Continuing our contemporary composers week, I’m bringing forward one composer whose work I want to get more into. Kryzsztof Penderecki is one of the major names in Polish music of the past century, and he has written across different genre, including symphonies, operas, chamber music, and various choral and orchestral works. He reached international fame through his string orchestral work, Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima. Because of his use of tone clusters and uneasy harmonies, his music has appeared on horror and suspense film soundtracks, including Poltergeist [1972], The Shining [1980], and Shutter Island [2010].
This work is a call back to the Baroque genre, and works as a concerto for three cellos and orchestra. Here the composer isn’t only looking backward in genre, but also in his tonal language, which is less shocking as it was in his earlier more avant garde works in the 60s and 70s. But the trio of cellos adds a range of richness over a colorful orchestral backdrop, and has made this work popular with orchestras around the world. It is in one continuous movement.