

[Maciek]

Great news! Yes, Kosmogonia and Canticum are the ones I'd be especially eager to hear too. And Pasichnyk/Pasiecznik - always and in any repertoire.

BTW, has Wit recorded Fluorescences yet?? (I don't really follow the Naxos catalogue.)

[not edward]

Yes, it was on the CD with the 3rd symphony.

[Maciek]

Yes, it was on the CD with the 3rd symphony.

Thanks.

[Maciek]

From a newly discovered (though no longer functioning) blog:

1st String Quartet (1960), 2nd Sonata for violin and piano (1999), 2nd String Quartet (1969), Sextet for piano, violin, viola, cello, clarinet and French horn (2000)

Performers: Silesian String Quartet II (with Szymon Krzeszowiec), Kaja Danczowska - violin, Sławomir Cierpik - piano, Artur Pachlewski - clarinet, Wiesław Grochowski - French horn, Robert Marat - piano

This was a Warsaw Autumn 2003 concert.