Difference between revisions of "Krzysztof Penderecki"

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(New page: Krzysztof Penderecki was born in Debica (130 km east of Krakow) on November 23, 1933. His father, a lawyer and enthusiastic violin player, brought his son into immediate contact with m...)
 
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Krzysztof Penderecki was born in Debica (130 km east of [[Krakow]]) on November 23, 1933. His father, a lawyer and enthusiastic violin player, brought his son into immediate contact with music. Penderecki was given violin and piano lessons at an early age and was admitted to the Krakow Conservatory at the age of 18, studying at the same time philosophy, art history and literary history at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow and, from 1954, composition at the Krakow State Academy of Music, first with Artur Malewski, and then with Stanislaw Wiechowicz. After graduating in 1958 he took up a teaching post there himself. In 1959 three works by Penderecki – Strophes, Emanations and Psalms of David – won first prizes in the 2nd Warsaw Competition of Young Polish Composers. Only one year later, in 1960, his piece Anaklasis, for 42 stringed instruments, was premièred at the Donaueschingen Festival by the Südwestfunk Orchestra under the direction of Hans Rosbaud, and was celebrated by the critics. With these works and others following in rapid succession – such as Dimensions of Time and Silence, Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima (UNESCO Award 1961), Polymorphia and Fluorescences, the String Quartet No. 1, Dies Irae in memory of the victims of Auschwitz (Prix Italia 1968), and Stabat Mater for three mixed choruses a cappella, which later became part of the St. Luke Passion, first performed in 1966 in Münster Cathedral – Penderecki laid the foundations for his international reputation as a composer. For the St. Luke Passion, Penderecki was awarded the Great Arts Award of the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia in 1966 and the Prix Italia in 1967. In the same year, he was also awarded the Sibelius Gold Medal.
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Composer and director; born 23 November 1933, Dębica.
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From 1966 to 1968, Penderecki taught at the Essen Folkwang Hochschule. During this time he began intensive work on his first opera, The Devils of Loudon (based on a book by Aldous Huxley, dramatized by John Whiting, and translated by Erich Fried), which, after its première at the Hamburg Staatsoper in 1969, was successfully performed in theatres throughout the world as were the three following operas – Paradise Lost (from the play by John Milton; première 1978 in Chicago), Die Schwarze Maske (from the play by Gerhart Hauptmann; première 1986 at the Salzburg Festival), and Ubu Rex (from the play Ubu Roi by Alfred Jarry; première 1991 in Munich at the Bayerische Staatsoper). In 1968 he received a scholarship from the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) in Berlin. In 1970 he was awarded the Prize of the Union of Polish Composers. Since 1972 he has been rector of the Krakow State Academy of Music; from 1973 to 1978 – professor at Yale University. In these years, on extended concert tours all over the world, Penderecki also rapidly acquired an international reputation as a conductor of both his own compositions and works of other composers.
 
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The many additional prizes awarded Penderecki for his other 5 symphonies, small-scale orchestral compositions, solo concertos (two violin concertos, an alto concerto, two violoncello concertos, a flute concerto, some of them in versions for other solo instruments), chamber music works, and numerous vocal works, include the Prix Arthur Honegger in 1977 (for MAGNIFICAT), the Sibelius Prize of the Wihouri Foundation and the National Prize of Poland in 1983, the Premio Lorenzo Magnifico in 1985, and the University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition in 1992 (for ADAGIO SYMPHONY NO. 4). In 1998 he was honored with the Composition Award of the Promotion Association of the European Industry and Trade, conferred upon him on September 10 on the occasion of the Penderecki Festival in Krakow. In 1999 he received the Music Award of the City of Duisburg. In January 2000 – the Cannes Classical Award as "Living Composer of the Year". In 2001 he received the Prince of Asturias Award for the Arts, and in 2002 the Romano Guardini Prize of the Catholic Academy in Bavaria.
 
