Your Top 5 Favorite Penderecki Works

Started by Mirror Image, June 20, 2022, 07:42:38 PM

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Mirror Image



There was a thread of this type on this composer, but it's locked and the member who started it is no longer active, so...

My "Top 5" in no particular order:

Violin Concerto No. 1
St. Luke Passion
Kosmogonia
Horn Concerto, "Wintereisse"
Symphony No. 5, "Korean"


Symphonic Addict

Utrenja
Symphony No. 6
Largo for cello and orchestra
Partita for harpsichord, electric guitar, bass guitar, harp and double-bass
Piano Concerto
Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky

DavidW

Sextet
Clarinet Quartet
Symphonies 1, 3, 5

:)

Mirror Image


Brahmsian

Currently in no particular order:

Utrenja
Symphony No. 3
Polymorphia
Credo
Kanon for tape and orchestra

Archaic Torso of Apollo

St. Luke Passion
The Dream of Jacob

Sextet
Clarinet Quartet
Symphony No. 3
formerly VELIMIR (before that, Spitvalve)

"Who knows not strict counterpoint, lives and dies an ignoramus" - CPE Bach

Mirror Image

Quote from: OrchestralNut on June 22, 2022, 10:15:40 AM
Currently in no particular order:

Utrenja
Symphony No. 3
Polymorphia
Credo
Kanon for tape and orchestra

Quote from: Archaic Torso of Apollo on June 22, 2022, 10:28:37 AM
St. Luke Passion
The Dream of Jacob

Sextet
Clarinet Quartet
Symphony No. 3

Great lists, fellas! 8) Kanon for tape and orchestra is a rarity on disc. I only own one performance of it.

Cato

Quote from: Symphonic Addict on June 21, 2022, 09:55:21 PM

Utrenja
Symphony No. 6
Largo for cello and orchestra
Partita for harpsichord, electric guitar, bass guitar, harp and double-bass
Piano Concerto


Utrenja has been an all-around fave for decades!

I am interested that the Symphony #6  is in your list: what is/are the attraction(s) for you in the work?
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

Mirror Image

Quote from: Cato on June 22, 2022, 03:40:27 PM
Utrenja has been an all-around fave for decades!

I am interested that the Symphony #6  is in your list: what is/are the attraction(s) for you in the work?

You didn't ask me and I certainly can't speak for Cesar, Cato, but Penderecki's 6th is lyrical beyond belief. It's one of his most outwardly beautiful pieces he ever wrote. The work features an erhu, which is employed to great effect.

Here's a little about the work if you're interested:

The history of the symphony is full of curiosities, ranging from works that are extremely long or scored for extensive instrumental forces to those of dubious authorship. There are also famous symphonies labelled as No. 0, works with alternate or multiple opus numbers, and a wealth of 'unfinished' symphonies. Krzysztof Penderecki's 6. Sinfonie can also be included in this category, since his Seventh and Eighth were completed decades ago.

This work is comprised of eight songs on Chinese texts connected by solo intermezzos played on the Chinese stringed instrument, erhu. As in his two preceding works, the focus here is on vowels. This work, however, is scored for smaller orchestral forces and possesses a more intimate chamber music character, at times with greater melancholy than before. Penderecki has declared this symphony to be his farewell from the genre, although we know from experience that anything is possible with symphonies.

[Description taken from Schott Music's website]

Cato

Quote from: Mirror Image on June 22, 2022, 05:14:21 PM
You didn't ask me and I certainly can't speak for Cesar, Cato, but Penderecki's 6th is lyrical beyond belief. It's one of his most outwardly beautiful pieces he ever wrote. The work features an erhu, which is employed to great effect.

Here's a little about the work if you're interested:

The history of the symphony is full of curiosities, ranging from works that are extremely long or scored for extensive instrumental forces to those of dubious authorship. There are also famous symphonies labelled as No. 0, works with alternate or multiple opus numbers, and a wealth of 'unfinished' symphonies. Krzysztof Penderecki's 6. Sinfonie can also be included in this category, since his Seventh and Eighth were completed decades ago.

This work is comprised of eight songs on Chinese texts connected by solo intermezzos played on the Chinese stringed instrument, erhu. As in his two preceding works, the focus here is on vowels. This work, however, is scored for smaller orchestral forces and possesses a more intimate chamber music character, at times with greater melancholy than before. Penderecki has declared this symphony to be his farewell from the genre, although we know from experience that anything is possible with symphonies.

[Description taken from Schott Music's website]

Many thanks for the review!  I recall seeing part of the score and hearing it via YouTube, but it seems I will need to revisit the work!  Thanks for the catalyst!
"Meet Miss Ruth Sherwood, from Columbus, Ohio, the Middle of the Universe!"

- Brian Aherne introducing Rosalind Russell in  My Sister Eileen (1942)

Symphonic Addict

Quote from: Cato on June 22, 2022, 03:40:27 PM
Utrenja has been an all-around fave for decades!

I am interested that the Symphony #6  is in your list: what is/are the attraction(s) for you in the work?

As John has already mentioned, it is because of that enchanting lyricism that is not found in other of his pieces. Moreover, the orchestration highlights that magic that permeates the music. One of Penderecki's purest and most poetic compositions IMO.
Part of the tragedy of the Palestinians is that they have essentially no international support for a good reason: they've no wealth, they've no power, so they've no rights.

Noam Chomsky

Mirror Image

Quote from: Cato on June 22, 2022, 05:26:07 PM
Many thanks for the review!  I recall seeing part of the score and hearing it via YouTube, but it seems I will need to revisit the work!  Thanks for the catalyst!

My pleasure, Cato. 8)

Quote from: Symphonic Addict on June 22, 2022, 05:34:08 PM
As John has already mentioned, it is because of that enchanting lyricism that is not found in other of his pieces. Moreover, the orchestration highlights that magic that permeates the music. One of Penderecki's purest and most poetic compositions IMO.

Not to contradict you, Cesar, but I'm not entirely sure I agree with what you wrote --- A dream did breathe on me... shares some these lyrical qualities and I think the String Quartet No. 3, "Leaves from an unwritten diary" also has some of these qualities as well. You'll also find it in his Symphony No. 8, "Lieder der Vergänglichkeit".

Brahmsian

Quote from: OrchestralNut on June 22, 2022, 10:15:40 AMCurrently in no particular order:

Utrenja
Symphony No. 3
Polymorphia
Credo
Kanon for tape and orchestra

Hmm, a revision as of now:

In no order:

Utrenja
Kanon for tape and orchestra
Kosmogonia
St. Luke Passion
Violin Concerto No. 1