Symphony No. 3 (Penderecki)
Encyclopedia
Symphony No. 3 is a symphony
for orchestra
in five movements
composed between 1988 and 1995 by Krzysztof Penderecki
. It was commissioned and completed for the 100 year celebration of the Munich Philharmonic. Its earliest version, Passacaglia and Rondo (which later served as the basis for the second and fourth movements of the complete symphony), premiered at the International Music Festival Week in Lucerne, Switzerland, on August 20, 1988. It was performed by the Lucerne Festival Orchestra
and conducted by Penderecki. The full symphony premiered in Munich
on December 8, 1995, and performed by the Munich Philharmonic, again under the composer’s baton.
Symphony No. 3 exhibits a number of stylistic features which exemplify Penderecki’s music of the 1980s, including motor rhythms, passages of free rhythm, chromatic scalar figures and emphasis on the minor second, dissonant intervals, and expanded percussion section. The work’s dense counterpoint
, innovative instrumentation, free harmonies, and complex rhythms make it stylistically similar to Penderecki’s 1986 opera The Black Mask.
, harmony
, melody
, and form. Important works from this period, particularly Anaklasis (1959–60), Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima
(1960), and Fluorescences (1961–62), were experimental compositions characterized by blocks of sound of varying dynamics, extended techniques on acoustic instruments, and tone clusters.
By the early 1970s
, however, Penderecki began to move away from the avant-garde movement, claiming in an interview in 2000, “we pushed music so far in the sixties that even for myself, for me, I closed the door behind me, because there was no way to do anything more than I have done… I decided that there is no way that I can move on.” Acknowledging that he had pushed the limits, Penderecki began to rediscover the neo-Romantics while working as a conductor in the 1970s. He specifies, “The kind of music I was conducting influenced my own music very much… During this time I began to have my Romantic ideas, partly because I was conducting Bruckner, Sibelius, and Tchaikovsky.” At this point in his career, Penderecki’s music begins to feature melodic expression, lyricism, and dramatic character.
Penderecki felt that the early 1970s represented a major shift in his compositional style. Important to this shift was the composer’s renewed emphasis on “tradition.” Penderecki attributed the importance of tradition to Artur Malawski, his composition teacher from 1954–57, who balanced contemporary techniques with more conventional musical forms. Penderecki echoed Malawski’s compositional philosophy: “The general principles at the root of a work’s musical style… the integrity of a musical experience embodied in the notes the composer is setting down on paper, never change. The idea of good music means today exactly what it meant always.” In 1973, he also stated he was in search of a new direction, one which resolved to “gain inspiration from the past and look back on my heritage.” For Penderecki, tradition also served as an “opportunity to [overcome the] dissonance between the artist and the audience.”
The symphony particularly became an essential genre for Penderecki starting in the early 1970s, stating that his “third style period” began with his first symphony. From the 1970s on, Penderecki described the importance of the symphony in various ways, for instance explaining that his second symphony of 1980 “referred fully to the late-nineteenth century symphonic tradition…” He also stated in 2000, “…It’s very clear that I’m trying to continue this tradition, this Romantic
tradition” when describing his symphonic compositions. A passage from his collected essays Labyrinth of Time confirms this sentiment: “I would like to continue the music that was cast at the beginning of the [twentieth] century: the tradition of writing symphonies.” More importantly, however, Penderecki saw the genre as a kind of synthesis of traditional and contemporary styles, calling the symphony “that musical ark which would make it possible to convey to coming generations what is best in our twentieth-century tradition of the composing of sounds.”
Winds: 1 piccolo
, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 1 English horn, 3 clarinets in Bb (1st doubling clarinet in A, 2nd doubling clarinet in Eb), 1 bass clarinet
in B, 3 bassoons, 1 contrabassoon
Brass
: 5 horns
in F, 3 trumpets in C, 1 bass trumpet in C, 4 trombones, tuba
Strings: 16 first violins, 14 second violins, 12 violas, 12 violoncellos, 10 double basses, all the strings are divisi.
