Penderecki

[Belle]

I've been listening this morning to this version of Penderecki's 'Concerto Resurrection for Piano and Orchestra'; I must say the pianist is impressive, especially since she's reading the work whilst playing it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-NBM7yHtzg

It sounds a lot like Prokofiev crossed with Bartok and fairly derivative: perhaps that's the 'resurrection'!! Really, is there anything original left to be said in the piano concerto genre?

You don't hear much of this composer's works in the concert/recital halls, but how many of you are enthusiasts for his music?

[John F]

There have been two Pendereckis in the same body. Back in the '60s I saw his opera "The Devils of Loudun," a really tough modernist nut to crack; it was recorded so you can hear it too, but for me once was more than enough. But in the 1990s I heard his second violin concerto, composed for and played by Anne-Sophie Mutter, and it's second cousin to Shostakovich 1 and maybe Bartok 2. In between, Penderecki's style underwent a radical change like that of Bartok from the tough modernism of the 1930s to the audience-friendly concerto for orchestra of his last years. I like it!

[John F]

Bringing together the topics of two apparently unrelated threads, Penderecki composed an opera based on "Paradise Lost," premiered and broadcast in Chicago in 1978. As I remember, it was listenable and quite powerful. And lo, it's on YouTube. Here's the first part:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z75cdL2Kv8

[jserraglio]

Thanks. I also stumbled on these excerpts from an oratorio, Paradise Lost, by a youthful Anton Rubinstein.

[Belle]

I'll take a listen to the Penderecki "Paradise Lost" tomorrow as we are hostages indoors because of days of century temperatures here and bad fires in the area (most, if not all, deliberately lit). So, for the moment it is nearly "paradise lost" since it is the wine growing area which has been 'licked' by horrendous flames today. Large, low-flying aircraft (dangerous work!) dumping vast sprays of fire retardant don't seem to have been effective. As I write this I can look out my bedroom window and see a jagged line of glowing orange.

[John F]

Whereas up here, the high temperature tomorrow will be below freezing. Where's global warming when we could use it?

[diegobueno]

One of the more curious aspects of Penderecki's compositional output was the non-existence of a 6th symphony.

He wrote his Symphony no. 5, the Korean Symphony, in 1992.
In 1996 An oratorio called The Seven Gates of Jerusalem appeared, which he subsequently decided should be called (for numerological reasons, I'm sure) his Symphony no. 7.
In 2005 he came out with a Symphony no. 8, called Lieder der Vergänglichkeit, for vocal soloists with orchestra. He revised the symphony in 2008, doubling its length.
For 25 years people have been speculating "so where's the sixth symphony? Could he not complete it, or what?"

On Sept 24 of this year, the mysterious Sixth Symphony was finally premiered by the Guangzhou Symphony. Like the 7th and 8th, it's vocal and is called Chinese Poems.

https://www.eamdc.com/news/world-premie ... orchestra/

[diegobueno]

Starting around the time of Paradise Lost, Penderecki's thematic material tends to consist of chromatic scale fragments, a few notes in one direction and a few notes in the other.

Here's a good example, one of my favorite Penderecki works, because it involves the clarinet. This performance of the Clarinet Quartet features the incomparable Anthony McGill.

Notice that the cellist had to tune the C string to B for a sustained low B starting at the 3:30 mark. When I saw this work performed by faculty at Ithaca College (ca. 2001), I noticed the cellist vibrating on this low B. She had actually tuned the string to B flat.

[barney]

Just caught up with this thread. Belle, I presume the fires stayed away from you? Bush fire season in Australia ranges from disconcerting to terrifying to fatal.