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Since 1990 he has been holder of the Grand Cross for Distinguished Services of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany and Chevalier de Saint Georges. In 1992 he received the Austrian Medal for Science and Art. In 1993 the Institute for Advanced Study at Indiana University Bloomington conferred upon him the Distinguished Citizen Fellowship; in the same year he was awarded the Prize of the International Music Council UNESCO for Music and the Order of Cultural Merit of the Principality of Monaco. In 1995 he became a member of the Royal Academy of Music, Dublin, and freeman of the city of Strasbourg. In 1995 and 1996 he was awarded the Primetime Emmy Award of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. In 1998 the American Academy of Arts and Letters conferred upon him a Foreign Honorary Membership; in the same year he became a corresponding member of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts, Munich, and was appointed to the Honorary Board of the Vilnius Festival '99. In 2000 he became an honorary member of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde Vienna, and in 2001 of the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts. On January 5, 2003, Penderecki was given the freedom of his native town Debica, and the very same month received the Eduardo M. Torner Medal of the 'Conservatorio de Música del Principado Asturias' during his stay in Oviedo, Spain, and was appointed honorary director of the choir of the Prince of Asturias Foundation and honorary president of the cultural association 'Apoyo a la Creación Musical'. In 2004, Penderecki was awarded the Praemium Imperiale, and in 2006 he became a Member of both the Three Star Order in Latvia and the Order of the White Eagle in Poland, which represent the highest honors of these countries.
 
  
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Penderecki has received honorary doctorates and professorships from numerous universities, such as Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., the University of Glasgow, the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory, the universities of Rochester, Bordeaux, Leuwen, Belgrade, Madrid, and Poznán, and from St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota, as well as honorary memberships from the Royal Academy of Music (London), the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia (Rome), the Kungliga Musikaliska Akademien (Stockholm), the Akademie der Künste (Berlin) and the Academia Nacional de Bellas Artes (Buenos Aires). In 1998 the Beijing Conservatoire appointed him as honorary professor, and in 1999 Duquesne University, Pittsburgh (PA), conferred upon him an honorary doctorate.
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He studied composition privately with Franciszek Skołyszewski, and then, from 1955 to 1958, with Artur Malawski and Stanisław Wiechowicz at the Academy of Music in Kraków. In 1958, he began lecturing in composition at his alma mater, and in 1972 he became a professor there and also served as its rector until 1987. He also lectured as an assistant professor in Essen at the Folkwang-Hochschule (1966-68) and at Yale University in New Haven (1973-78).
  
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His many awards attest to his broad activities both as a composer and teacher. In 1959, Penderecki won the first, second and third prizes at the Competition of Young Composers of the Polish Composers' Union (works were submitted anonymously): for his Strofy / Strophes for soprano, voice (reciting) and ten instruments (1959), Emanacje / Emanations for two string orchestras (1958-59) and for his Psalmy Dawida / Psalms of David for mixed choir, stringed instruments and percussion (1958). In 1961, his Tren "Ofiarom Hiroszimy" / Threnody "for the Victims of Hiroshima" for 52 strings (1959-61) received an award at the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers in Paris. He received Prix Italia twice - in 1972 for his work Passio et mors Domini Nostri Jesu Christi secundum Lucam for three solo voices, speaker, three mixed choirs, boys' choir and orchestra (1963-66), and in 1968 for his Dies irae Oratorium ob memoriam in perniciei castris in Oswiecim necatorum inexstinguibilem reddendam for three solo voices, mixed choir and orchestra (1967). In addition, Penderecki has received the following awards: the first state prize (1968, 1983); the award of the Polish Composers' Union (1970); the Gottfried von Herder Award from the W.v.s. Foundation in Hamburg (1977); the Jean Sibelius Award from the Wilhouri Foundation in Helsinki (1983); Premio Lorenzo Magnifico, Florence (1985); the award of the Karl Wolff Foundation (Israel, 1987); a Grammy Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (USA) for his Cello Concerto No. 2, with Mstislav Rostropovich (1988); Grawemeyer Award of the University of Louisville (1992); and the award of the UNESCO International Music Council (1993).
  