Percussion: Timpani
, triangle tree, bell tree
, pair of cymbal
, tamtam
, bongos
, tomtom
, rototom, timbales
, snare drum
, military drum, tenor drum, bass drum
with cymbal, whip, woodblock
, guiro
, glockenspiel
, xylophone
, marimba
phone, tubular bells
, and celesta
(only used in the third and fifth movements). The score calls for nine percussion players in total (not including timpani).
labeled it a neo-Romantic work, stating “it shows [Penderecki’s] love for Bruckner and Mahler and late 19th-century German music.”
The original Passacaglia and Rondo became the fourth and second movements of the symphony, respectively. The other movements were newly composed between 1988 and 1995. As per the front page of the score, the piece is approximately 50 minutes in duration.
to a climax with winds and brass at the halfway point followed by an equally paced diminuendo.
The opening movement is characterized by an incessant bass ostinato
on a low F, which continues in a regular pattern throughout. The bass osinato introduced here also becomes a unifying motive for four of the five movements (only the third movement does not contain a defined ostinato figure).
Two additional motives occur during the build-up to the climax. The first is found mainly in the upper winds and strings and is made up of faster moving ascending and descending chromatic scale
fragments. The second occurs in the low winds and brass and primarily uses the dissonant intervals of a tritone
and a minor ninth. This opening movement is thematically important in that it introduces both the chromatic scale and the tritone as the primary melodic building blocks for the entire symphony. Scholar Tadeusz Zielinski also notes that Penderecki’s use of the chromatic scale is similar to Bela Bartok
’s treatment in works such as Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta, and Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion.
The diminuendo is primarily accomplished by an inverted variation on the bassoon/trombone motive, which is accompanied by fragments from the chromatic theme played at one-quarter tempo in the violins. A solitary clarinet line is all that remains from the original treatment of the chromatic figure. The movement closes with a long B-minor chord held over the F in the bass, preserving the dissonant character and emphasizing the tritone relationship. The pitches of B and F introduced here will also become important to later movements.
” by the composer, the ten-minute second movement only roughly follows the conventional form, and motives become fragmented and return at different pitch levels or with different instrumentation. This movement is also notable for its prominent use of the expanded percussion section, as pitched percussion including toms, marimba, and timbales carry thematic material for extended periods of time.
The characteristic building blocks of the themes are again the tritone and the chromatic scale. The tritone, initially stated between the pitches B and F, is established at the opening of the movement between the violins and timpani, and also in descending violin clusters.
In between statements of the theme are episodes which often include long solo passages for various instruments. The episodes are unified primarily by their melodic material and character, and themes frequently emphasize both the chromatic scale and the tritone. The trumpet and English horn are both notable examples of episodic melodies.
Additionally, Penderecki also puts added emphasis on the interval of the half step, the smallest unit of the chromatic scale, seen most prominently in the viola solo section. This half step, followed by a short rising chromatic figure, is described by Cindy Bylander as Penderecki’s “sighing motive.”
Toward the end of the movement, Penderecki also re-introduces the ostinato bass motive which formed the foundation of the first movement and also becomes the main idea of the fourth.
, though. Notably, it also does not contain a clearly stated instance of the ostinato figure.
The familiar chromatic scale and the interval of a half step are immediately emphasized, as seen in the rising chromatic figure in the cellos and basses in mm. 10-13, and in the half step “tremolo
” figure in the violins in m. 7.
While the Adagio’s orchestration
is somewhat closer to late nineteenth-century Romantic writing than the previous movement, Penderecki still makes use of various creative doublings in the ensemble to create unique orchestral colors. Themes sometimes overlap or play together as a duet, but this movement contains frequent instances of solo passages in the winds and brass, as in the clarinet solo in mm. 31-33.
movement bears similarities to the first movement both in its use of ostinato and in its expressive arch, slowly building to a climax and then slowly coming back down. Here, however, the ostinato is reduced to simple repeated eighth notes, sounded forcefully by the low strings.
Against this repeated D, however, Penderecki again introduces the tritone; mm. 38-41 establish an A flat in the low brass against the D in the strings and horns.
Penderecki builds the movement through the addition of instruments, as the upper strings and winds sound the ostinato as the movement unfolds. The movement’s most dramatic shift occurs when the ostinato moves from D to F. Here, Penderecki brings the Passacaglia to a climax with large sections of the brass and winds stating slow chromatic melodies against the incessantly repeating Fs. The result is one of the largest blocks of orchestral sound created in the entire symphony.
