The noted Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki (1933-2020) died on March 29, 2020 after a long illness. His contributions to Polish culture were many and his name is known in the contemporary music world around the globe. His biography and a brief appreciation may be found on https://culture.pl/en/artist/krzysztof-penderecki.
To document his importance in the music world, I copied the part of the tribute that listed his main awards and prizes:
"Penderecki has twice received the Prix Italia - 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), and 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). 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); the Grawemeyer Award of the University of Louisville (1992); the award of the UNESCO International Music Council (1993), Order for Merits for Monaco (1993), Commander’s Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta(1993), Austrian Honorary Distinction for ‘Scientific and Artistic Achievements’, Pro Baltica Award (1995), Commandeur dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (1996), Duisburg Music Award (1999), AFIM Indie Award (1999), MIDEM Classical Award for Best Living Composer of the Year (2000), Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana (2000), Premio Principe de Asturias de las Artes (2001), Award of the Great Foundation of Culture (2002), Romano Guardini Prize (2002), Preis der Europäischen Kirschenmusik (2003), Medal Fundacji Judaica (2003), Praemium Imperiale (2004), Order of the White Eagle (2005), Commander of the Three Star Order of the Latvian Republic (2006), Ministry of Culture Yearly Award, Józef Chełmoński Award, and Gold Medal of the Minister of Culture of the Republic of Armenia, the 2008 Orły Film Award for Andrzej Wajda’s Katyń, Grand-Croix de l’Ordre Pro Merito Melitensi (2011), the Ku Spotkaniu Award of the Marshal of the Senate of the Republic of Poland and the Chairman of the Federation Council of the Russian Federation (2011), the Badge of Honour for Contributions to Podlaskie Voivodeship (2013), and the Gold Medal of Honour for Contributions to Małopolskie Voivodeship (2013)."
"He has been granted honorary doctorates from the universities of Rochester, Bordeaux, Leuven, Washington, Belgrade, Madrid, Poznań, Warsaw, Buenos Aires, Glasgow, Kraków, Pittsburgh, Luzern, New Haven, Saint Petersburg, Leipzig, Seoul, Münster, Yerevan, Gdańsk, Kharkiv, and Maynooth. He was an honorary member of the Royal Academy of Music in London, the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia in Rome, the Kungliga Musikaliska Akademien in Stockholm, the Akademie der Künste in Berlin, the Academia Nacional de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires, the Académie Nationale des Sciences, Belles-lettres et Arts in Bordeaux, the Royal Academy of Music in Dublin, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Academia Scientiarium et Artium Europaea in Salzburg, the Institut for Advanced Study University, Bloomington, The Kościuszko Foundation in New York, the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna, the Academy for Performing Arts in Hong Kong, `Academia Argentina de Musica, Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music in Riga, N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov Saint Petersburg State Conservatory, Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory, and Komitas State Conservatory of Yerevan."
Krzysztof Penderecki in his garden in Luslawice, his estate near Krakow, Poland.
ISBN 978-1-945938-30-6 paperback (available in Poland)
ISBN 978-1-945938-31-3 PDF ebook (available worldwide from Lulu.com)
Moonrise Press is a proud publisher of the English version of a book by Andrzej Wendland commemorating two Polish composers born in 1933 who died a decade apart: Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki and Krzysztof Penderecki. Currently, only the PDF version is available while the EPub version still suffers from a variety of bugs and issues. We are looking forward to sharing this information worldwide.
In December 2018 and March 2019, two versions of a new book of music studies by Andrzej Wendland, appeared in Poland, and the U.S. respectively. Entitled Górecki, Penderecki - Diptych and celebrating the 85th birth anniversary of both composers. The book consisted of two extended essays: a) "Two Tristan Postuldes and Chorale. Górecki – Wagner, intelektual reflection" and b) "Elegy for the Dying Forest - Krzysztof Penderecki VIII Symfonia „Lieder der Vergänglichkeit” The paperback edition is only available in Poland, and includes essays in Polish and English. The PDF Book edition is available from lulu.com worldwide, and is in English only. Cover design by Maja Trochimczyk.
The essays, translated into English by Maja Trochimczyk, deal with "Two Tristan Postludes and Chorale" by Henryk Mikolaj Górecki (1933-2010) and The Eight Symphony by Krzysztof Penderecki (b. 1933). They draw from philosophy, aesthetic and poetry of importance to each composer to place each work in a broad cultural context.
