Krzysztof Penderecki
(b.1933)
Orchestral Works Vol.
2
Symphonies Nos. 1
& 5
Although Krysztof Penderecki has long been recognized for his operas (The
Devils of Loudun, 1969; Paradise Lost, 1978; The Black Mask, 1986;
Ubu, 1991) and large-scale choral works (St Luke Passion, 1965; Utrenja,
1971; Te Deum, 1979; Polish Requiem, 1984 and Credo, 1998),
recognition as a symphonic writer came belatedly. This is partly because up
until the early 1970s, the immediacy and physicality of his orchestral works
was paralleled by their general brevity (the three pieces accompanying Symphony
No. 3 on Volume 1 of this series [Naxos 8.554491] exemplify these
qualities). Yet as the First Symphony proves, the gestural nature of his
earlier music was susceptible to a considerable degree of long-term,
'symphonic' development.
Symphony No. 1, in four continuous sections, was commissioned by the
Peterborough firm of Perkins Engines, and first performed there in 1973 by the
London Symphony Orchestra and the composer. Surprise at the source of the
commission went hand in hand with (false) speculation that the opening pages
were a recreation of sounds heard at an actual engineering plant. Indeed the
opening of Arche I [track 2] is as scintillating as it is memorable: a
striking accumulation of percussion patterns, culminating in wailing brass Two
crucial ideas now emerge a walking motion in the lower strings (2'32");
and the note A held ominously by the horns (4'18"), leading into the
longest section, Dynamis I [track 3]. Despite interjections from upper
strings (the extraordinary 'tuning' passage at 2'49") brass and
percussion, 'A' remains a fixed presence on the musical landscape. Strings
effect a gradual climax (from 10'34"), before coalescing around A and a
prolonged fade-out, broken by the robust Stravinskian chords of Dynamis II [track
4]. This is the symphony's scherzo, playful and often hectic. A series of
snatched silences stops the music in its tracks and prepares for the climactic
onslaught (6'17"). Against pounding timpani and bass drum, frantic sounds
errupt from woodwind and brass, only to collapse into a return of the 'walking
motion' in lower strings, and the concluding Arche II [track 5]. Amid
recollections of earlier events, and ghostly reminders of those initial percussion
patterns, the symphony winds down to a series of A's in the double basses, with
which it ends.
At the time the First Symphony was premièred, Penderecki was
quoted as saying that his compositional style over the previous 15 years had
reached a natural conclusion, and that he was tempted to seek a new language in
the electronic studio. The stylistic shift which took place, though musically a
good deal more conservative, was prophetic of the move away from Modernism that
influenced many European and American composers over the following decade.
Works such as his second symphony,
the Christmas Symphony, deal unashamedly with a 'neo-romantic' tonal
language rooted in the soundworld of Wagner and Bruckner. As the 1980s
progressed, however, elements of irony and parody became apparent, along
with a vivid and hard-hitting orchestration that owes something to the example
of Shostakovich; a composer Penderecki has conducted on numerous occasions.
Symphony No. 5 was
premièred in Seoul in 1992, and a Korean folksong threads its way unobtrusively
through the lower strings at certain points. Penderecki again favours a single
movement, although, unlike his second and fourth symphonies [both heard on
Naxos 8.554492], the strongly-drawn contrast between slower and faster sections
gives the work a greater dynamic charge. The opening features intense repeated
chords in the violas and mournful descending sequences in the upper strings,
ideas that will return often. Violas launch an animated fugal motion
(4'54"), with pungent interjections from brass and percussion, as the
music escalates to a brief climax, before relapsing into the depths. The solo
horn now inaugurates a procession over funereal strings and tolling bells
(10'18"), before the 'scherzo' emerges with whirring strings and rapid
woodwind phrases. Clamourous brass and grinding string chords lead to a quirky
'trio' (16'32"), in which a martial theme is passed between instruments
with a very Shostakovich-like irony. The scherzo material returns, leading to a
forceful climax, after which cellos and oboes create a lachrymose mood. At
length, the violas' fugal writing returns to propel the work to its main climax
(29'33"), with brass sounding Mahlerian clarion calls across the whole
orchestra. Plaintive responses from the oboe and cor anglais prepare for the
return of the horn's battle-weary lament, while the opening ideas are recalled
in what promises to be a valedictory leave-taking. But aggressive strings usher
in a brief coda (35'12"), with F hammered out relentlessly: the effect is
conclusive, far from triumphal and typical of the mature Penderecki.
Richard Whitehouse