After the climax, the ostinato of the Passacaglia returns to D and the movement experiences a dénouement. It ends with a gradual recession of momentum and a brief recall of the lyricism of the previous Adagio. Here, solo winds take brief melodies over a now fragmented ostinato, as seen in the English horn solo at mm. 101-103 (Example 14). The movement closes with a repeated figure in the bass, seen fragmented in mm. 101-105, with celli in imitation (Example 15).
The bass ostinato again asserts itself early on, firmly linking the finale with the previous movements. The timpani carry the melody with celli and double basses in accompaniment.
The low strings also begin a rhythmic pattern which can be found throughout the movement, often in higher voices (a similar procedure can be found in the second movement). A number of melodies in this finale also consist of an upwards tritone leap followed by a chromatic descent.
The middle section is functionally similar to the trio of a standard scherzo
form. Leaps larger than an octave
are found here, as well as the other characteristic Penderecki melodic devices. This section is also characterized by a wide palette of instrumental colors, with solo and duet passages for clarinet and violin, clarinets, trumpets, horns, flute and bass clarinet (Example 18). A series of chromatic descents accompanied by alternating thirds
then bring back the scherzo material.
The symphony’s conclusion is striking in its use of a clearly stated major key sonority, a marked difference from the chromatic saturation of the entire symphony. This ending, however, features a final reinforcement of the tritone, with a B major chord in the full brass supported by a strong F in the timpani (Example 19). The final measures then emphasize a unison F in the entire orchestra, a final recall of the repeated F which opened the symphony.
The New York Times gave a considerably less favorable review of the 1996 premiere, however, with Bernard Holland commenting that “One would admire more his economy of means, were the means being economized more interesting.” Although it was “professionally done,” he concluded that the symphony was “largely bereft of engaging ideas and, in a word, boring.”
Tony Gualtieri’s review of the Naxos CD at classical-music-review.org praised the piece, calling it “a major work, an homage to the past recalling composers such as Mahler and Bartok.”
Penderecki, Krzysztof. Orchestra Works Vol. 1. Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Antoni Wit. Naxos 554491, 2000, compact disc.
Passacaglia and Rondo:
Penderecki, Krzysztof. Orchestra Works, Vol. 1. Krakow Philharmonic, conducted by Wojeiech Czepiel. Dux Records #475, 2005.
Various. Warszawska Jesień (Warsaw Autumn 1988) -Sound Chronicle 6. Krakow Philharmonic, conducted by Gilbert Levine. Polskie Nagrania Muza, SX 2736, 1988, LP.
Symphony
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
for orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
in five movements
Movement (music)
A movement is a self-contained part of a musical composition or musical form. While individual or selected movements from a composition are sometimes performed separately, a performance of the complete work requires all the movements to be performed in succession...
composed between 1988 and 1995 by Krzysztof Penderecki
Krzysztof Penderecki
Krzysztof Penderecki , born November 23, 1933 in Dębica) is a Polish composer and conductor. His 1960 avant-garde Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima for string orchestra brought him to international attention, and this success was followed by acclaim for his choral St. Luke Passion. Both these...
. It was commissioned and completed for the 100 year celebration of the Munich Philharmonic. Its earliest version, Passacaglia and Rondo (which later served as the basis for the second and fourth movements of the complete symphony), premiered at the International Music Festival Week in Lucerne, Switzerland, on August 20, 1988. It was performed by the Lucerne Festival Orchestra
Lucerne Festival Orchestra
The Lucerne Festival Orchestra is an ad hoc seasonal orchestra, based at the annual Lucerne Festival in Switzerland. The Lucerne Festival had featured a resident orchestra as far back as 1938, with Arturo Toscanini conducting the first concert of that ensemble. From 1943 until its disbandment in...
and conducted by Penderecki. The full symphony premiered in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
on December 8, 1995, and performed by the Munich Philharmonic, again under the composer’s baton.
Symphony No. 3 exhibits a number of stylistic features which exemplify Penderecki’s music of the 1980s, including motor rhythms, passages of free rhythm, chromatic scalar figures and emphasis on the minor second, dissonant intervals, and expanded percussion section. The work’s dense counterpoint
Counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...