Foreword / Starting Point
A riddle and a surprise. In these words, we can briefly capture the content of two essays on the music of Henryk Mikołaj Górecki and Krzysztof Penderecki.
A riddle—because one of these essays concerns the "secret" connection of two such distant composers as Wagner and Górecki.
A surprise—because a musician writing about music discusses Krzysztof Penderecki's work not by using musicological analysis, but from the perspective of interpreting it via poetic works.
The direct pretext for writing these essays was the 85th anniversary of the birth of both composers. This was the first reason. The second reason stemmed from the fact that both composers made, at about the same time — in the late 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s—a sudden shift: the re-evaluation of their work. Each in his own way. From their positions as avant-garde leaders, they began to turn towards tradition, harmony and beauty. In compositions discussed here, it is not difficult to see the "connections" stretched along the axes: Górecki—Wagner, Penderecki—Mahler.
The third reason is that the works in question had their premieres at the Tansman Festival: Górecki — Two Postludes; Penderecki — the Łódź premiere of the 8th Symphony)
~ Andrzej Wendland
Table of Contents
Preface
/ Starting Point — vii
Two Tristan Postludes and
Choral
Górecki — Wagner,
Intellectual reflection — 2
1.
Preludium for Postludes ... — 2
2.
Tristan and Isolde, Issues of Ideas and Content — 4
3.
Others about Wagner — 10
4.
Thinking after Wagner — 12
5.
Tristan Postludes / Love / Romanticism /Orchestra — 17
6.
Vita Contemplativa, the Forgotten Way of Expressing — 22
7.
Substance — 27
8.
Time / Eternity / Space — 30
9.
Two Postludes — 35
10.
Chorale / Overview — "From Xenakis to Monteverdi" — 39
11.
Beauty / Transcendence — 42
12.
Epilogue — Looking Through the Gap of Existence — 50
13.
Henryk Mikołaj Górecki — 53
"Elegy for a Dying Forest"
Krzysztof Penderecki, 8th
Symphony "Lieder der Vergänglichkeit" — 57
1.
Preface / Starting Point — 57
2.
Introduction — 58
3.
At Night (End of Autumn I) — 61
4.
The Burning Tree —62
5.
By the Linden Tree — 64
6.
The Lilac — 66
7.
Spring Night (End of Autumn II) — 69
8.
What did the Beloved Tree Say — 74
9.
In the Fog — 76
10.
The Flower Garden — 78
11.
Farewell — 80
12.
Transience (End of Autumn III) — 82
13.
An Autumn Day — 85
14.
Oh, a Green Tree of Life — 86
15.
Epilogue — 89
16.
Krzysztof Penderecki – 91
About the Author
Andrzej Wendland is a musician, musicologist, editor and publicist. A graduate of the Instrumental Department of the Academy of Music in Łodz, he also studied music theory and composition. He won many prizes at international competitions as a performer and composer in Poland, Italy and Greece. In 1980-1986, Wendland served as a lecturer of the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz. He collaborated with the Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne PWM as the author of the series „El Maestro” He also collaborated with the Professional Music Press and published articles in many music magazines in Poland, Germany, France, Italy, Great Britain and Japan.
He is the author of books: Gitara w twórczości Aleksandra Tansmana [Guitar in the Oeuvre of Aleksander Tansman] (Łódź, 1996) and Górecki. IV Symfonia Tansman Epizody. Fenomen, Żywioł, Tajemnica [Górecki. Symphony No. 4 Tansman Episodes, Phenomenon, Elements, Mystery] (Łódź 2016). His study of Górecki's Fourth Symphony appeared in Górecki in Context: Essays on Music edited by Maja Trochimczyk and published by Moonrise Press in 2017. Wendland is the founder and artistic director of the Tansman Festival –International Festival and Competition of Musical Individualities. Mr. Wendland is the recipient of many honors and prizes, including the medal „Zasłużony Kulturze Gloria Artis” from the Polish government in 2015.
Available in paperback and four ebooks in EPUB format:
http://www.lulu.com/shop/maja-trochimczyk/g%C3%B3recki-in-context-essays-on-music/paperback/product-23519706.html
More information about this book:
http://moonrisepress.blogspot.com/2017/08/announcing-publication-of-gorecki-in.html
http://moonrisepress.blogspot.com/2018/01/gorecki-in-context-at-paha-75th-annual.html