From January 25 to January 31, the Faculty of Music’s New Music Festival hosted this year’s Visitor in Composition, Krzysztof Penderecki. Acknowledged as one of the greatest composers of our time, Penderecki’s work ranges from solo to orchestral and choral music.
Born in Debica, Poland, Penderecki was at first determined to be a virtuosic violinist but didn’t have the talent to do so. His teacher suggested he pursue composition instead, which proved a great decision for Penderecki. In 1959, when he entered three pieces in the Polish Composer’s Association, he managed to win first, second, and third place.
“I knew that I had to win this competition because it meant winning a trip to the West, which I knew would be the only way I could succeed,” Penderecki recounted on Tuesday. “Although I wrote compositions after graduating from university, they were unknown—no one was acknowledging my work. However, when I won this competition I immediately started to get commissions and my work was being played all around Poland. This was the beginning of my career as a composer.”
Since then, Penderecki has garnered accolades from Grammy Awards to the Sibelius Prize (the musical equivalent of the Nobel).
The New Music Festival began on Jan. 25 with the Composer’s Forum, during which Penderecki played three contrasting recordings of his music while discussing his life and work. Penderecki had to keep an entire audience interested for two hours and was compelled to speak in detail.
Although he seemed a bit reticent at first, quickly moving from piece to piece to avoid talking too much, he soon began to open up. All of the composition students in attendance hung onto Penderecki’s every word, while festival coordinator Norbert Palej, who sat beside him, was sometimes looking at him so intensely that it seemed he wanted to devour his soul.
This is expected of individuals who truly appreciate the brilliance of someone who has completely mastered his craft. Are there any other masters, though, who have influenced Penderecki?
“Did Picasso care about what anyone else was doing? No. Did Rembrandt wake up every morning and go look at other paintings in an art gallery before starting his own work? No. I am inspired by no one.”
Penderecki does admit to having studied the works of all of the great composers when he was younger—he was especially fixated on Bach— and thinks it’s necessary for all composition students to acquire in-depth knowledge before even attempting their own work. Among his other influences, Penderecki cites trees (his grandfather used to walk him through forests in Poland while making him memorize their Latin names) as well as composers Prokofiev and Shostakovich.
Penderecki’s admiration of the latter composer is evident in many of his pieces, though he is quick to add, “No one does what I do.” He is considerably more experimental than his contemporaries, and he is not afraid to use every part of an instrument. For instance, during the festival’s chamber music concert, Toronto Symphony Orchestra cellist (and U of T faculty member) David Hetherington performed “Capriccio per Siegfried Palm” using the whole cello, not just its strings, with perfect command of the instrument. Coupled with his aloof stage persona, Hetherington’s performance was the highlight of the evening.
Other performances were not as impressive, showing just how challenging it is to play Penderecki’s music. TSO principal cellist Winona Zelenka started off the concert with “Per Slava” (“For Mstislav”) which cellist Mstislav Rostropovich specifically commissioned Penderecki to write as the last piece he’d play before he died. It was easy to see that this piece was meant for Rostropovich; Zelenka’s more sweet and reserved style did not do it justice.
The other three performances that evening would be just as disappointing, although some individual players were fascinating to listen to. I got the impression that some of them didn’t fully understand Penderecki’s music, as many of the string players, who would be integral to his pieces’ cohesion—often just looked confused.
The orchestral and choral music recordings that Penderecki played himself, though, showed the full scope of his brilliance. His orchestral music is experimental, but with a range of instruments playing, his desired effect is considerably more potent. Penderecki only began writing symphonies at 40 years old because he felt he needed a wealth of musical experience first. His command of vocal and instrumental components shows in the sheer number of musicians that he uses—in some compositions, up to three orchestras and two choirs—and the results are spectacular.
Penderecki then got to answering some general questions about music and composition. One student asked him what he saw as the future of the orchestra.
“Fifty years ago, I believed that everything would be electronic by now, but I was wrong, so I think the orchestra will continue for many years. There will be changes in the instruments that are used, especially in the percussion section with new instruments coming out of China, but there will be an orchestra for many years to come.”
Penderecki has noticed that many of his students now use the computer to write music, but he doesn’t think he could do it himself.
“I still need to use paper. Because of the computer it might be easier to compose, but I am a traditionalist, so I will never use the computer.”
To many ambiguous questions about how Penderecki composes the way he does and how to succeed as a composer Penderecki answered by saying, “I don’t know. I can’t answer that question.”
Such an answer is only to be expected—the real responses are those already embodied in Penderecki’s music.