, innovative instrumentation, free harmonies, and complex rhythms make it stylistically similar to Penderecki’s 1986 opera The Black Mask.
Background – Penderecki, Tradition, and Symphonic Genre
Early in his career, Penderecki was one of the key figures associated with the Polish avant-garde movement of the 1960s. Penderecki was interested in freedom from conventional aspects of music—namely meter, rhythmRhythm
Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...
, harmony
Harmony
In music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
, melody
Melody
A melody , also tune, voice, or line, is a linear succession of musical tones which is perceived as a single entity...
, and form. Important works from this period, particularly Anaklasis (1959–60), Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima
Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima
Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima is a musical composition for 52 string instruments, composed in 1960 by Krzysztof Penderecki , which took third prize at the Grzegorz Fitelberg Composers' Competition in Katowice in 1960...
(1960), and Fluorescences (1961–62), were experimental compositions characterized by blocks of sound of varying dynamics, extended techniques on acoustic instruments, and tone clusters.
By the early 1970s
1970s
File:1970s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: US President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office after the Watergate scandal in 1974; Refugees aboard a US naval boat after the Fall of Saigon, leading to the end of the Vietnam War in 1975; The 1973 oil...
, however, Penderecki began to move away from the avant-garde movement, claiming in an interview in 2000, “we pushed music so far in the sixties that even for myself, for me, I closed the door behind me, because there was no way to do anything more than I have done… I decided that there is no way that I can move on.” Acknowledging that he had pushed the limits, Penderecki began to rediscover the neo-Romantics while working as a conductor in the 1970s. He specifies, “The kind of music I was conducting influenced my own music very much… During this time I began to have my Romantic ideas, partly because I was conducting Bruckner, Sibelius, and Tchaikovsky.” At this point in his career, Penderecki’s music begins to feature melodic expression, lyricism, and dramatic character.
Penderecki felt that the early 1970s represented a major shift in his compositional style. Important to this shift was the composer’s renewed emphasis on “tradition.” Penderecki attributed the importance of tradition to Artur Malawski, his composition teacher from 1954–57, who balanced contemporary techniques with more conventional musical forms. Penderecki echoed Malawski’s compositional philosophy: “The general principles at the root of a work’s musical style… the integrity of a musical experience embodied in the notes the composer is setting down on paper, never change. The idea of good music means today exactly what it meant always.” In 1973, he also stated he was in search of a new direction, one which resolved to “gain inspiration from the past and look back on my heritage.” For Penderecki, tradition also served as an “opportunity to [overcome the] dissonance between the artist and the audience.”
The symphony particularly became an essential genre for Penderecki starting in the early 1970s, stating that his “third style period” began with his first symphony. From the 1970s on, Penderecki described the importance of the symphony in various ways, for instance explaining that his second symphony of 1980 “referred fully to the late-nineteenth century symphonic tradition…” He also stated in 2000, “…It’s very clear that I’m trying to continue this tradition, this Romantic
Romantic music
Romantic music or music in the Romantic Period is a musicological and artistic term referring to a particular period, theory, compositional practice, and canon in Western music history, from 1810 to 1900....
tradition” when describing his symphonic compositions. A passage from his collected essays Labyrinth of Time confirms this sentiment: “I would like to continue the music that was cast at the beginning of the [twentieth] century: the tradition of writing symphonies.” More importantly, however, Penderecki saw the genre as a kind of synthesis of traditional and contemporary styles, calling the symphony “that musical ark which would make it possible to convey to coming generations what is best in our twentieth-century tradition of the composing of sounds.”
Instrumentation
In addition to the traditional orchestral bodies of the nineteenth-century symphony, the Third Symphony makes use of a greatly expanded percussion section (which is prominently featured in the second movement).Winds: 1 piccolo
Piccolo
The piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
, 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 1 English horn, 3 clarinets in Bb (1st doubling clarinet in A, 2nd doubling clarinet in Eb), 1 bass clarinet
Bass clarinet
The bass clarinet is a musical instrument of the clarinet family. Like the more common soprano B clarinet, it is usually pitched in B , but it plays notes an octave below the soprano B clarinet...
in B, 3 bassoons, 1 contrabassoon
Contrabassoon
The contrabassoon, also known as the double bassoon or double-bassoon, is a larger version of the bassoon, sounding an octave lower...