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He was granted an honorary doctorate from the universities of Rochester, Bordeaux, Leuven, Washington, Belgrade, Madrid, Poznań, Warsaw, Buenos Aires, Glasgow, Krakow, Pittsburgh, Luzern, New Haven, Saint Petersburg, Leipzig, Seul. He is an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music in London, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Kungliga Musikaliska Akademien in Stockholm, Akademie der Künste in Berlin, Academia Nacional de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires, Académie Nationale des Sciences, Belles-lettres et Arts in Bordeaux, and the Royal Academy of Music in Dublin, American Academy of Arts and Letters, Academia Scientiarium et Artium Europaea in Salzburg, Institut for Advanced Study University, Bloomington, The Kościuszko Foundation in New York, Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna, Academy for Performing Arts in Hong-Kong. In 1990, he received a German state award, Great Cross of Merit of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Das Grosse Verdienstkreuz des Verdienstordens der Bundesrepublik Deutschland); in 1993, he received an award for his service to culture from the Principality of Monaco; and in 1994, the Austrian honorary medal "For Academic and Artistic Achievement". In 1993, he was awarded an important Polish state award, the Commander's Cross with the star of the Order of Polonia Restituta.
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Since his debut as a conductor in 1973 with the London Symphony Orchestra, he has appeared with the best symphony orchestras of Europe and the United States. He was the first guest conductor to appear with the Norddeutscher Rundfunk in Hamburg. In 1995, he directed the Sinfonia Varsovia during its U.S. tour.
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In 1997, he published a book titled "Labirynt czasu: Pięć wykładów na koniec wieku" / "The Labyrinth of Time: Five Lectures for the End of the Century" (Warsaw: Presspublica, 1997).
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Krzysztof Penderecki has been an exceptional phenomenon in the history of music, not only in that of Polish music, but of the history music in general. In twentieth-century music, no one has had a career quite like his. And no one shot to the top so quickly, either! The story of his career is perhaps only comparable to that of Igor Stravinsky. And like Stravinsky, there were twists and turns on the path of Krzysztof Penderecki's musical career. He enjoyed success from the very start. When the results of the second Competition of Young Composers were decided in 1959, it turned out that Penderecki's compositions (submitted under different pseudonyms) had taken the first, second and third prizes, that the winner was Krzysztof Penderecki, an unknown 28-year-old assistant professor at the Composition Department of the State Musical Academy in Krakow. The compositions for which he received the awards were Strofy (Strophes) for soprano, speaker and ten instruments, Emanacje (Emanations) for two string orchestras and the Psalmy Dawida (Psalms of David) for mixed choir, stringed instruments and percussion. The German publisher Herman Moeck took the score after Strofy were performed at the Warsaw Autumn International Festival of Contemporary Music that same year. Shortly after that, the piece was being performed all over Europe, and Penderecki received a commission from the famous festival in Donaueschingen.
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In 1960, he wrote a work titled 8'37" (which is how long the composition lasts), for which he received a prize the next year from the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers in Paris. The work is now known as Tren "Ofiarom Hiroszimy" (Threnody "for the Victims of Hiroshima"), and is played by stations all over the world. Krzysztof Penderecki has thus come to be a leading representative of avant-garde music of that period. His work Fluorescencje (Flourescences), first performed in 1962 in Donaueschingen, confirm this. In addition to the instruments of the symphony orchestra, Penderecki introduced a sheet of metal to imitate thunder, pieces of glass and metal scratched with a file, rattles, an electric bell, a saw, typewriter and a siren. The traditional instruments are sound strange, because they are played in utterly unconventional ways. Penderecki has been known by the entire musical world already. This is what it seems... until in 1966 in Münster, the premiere performance of Pasja według św. Łukasza (Passion According to St. Luke) took place. With this work, Penderecki parted with the radicalism of the avant-garde. Krzysztof Penderecki has composed works that are accessible to the average music lover - with a content, construction and emotions that are understandable. Penderecki once said:
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"It is not important to me how the 'Passion' is described, whether as a traditional or as an avant-garde one. For me it is simply one that is genuine. And that is enough."
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It is still enough, even today. Penderecki is himself in each of his works, and he has not allowed the critics to discourage him. And the critics have been increasingly ruthless. Suffice it to say that critics saw his 1978 opera, Raj utracony (Paradise Lost) (1976-78), as a pastiche of Wagner's music. For Penderecki, this was no compliment. He nevertheless stands his own and has continued to write the music that he wants to write. Has he betrayed the ideals of his youth?
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http://www.culture.pl/en/culture/artykuly/os_penderecki_krzysztof<br>
 
