Krzysztof Penderecki
Post-War · 1933–2020
Krzysztof Penderecki was born in Dębica, Poland, in 1933 and spent his career based in Kraków, where he trained and later taught. He first drew attention with music made of sounds string instruments were never meant to produce: knocks, whistles, and dense slides played by massed players. The Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima, for 52 strings, is the defining piece of that period, and film directors later borrowed his sound for scenes of dread; Kubrick used his music in The Shining.
From the mid-1960s he turned back toward older models, writing large sacred works for chorus and orchestra beginning with the St. Luke Passion, and he spent his later decades conducting around the world. He died in Kraków in 2020.
Hear the Threnody first: under ten minutes, and unlike anything written before it. Then the St. Luke Passion shows where his music went next.
76 works in the catalog, across 3 genres. Log what you listen to with Opus, the classical music journal for iPhone.
Chamber
- 3 Miniatures, for clarinet and piano
- 3 Miniatures, for violin and piano
- Cadenza, for viola solo
- Capriccio for Oboe and String Orchestra
- Capriccio for Siegfried Palm, for solo cello
- Der unterbrochene Gedanke, for string quartet
- Divertimento, for cello solo
- Duo concertante
- Intermezzo, for chamber orchestra
- La Follia Per Violino Solo
- Per slava, for cello solo
- Prelude in B flat major for Solo Clarinet
- Preludium for Solo Clarinet
- Quartet for Clarinet and String Trio
- Serenade, for chamber orchestra
- Sextet, for clarinet, horn, string trio, and piano
- Sinfonietta, for chamber orchestra
- Sinfonietta no. 2, for chamber orchestra
- Sonata no. 1, for violin and piano
- String Quartet no. 1
- String Quartet no. 2
- String Trio
- Suite for Cello
- Violin Sonata no. 1
- Violin Sonata no. 2
- Violoncello totale, for solo cello
Orchestral
- Symphony no. 3
- Threnody 'to the Victims of Hiroshima', for 52 strings
- 3 Pieces in Old Style, for orchestra
- Anaklasis, for string orchestra and percussion
- Capriccio, for violin and orchestra
- Cello Concerto no. 2
- Cello Sonata
- Chaconne, in memoria del Giovanni Paolo II, for orchestra
- Concerto Grosso, for 3 cellos and orchestra
- De Natura Sonoris 1
- De Natura Sonoris 2
- Fluorescences
- Flute Concerto
- Fonogrammi, for flute and chamber orchestra
- Horn Concerto, "Winterreise"
- Largo, for cello and orchestra
- Partita, for harpsichord, electric guitar, bass guitar, harp, double-bass, and orchestra
- Piano Concerto
- Polymorphia, for 48 strings
- Sinfonietta no. 1, for piano and orchestra
- Symphony no. 1
- Symphony no. 2, "Christmas Symphony"
- Symphony no. 4, "Adagio"
- Symphony no. 5
- Symphony no. 7, for 5 soloists, speaker, 3 choruses, and orchestra, "Seven Gates of Jerusalem"
- Symphony no. 8, for 3 voices, chorus, and orchestra, "Lieder der Vergänglichkeit"
- The Dream of Jacob
- Viola Concerto
- Violin Concerto no. 1
- Violin Concerto no. 2, "Metamorphosen"
Vocal
- Polish Requiem, for soloists, chorus, and orchestra
- St. Luke Passion, for 3 voices, narrator, choruses, and orchestra
- Agnus Dei, for 4 soloists, chorus and orchestra
- Benedictus, for chorus
- Cantata in honorem Almae Matris Universitatis Iagellonicae, for chorus and orchestra
- Canticum canticorum Salomonis, for chorus and orchestra
- Credo, for soloists, boys' choir, chorus and orchestra
- Dies irae, for soloists, chorus, and orchestra
- From the Psalms of David, for chorus, strings, and percussion
- Hymne an den heiligen Adalbert, for choir and orchestra
- Hymn to St. Daniel, for chorus and winds
- Kosmogonia, for soloists, choir and orchestra
- Lacrimosa, for soprano, chorus and orchestra
- Psalms of David, for chorus, 2 pianos, percussion, double bass and harp
- Song of Cherubim, for choir
- Song of the Cherubim, for chorus
- Strophen, for soloists, choir and orchestra
- Te Deum, for 4 soloists, 2 choruses, and orchestra
- Utrenia I: The Entombment of Christ, for 5 voices, 2 choruses, and orchestra
- Utrenia II: The Resurrection of Christ, for 5 soloists, boy's choir, chorus, and orchestra
Related composers
Keep a listening journal.
Opus is free on the App Store.