Brass
Brass
Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc; the proportions of zinc and copper can be varied to create a range of brasses with varying properties.In comparison, bronze is principally an alloy of copper and tin...
: 5 horns
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
in F, 3 trumpets in C, 1 bass trumpet in C, 4 trombones, tuba
Tuba
The tuba is the largest and lowest-pitched brass instrument. Sound is produced by vibrating or "buzzing" the lips into a large cupped mouthpiece. It is one of the most recent additions to the modern symphony orchestra, first appearing in the mid-19th century, when it largely replaced the...
Strings: 16 first violins, 14 second violins, 12 violas, 12 violoncellos, 10 double basses, all the strings are divisi.
Percussion: Timpani
Timpani
Timpani, or kettledrums, are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum, they consist of a skin called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionally made of copper. They are played by striking the head with a specialized drum stick called a timpani stick or timpani mallet...
, triangle tree, bell tree
Bell tree
A bell tree is a percussion instrument, consisting of vertically nested inverted metal bowls. The bowls, placed on a vertical rod, are arranged in order of pitch . The number of bowls can vary between approximately 14 and 28...
, pair of cymbal
Cymbal
Cymbals are a common percussion instrument. Cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys; see cymbal making for a discussion of their manufacture. The greater majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs sound a...
, tamtam
TamTam
The tamtam is a percussion instrument that is similar to a gong. It is sometimes spelled tam-tam.TamTam, Tam-Tam, tamtam, or tam-tam may also refer to:* Tam-Tams, a weekly drum circle held Sundays in the summer in Montreal...
, bongos
Bongo drum
Bongo or bongos are a Cuban percussion instrument consisting of a pair of single-headed, open-ended drums attached to each other. The drums are of different size: the larger drum is called in Spanish the hembra and the smaller the macho...
, tomtom
TomTom
TomTom NV is a Dutch manufacturer of automotive navigation systems, including both stand-alone units and software for personal digital assistants and mobile telephones. It is the leading manufacturer of navigation systems in Europe. TomTom's customer service is located in Amsterdam, Netherlands...
, rototom, timbales
Timbales
Timbales are shallow single-headed drums with metal casing, invented in Cuba. They are shallower in shape than single-headed tom-toms, and usually much higher tuned...
, snare drum
Snare drum
The snare drum or side drum is a melodic percussion instrument with strands of snares made of curled metal wire, metal cable, plastic cable, or gut cords stretched across the drumhead, typically the bottom. Pipe and tabor and some military snare drums often have a second set of snares on the bottom...
, military drum, tenor drum, bass drum
Bass drum
Bass drums are percussion instruments that can vary in size and are used in several musical genres. Three major types of bass drums can be distinguished. The type usually seen or heard in orchestral, ensemble or concert band music is the orchestral, or concert bass drum . It is the largest drum of...
with cymbal, whip, woodblock
Woodblock
Woodblock may refer to:* The wood block, a percussion instrument* A woodblock or woodcut is used in woodblock printing, a method of printing in which an image is carved into the surface of a piece of wood, which is then inked, and the image is stamped onto a page* Woodblock graffiti is a type of...
, guiro
Güiro
The güiro is a Latin-American percussion instrument consisting of an open-ended, hollow gourd with parallel notches cut in one side. It is played by rubbing a stick or tines along the notches to produce a ratchet-like sound. The güiro is commonly used in Latin-American music, and plays a key role...
, glockenspiel
Glockenspiel
A glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...
, xylophone
Xylophone
The xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets...
, marimba
Marimba
The marimba is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It consists of a set of wooden keys or bars with resonators. The bars are struck with mallets to produce musical tones. The keys are arranged as those of a piano, with the accidentals raised vertically and overlapping the natural keys ...
phone, tubular bells
Tubular Bells
Tubular Bells is the debut record album of English musician Mike Oldfield, released in 1973. It was the first album released by Virgin Records and an early cornerstone of the company's success...
