Post by erik on Dec 18, 2021 14:32:00 GMT -5
The most famous composer to come from Poland during the 20th century is in the Classical Works Spotlight for a work whose title may symbolize the holiday but whose music is decidedly Mahlerian in scope.
Penderecki: SYMPHONY NO. 2 (CHRISTMAS)
While the Polish conductor Krzysztof Penderecki was frequently known for fairly harrowing modernistic works like his 1961 “Threnody For The Victims Of Hiroshima” and works like “De Natura Sonoris No. 1” and “The Awakening Of Jacob” (these last two were used to bone-chilling effect by director Stanley Kubrick in his 1980 horror film classic The Shining), he also could write modernistic works that had a more recognizable tone to them. One of them is his single-movement Symphony No. 2, which he composed in during the last half of 1979 and the first two months of 1980. Because this work references the opening phrase of the German composer Franz Gruber’s famous Christmas carol “Silent Night” three times at different points, it is often referred to as the “Christmas Symphony”, although neither the score nor the parts make any other references to the holiday. The symphony itself is in a modified sonata form, in five movements that are interconnected: (1) Moderato; (2) Allegretto; (3) Lento; (4) Tempo I; and (5) Allegretto, and the orchestral forces required are, not too surprisingly, quite large, with what appear to be references to the Ninth Symphony of Gustav Mahler. The work received its premiere, with the composer in attendance, at Lincoln Center on May 1, 1980, with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Zubin Mehta, and it was more warmly received by audiences than it was (initially) by the critics. Nevertheless, while Penderecki would continue to cross between the conventional and dissonant throughout his career, right up to his passing on March 29, 2020, he became arguably the most popular composer to come out of the then-Communist Poland during the second half of the 20th century, and on into the 21st as well.
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra/KRZYSZTOF PENDERECKI (EMI)
Included (2-CD collection, with choral works featuring the Polish Radio Chorus and vocal soloists):
TE DEUM
LACRIMOSA
MAGNIFICAT
KANON
Penderecki: SYMPHONY NO. 2 (CHRISTMAS)
While the Polish conductor Krzysztof Penderecki was frequently known for fairly harrowing modernistic works like his 1961 “Threnody For The Victims Of Hiroshima” and works like “De Natura Sonoris No. 1” and “The Awakening Of Jacob” (these last two were used to bone-chilling effect by director Stanley Kubrick in his 1980 horror film classic The Shining), he also could write modernistic works that had a more recognizable tone to them. One of them is his single-movement Symphony No. 2, which he composed in during the last half of 1979 and the first two months of 1980. Because this work references the opening phrase of the German composer Franz Gruber’s famous Christmas carol “Silent Night” three times at different points, it is often referred to as the “Christmas Symphony”, although neither the score nor the parts make any other references to the holiday. The symphony itself is in a modified sonata form, in five movements that are interconnected: (1) Moderato; (2) Allegretto; (3) Lento; (4) Tempo I; and (5) Allegretto, and the orchestral forces required are, not too surprisingly, quite large, with what appear to be references to the Ninth Symphony of Gustav Mahler. The work received its premiere, with the composer in attendance, at Lincoln Center on May 1, 1980, with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Zubin Mehta, and it was more warmly received by audiences than it was (initially) by the critics. Nevertheless, while Penderecki would continue to cross between the conventional and dissonant throughout his career, right up to his passing on March 29, 2020, he became arguably the most popular composer to come out of the then-Communist Poland during the second half of the 20th century, and on into the 21st as well.
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra/KRZYSZTOF PENDERECKI (EMI)
Included (2-CD collection, with choral works featuring the Polish Radio Chorus and vocal soloists):
TE DEUM
LACRIMOSA
MAGNIFICAT
KANON