National Public Radio (NPR) in the United States describes Penderecki in a newsletter as a “boundary-breaking composer,” writing that while he “found instant fame with Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima, an avant-garde piece for 52 strings from 1960, he later broadened his compositional style to embrace tonality. In works like the Second Symphony and the violin concerto (Metamorphosen), he displayed a singular post-romantic palette of orchestral colors.”
The NPR newsletter adds: “In his music, Penderecki has confronted politics, religion, social injustice and the plight of the common man. In 1980, the year that the trade union Solidarity was formed, Penderecki composed a Lacrimosa for the unveiling of a memorial in Gdańsk, erected to commemorate those killed in the 1970 shipyard riots, when Poland was under Soviet rule. The piece for soprano, orchestra and chorus later became part of another major work, the Polish Requiem, which contained music in tribute to Cardinal Wyszyński and Father Kolbe (who gave his life for another in Auschwitz).”
The Hollywood Reporter stresses the film industry’s interest in Penderecki’s music. The long list of directors who made use of his work includes Stanley Kubrick (The Shining), David Lynch (Wild at Heart and Inland Empire), Wes Craven (The People Under the Stairs), Alfonso Cuaron (The Children of Men) and William Friedkin (Exorcist).
Classic FM writes in an obituary that Penderecki was ”one of the most important composers and conductors of the past six decades,” adding that “Poland is mourning one of its most passionate music educators and cultural ambassadors.”
The Jerusalem Post stresses that Penderecki had many admirers in Israel. In 1996 he was commissioned to write a work for the Trimillennium of Jerusalem.
The hour-long composition, entitled Seven Gates of Jerusalem, scored for five solo voices, choir and orchestra, had its world premiere in the city at the beginning of 1997.
The Israeli daily recalls that Penderecki’s many awards include the Wolf Prize, given by Israel to artists and scientists for their "achievements in the interest of mankind and friendly relations among people.”
The famous American conductor Kent Nagano wrote: “The passing of Krzysztof Penderecki is a deeply moving loss for all who love music and life and he will universally be mourned.”
Penderecki died in Kraków, southern Poland, on Sunday after a long and serious illness.
(mk/pk)