, and celesta
Celesta
The celesta or celeste is a struck idiophone operated by a keyboard. Its appearance is similar to that of an upright piano or of a large wooden music box . The keys are connected to hammers which strike a graduated set of metal plates suspended over wooden resonators...
(only used in the third and fifth movements). The score calls for nine percussion players in total (not including timpani).
Analysis
Although he labeled the work as the Third Symphony, Penderecki stated that “my Fourth and Fifth Symphonies came before it, chronologically.” Like his other symphonies, the Third Symphony harkens back to Romantic conventions of movement designation and layout, but as scholar Tadeusz Zielinski notes, the associations with the Romantic symphony are only skeletal, as Penderecki’s symphonies are “something entirely different from a reconstruction of a model from the past.” Charles DutoitCharles Dutoit
Charles Édouard Dutoit, is a Swiss conductor, particularly noted for his interpretations of French and Russian 20th century music...
labeled it a neo-Romantic work, stating “it shows [Penderecki’s] love for Bruckner and Mahler and late 19th-century German music.”
The original Passacaglia and Rondo became the fourth and second movements of the symphony, respectively. The other movements were newly composed between 1988 and 1995. As per the front page of the score, the piece is approximately 50 minutes in duration.
1st Movement: Andante con moto
By far the shortest of the five movements at approximately three and a half minutes, the entire movement forms an arch—a slow crescendoCrescendo
-In music:*Crescendo, a passage of music during which the volume gradually increases, see Dynamics * Crescendo , a Liverpool-based electronic pop band* "Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue", one of Duke Ellington's longer-form compositions...
to a climax with winds and brass at the halfway point followed by an equally paced diminuendo.
The opening movement is characterized by an incessant bass ostinato
Ostinato
In music, an ostinato is a motif or phrase, which is persistently repeated in the same musical voice. An ostinato is always a succession of equal sounds, wherein each note always has the same weight or stress. The repeating idea may be a rhythmic pattern, part of a tune, or a complete melody in...
on a low F, which continues in a regular pattern throughout. The bass osinato introduced here also becomes a unifying motive for four of the five movements (only the third movement does not contain a defined ostinato figure).
Two additional motives occur during the build-up to the climax. The first is found mainly in the upper winds and strings and is made up of faster moving ascending and descending chromatic scale
Chromatic scale
The chromatic scale is a musical scale with twelve pitches, each a semitone apart. On a modern piano or other equal-tempered instrument, all the half steps are the same size...
fragments. The second occurs in the low winds and brass and primarily uses the dissonant intervals of a tritone
Tritone
In classical music from Western culture, the tritone |tone]]) is traditionally defined as a musical interval composed of three whole tones. In a chromatic scale, each whole tone can be further divided into two semitones...
and a minor ninth. This opening movement is thematically important in that it introduces both the chromatic scale and the tritone as the primary melodic building blocks for the entire symphony. Scholar Tadeusz Zielinski also notes that Penderecki’s use of the chromatic scale is similar to Bela Bartok
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
’s treatment in works such as Music for Strings, Percussion, and Celesta, and Sonata for Two Pianos and Percussion.
The diminuendo is primarily accomplished by an inverted variation on the bassoon/trombone motive, which is accompanied by fragments from the chromatic theme played at one-quarter tempo in the violins. A solitary clarinet line is all that remains from the original treatment of the chromatic figure. The movement closes with a long B-minor chord held over the F in the bass, preserving the dissonant character and emphasizing the tritone relationship. The pitches of B and F introduced here will also become important to later movements.
2nd Movement: Allegro con brio
Originally labeled “RondoRondo
Rondo, and its French equivalent rondeau, is a word that has been used in music in a number of ways, most often in reference to a musical form, but also to a character-type that is distinct from the form...
” by the composer, the ten-minute second movement only roughly follows the conventional form, and motives become fragmented and return at different pitch levels or with different instrumentation. This movement is also notable for its prominent use of the expanded percussion section, as pitched percussion including toms, marimba, and timbales carry thematic material for extended periods of time.
The characteristic building blocks of the themes are again the tritone and the chromatic scale. The tritone, initially stated between the pitches B and F, is established at the opening of the movement between the violins and timpani, and also in descending violin clusters.