http://www.schott-music.com/shop/persons/featured/14696/
 
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Revision as of 18:08, 13 June 2009

Composer and director; born 23 November 1933, Dębica.

He studied composition privately with Franciszek Skołyszewski, and then, from 1955 to 1958, with Artur Malawski and Stanisław Wiechowicz at the Academy of Music in Kraków. In 1958, he began lecturing in composition at his alma mater, and in 1972 he became a professor there and also served as its rector until 1987. He also lectured as an assistant professor in Essen at the Folkwang-Hochschule (1966-68) and at Yale University in New Haven (1973-78).

His many awards attest to his broad activities both as a composer and teacher. In 1959, Penderecki won the first, second and third prizes at the Competition of Young Composers of the Polish Composers' Union (works were submitted anonymously): for his Strofy / Strophes for soprano, voice (reciting) and ten instruments (1959), Emanacje / Emanations for two string orchestras (1958-59) and for his Psalmy Dawida / Psalms of David for mixed choir, stringed instruments and percussion (1958). In 1961, his Tren "Ofiarom Hiroszimy" / Threnody "for the Victims of Hiroshima" for 52 strings (1959-61) received an award at the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers in Paris. He received Prix Italia twice - in 1972 for his work Passio et mors Domini Nostri Jesu Christi secundum Lucam for three solo voices, speaker, three mixed choirs, boys' choir and orchestra (1963-66), and in 1968 for his Dies irae Oratorium ob memoriam in perniciei castris in Oswiecim necatorum inexstinguibilem reddendam for three solo voices, mixed choir and orchestra (1967). In addition, Penderecki has received the following awards: the first state prize (1968, 1983); the award of the Polish Composers' Union (1970); the Gottfried von Herder Award from the W.v.s. Foundation in Hamburg (1977); the Jean Sibelius Award from the Wilhouri Foundation in Helsinki (1983); Premio Lorenzo Magnifico, Florence (1985); the award of the Karl Wolff Foundation (Israel, 1987); a Grammy Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (USA) for his Cello Concerto No. 2, with Mstislav Rostropovich (1988); Grawemeyer Award of the University of Louisville (1992); and the award of the UNESCO International Music Council (1993).

He was granted an honorary doctorate from the universities of Rochester, Bordeaux, Leuven, Washington, Belgrade, Madrid, Poznań, Warsaw, Buenos Aires, Glasgow, Krakow, Pittsburgh, Luzern, New Haven, Saint Petersburg, Leipzig, Seul. He is an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music in London, Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Kungliga Musikaliska Akademien in Stockholm, Akademie der Künste in Berlin, Academia Nacional de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires, Académie Nationale des Sciences, Belles-lettres et Arts in Bordeaux, and the Royal Academy of Music in Dublin, American Academy of Arts and Letters, Academia Scientiarium et Artium Europaea in Salzburg, Institut for Advanced Study University, Bloomington, The Kościuszko Foundation in New York, Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna, Academy for Performing Arts in Hong-Kong. In 1990, he received a German state award, Great Cross of Merit of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (Das Grosse Verdienstkreuz des Verdienstordens der Bundesrepublik Deutschland); in 1993, he received an award for his service to culture from the Principality of Monaco; and in 1994, the Austrian honorary medal "For Academic and Artistic Achievement". In 1993, he was awarded an important Polish state award, the Commander's Cross with the star of the Order of Polonia Restituta.