In between statements of the theme are episodes which often include long solo passages for various instruments. The episodes are unified primarily by their melodic material and character, and themes frequently emphasize both the chromatic scale and the tritone. The trumpet and English horn are both notable examples of episodic melodies.
Additionally, Penderecki also puts added emphasis on the interval of the half step, the smallest unit of the chromatic scale, seen most prominently in the viola solo section. This half step, followed by a short rising chromatic figure, is described by Cindy Bylander as Penderecki’s “sighing motive.”
Toward the end of the movement, Penderecki also re-introduces the ostinato bass motive which formed the foundation of the first movement and also becomes the main idea of the fourth.
3rd Movement: Adagio
At approximately 13 minutes, the Adagio is a long, expansive unfolding of melodic ideas. Very often, the texture of the third movement consists of a solo wind or brass instrument with a lyrical melody over the supporting string ensemble. It is not as dramatically complex as the preceding AllegroTempo
In musical terminology, tempo is the speed or pace of a given piece. Tempo is a crucial element of any musical composition, as it can affect the mood and difficulty of a piece.-Measuring tempo:...
, though. Notably, it also does not contain a clearly stated instance of the ostinato figure.
The familiar chromatic scale and the interval of a half step are immediately emphasized, as seen in the rising chromatic figure in the cellos and basses in mm. 10-13, and in the half step “tremolo
Tremolo
Tremolo, or tremolando, is a musical term that describes various trembling effects, falling roughly into two types. The first is a rapid reiteration...
” figure in the violins in m. 7.
While the Adagio’s orchestration
Orchestration
Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra or of adapting for orchestra music composed for another medium...
is somewhat closer to late nineteenth-century Romantic writing than the previous movement, Penderecki still makes use of various creative doublings in the ensemble to create unique orchestral colors. Themes sometimes overlap or play together as a duet, but this movement contains frequent instances of solo passages in the winds and brass, as in the clarinet solo in mm. 31-33.
4th Movement: Passacaglia - Allegro Moderato
The PassacagliaPassacaglia
The passacaglia is a musical form that originated in early seventeenth-century Spain and is still used by contemporary composers. It is usually of a serious character and is often, but not always, based on a bass-ostinato and written in triple metre....
movement bears similarities to the first movement both in its use of ostinato and in its expressive arch, slowly building to a climax and then slowly coming back down. Here, however, the ostinato is reduced to simple repeated eighth notes, sounded forcefully by the low strings.
Against this repeated D, however, Penderecki again introduces the tritone; mm. 38-41 establish an A flat in the low brass against the D in the strings and horns.
Penderecki builds the movement through the addition of instruments, as the upper strings and winds sound the ostinato as the movement unfolds. The movement’s most dramatic shift occurs when the ostinato moves from D to F. Here, Penderecki brings the Passacaglia to a climax with large sections of the brass and winds stating slow chromatic melodies against the incessantly repeating Fs. The result is one of the largest blocks of orchestral sound created in the entire symphony.
After the climax, the ostinato of the Passacaglia returns to D and the movement experiences a dénouement. It ends with a gradual recession of momentum and a brief recall of the lyricism of the previous Adagio. Here, solo winds take brief melodies over a now fragmented ostinato, as seen in the English horn solo at mm. 101-103 (Example 14). The movement closes with a repeated figure in the bass, seen fragmented in mm. 101-105, with celli in imitation (Example 15).
5th Movement: Scherzo - Vivace
The finale relies heavily on chromatic scale figures and motor rhythms. From an orchestral standpoint, it is arguably the most complex movement. Penderecki uses an elaborate network of instrumental combinations, creating a dialogue of multiple orchestral colors as the finale unfolds. Much of this movement’s melodic material utilizes the familiar tritone and chromatic scale.The bass ostinato again asserts itself early on, firmly linking the finale with the previous movements. The timpani carry the melody with celli and double basses in accompaniment.
The low strings also begin a rhythmic pattern which can be found throughout the movement, often in higher voices (a similar procedure can be found in the second movement). A number of melodies in this finale also consist of an upwards tritone leap followed by a chromatic descent.
The middle section is functionally similar to the trio of a standard scherzo
Scherzo
A scherzo is a piece of music, often a movement from a larger piece such as a symphony or a sonata. The scherzo's precise definition has varied over the years, but it often refers to a movement which replaces the minuet as the third movement in a four-movement work, such as a symphony, sonata, or...
form. Leaps larger than an octave
Octave
In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...
are found here, as well as the other characteristic Penderecki melodic devices. This section is also characterized by a wide palette of instrumental colors, with solo and duet passages for clarinet and violin, clarinets, trumpets, horns, flute and bass clarinet (Example 18). A series of chromatic descents accompanied by alternating thirds
Thirds
Thirds is the third studio album by James Gang, released in 1971, and is the last studio album led by Joe Walsh. "Walk Away" was released as a single, making the Top 40 on at least one national chart, reaching #51 on the Billboard Hot 100, the best placement of a James Gang single...
then bring back the scherzo material.
The symphony’s conclusion is striking in its use of a clearly stated major key sonority, a marked difference from the chromatic saturation of the entire symphony. This ending, however, features a final reinforcement of the tritone, with a B major chord in the full brass supported by a strong F in the timpani (Example 19). The final measures then emphasize a unison F in the entire orchestra, a final recall of the repeated F which opened the symphony.
Critical reception
The premiere performances of the Third Symphony were met with mixed reviews. Henryk Tritt’s initial reception of the Passacaglia and Rondo at the Lucerne Festival was favorable, stating Penderecki “took maximal advantage of the technical and timbral possibilities of specific groups of instruments… particularly the violas and percussion.” The review of the German premiere of the full symphony described it as “a masterpiece,” complimenting the work for its synthesis of Penderecki’s earlier compositional styles, as well as the innovative use of brass and percussion.The New York Times gave a considerably less favorable review of the 1996 premiere, however, with Bernard Holland commenting that “One would admire more his economy of means, were the means being economized more interesting.” Although it was “professionally done,” he concluded that the symphony was “largely bereft of engaging ideas and, in a word, boring.”
Tony Gualtieri’s review of the Naxos CD at classical-music-review.org praised the piece, calling it “a major work, an homage to the past recalling composers such as Mahler and Bartok.”
Discography
Full Symphony:Penderecki, Krzysztof. Orchestra Works Vol. 1. Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Antoni Wit. Naxos 554491, 2000, compact disc.
Passacaglia and Rondo:
Penderecki, Krzysztof. Orchestra Works, Vol. 1. Krakow Philharmonic, conducted by Wojeiech Czepiel. Dux Records #475, 2005.
Various. Warszawska Jesień (Warsaw Autumn 1988) -Sound Chronicle 6. Krakow Philharmonic, conducted by Gilbert Levine. Polskie Nagrania Muza, SX 2736, 1988, LP.
Published Score
Penderecki, Krzysztof. 3. Sinfonie Fur Orchester. Mainz: Schott Music, 2008.Sources
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- Holland, Bernard. “From Penderecki, a Mob that Howls or Whispers.” The New York Times. 28 October 1996. C15-16.
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- ________. Labyrinth of Time: Five Addresses for the End of the Millennium. Chapel Hill: Hinshaw Music, 1998.
- ________. Orchestra Works Vol. 1. Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Antoni Wit. Naxos 554491, 2000, compact disc.
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- ________. “Penderecki’s Musical Pilgrimage.” In Studies in Penderecki, vol. 1, 33-49. Princeton, NJ: Prestige Publications, 1988.
- Schwartz, K. Robert. “First a Firebrand, Then a Romantic. Now What?” The New York Times 20 Oct. 2006, H33.
- Schwinger, Wolfram. “Changes in Four Decades: The Stylistic Paths of Krzysztof Penderecki.” In Studies in Penderecki, vol. 1. Translated by Allen Winold and Helga Winold, 65-81. Princeton, NJ: Prestige Publications, 1988.
- Thomas, Adrian. Polish Music Since Szymanowski. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
- Tomaszewski, Mieczysław. Krzysztof Penderecki and His Music: Four Essays. Krakow: Akademia Muzyczna w Krakowie, 2003.
- Zielinski, Tadeusz. “The Penderecki Controversy.” In Studies in Penderecki, vol. 2: Penderecki and the Avant Garde. Translated by William Brand, 29-40. Princeton, NJ: Prestige Publications, 2003.