Since his debut as a conductor in 1973 with the London Symphony Orchestra, he has appeared with the best symphony orchestras of Europe and the United States. He was the first guest conductor to appear with the Norddeutscher Rundfunk in Hamburg. In 1995, he directed the Sinfonia Varsovia during its U.S. tour.

In 1997, he published a book titled "Labirynt czasu: Pięć wykładów na koniec wieku" / "The Labyrinth of Time: Five Lectures for the End of the Century" (Warsaw: Presspublica, 1997).

Krzysztof Penderecki has been an exceptional phenomenon in the history of music, not only in that of Polish music, but of the history music in general. In twentieth-century music, no one has had a career quite like his. And no one shot to the top so quickly, either! The story of his career is perhaps only comparable to that of Igor Stravinsky. And like Stravinsky, there were twists and turns on the path of Krzysztof Penderecki's musical career. He enjoyed success from the very start. When the results of the second Competition of Young Composers were decided in 1959, it turned out that Penderecki's compositions (submitted under different pseudonyms) had taken the first, second and third prizes, that the winner was Krzysztof Penderecki, an unknown 28-year-old assistant professor at the Composition Department of the State Musical Academy in Krakow. The compositions for which he received the awards were Strofy (Strophes) for soprano, speaker and ten instruments, Emanacje (Emanations) for two string orchestras and the Psalmy Dawida (Psalms of David) for mixed choir, stringed instruments and percussion. The German publisher Herman Moeck took the score after Strofy were performed at the Warsaw Autumn International Festival of Contemporary Music that same year. Shortly after that, the piece was being performed all over Europe, and Penderecki received a commission from the famous festival in Donaueschingen.

In 1960, he wrote a work titled 8'37" (which is how long the composition lasts), for which he received a prize the next year from the UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers in Paris. The work is now known as Tren "Ofiarom Hiroszimy" (Threnody "for the Victims of Hiroshima"), and is played by stations all over the world. Krzysztof Penderecki has thus come to be a leading representative of avant-garde music of that period. His work Fluorescencje (Flourescences), first performed in 1962 in Donaueschingen, confirm this. In addition to the instruments of the symphony orchestra, Penderecki introduced a sheet of metal to imitate thunder, pieces of glass and metal scratched with a file, rattles, an electric bell, a saw, typewriter and a siren. The traditional instruments are sound strange, because they are played in utterly unconventional ways. Penderecki has been known by the entire musical world already. This is what it seems... until in 1966 in Münster, the premiere performance of Pasja według św. Łukasza (Passion According to St. Luke) took place. With this work, Penderecki parted with the radicalism of the avant-garde. Krzysztof Penderecki has composed works that are accessible to the average music lover - with a content, construction and emotions that are understandable. Penderecki once said:

"It is not important to me how the 'Passion' is described, whether as a traditional or as an avant-garde one. For me it is simply one that is genuine. And that is enough."

It is still enough, even today. Penderecki is himself in each of his works, and he has not allowed the critics to discourage him. And the critics have been increasingly ruthless. Suffice it to say that critics saw his 1978 opera, Raj utracony (Paradise Lost) (1976-78), as a pastiche of Wagner's music. For Penderecki, this was no compliment. He nevertheless stands his own and has continued to write the music that he wants to write. Has he betrayed the ideals of his youth?


http://www.culture.pl/en/culture/artykuly/os_penderecki_krzysztof
http://www.schott-music.com/shop/persons/featured/14696/

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