Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima

Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima
by Krzysztof Penderecki
Krzysztof Penderecki, Gdańsk, 2008
Full Ofiarom Hiroszimy: Tren, na 52 Instrumenty Smyczkowe
English Victims of Hiroshima: Threnody, for 52 String Instruments
ISWC T-905.954.212-0[1]
Year 1961 (1961)
Period Contemporary
Genre Threnody
Style Sonorism
Avant-Garde
Form Orchestral piece
Dedication Victims and Hibakusha of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima
Publisher Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne
Duration 8:37
Comment
 • 1st Place (1961) UNESCO Tribune Internationale des Compositeurs

 • 3rd Prize (1960) Fitelberg Composers Competition
 • 3rd Degree (1962) Ministry of Culture and Art Award

Premiere
Date 22 September 1961
Location Warsaw Autumn Festival
Conductor Andrzej Markowski
Performers Krakow Philharmonic
Symphony Orchestra
[1][2][3]

Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima, also translated as Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima[4][5] (Polish: Tren Ofiarom Hiroszimy) is a musical composition for 52 string instruments composed in 1960 by Krzysztof Penderecki. Dedicated to the residents of Hiroshima killed and injured by the first-ever wartime usage of an atomic weapon, the composition took third prize at the Grzegorz Fitelberg Composers' Competition in Katowice in 1960 and won the Tribune Internationale des Compositeurs UNESCO prize in 1961.[6][7]

Description

The piece's written length is about 8 minutes and 37 seconds.[3][2] Originally called 8'37",[8] the piece applies the sonoristic technique which tends to focus on specific characteristics and qualities of timbre, texture, articulation, dynamics, and motion in an attempt to create freer form, and rigors of specific counterpoint to an ensemble of strings treated to unconventional scoring. Penderecki's stated intent with the composition was to "develop a new musical language".[9] Penderecki later said, "It existed only in my imagination, in a somewhat abstract way." When he heard an actual performance, "I was struck by the emotional charge of the work ... I searched for associations and, in the end, I decided to dedicate it to the Hiroshima victims".[10]

The piece spans 52 string instruments,[11]:93 melding them together in sonoristic manipulation and counterpoint in a manner which, according to reviewer Paul Griffiths, makes the listener "uneasy by choosing to refer to an event too terrible for string orchestral screams".[12] The vertical component of the score is varied, with 24 violins divided into four sections, 10 violas divided into two sections, 10 cellos divided into two groups, and 8 basses in two sections.[3] Threnody's sustained tone clusters and various extended techniques – including a riot of varying vibrato, slapped instruments, playing on the tailpiece and behind the bridge – are matched by an optical notation full of thick black lines.[13][11]:94 At times Penderecki takes an aleatoric approach, offering the players a choice of techniques or demanding irregular degrees of vibrato. The piece is also marked by a considerable rigor in its timing indications, notated in seconds, as well as specific note clusters and the use of quarter tones, clustered pitches and sound mass which accumulates in a reservoir of hypertonality.[11]:93

Usage in media

In film, excerpts from Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima are used in Alfonso Cuarón's 2006 film Children of Men,[14][15] Wes Craven's 1991 film The People Under the Stairs,[16][17] David Lynch's 2017 television series Twin Peaks,[18][19] and in Gerry Anderson's 1969 film Journey to the Far Side of the Sun.[20] In music, excerpts from Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima are sampled in one version of Manic Street Preachers's 1991 song You Love Us[21] and in SebastiAn's 2010 release Bird Games.[22]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 International Standard Work Code, No.T-905.954.212-0. "Tren Ofiarom Hiroszimy / Krzysztof Penderecki". International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers. ISWC-Net.
  2. 1 2 Palisca, Claude V.; Burkholder, J. Peter (1996). Norton Anthology of Western Music (3rd ed.). New York: W.W. Norton. p. 637. ISBN 9780393969061. OCLC 439757621.
  3. 1 2 3 Penderecki, Krzysztof (1961). ""Ofiarom Hiroszimy: Tren: Na 52 Instrumenty Smyczkowe = To The Victims of Hiroshima: Threnody: For 52 Stringed Instruments"" (Sheet Music). Warszawa: Polskie Wydawn. Muzyczne. OCLC 269308.
  4. ↑ Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima Tren ofiarom Hiroszimy (1980) ; Viola concerto (1983) (CD booklet). Krzysztof Penderecki. Conifer Records. 1988. OCLC 884553089.
  5. ↑ Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima for 52 strings = Threnos den opfern von Hiroschima fúr 52 saiteninstrumente (CD booklet). Krzysztof Penderecki. Deshon Music. 1961. OCLC 318270188.
  6. ↑ Hiemenz, Jack (27 February 1977). "A Composer Praises God as One Who Lives in Darkness". The New York Times (Vol. 126, No. 43, 499). NYTimes Co. Retrieved 18 March 2017.
  7. ↑ "Oficjalna strona Krzysztofa Pendereckiego [en]". www.krzysztofpenderecki.eu.
  8. ↑ Thomas, Adrian (2008). Polish Music since Szymanowski. Cambridge University Press. p. 165. ISBN 978-1-139-44118-6.
  9. ↑ Delisi, Daniel Joseph (1985). Compositional Techniques and Use of the Chorus in Five Selected Choral Works of Krzysztof Penderecki (Avant-Garde, Twentieth-Century Notation) (Ph.D. thesis). Cincinnati, Ohio: College-Conservatory of Music of the University of Cincinnati. p. 11. Document No.8627596 – via ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.
  10. ↑ Ashby, Arved (2004). "Modernism goes to the movies". In Arved Ashby. The Pleasure of Modernist Music: Listening, Meaning, Intention, Ideology. Boydell & Brewer. pp. 351, 384. ISBN 978-1-58046-143-6. [Penderecki's words are] Cited by Miekzyslaw Tomaszewski in his liner notes for Penderecki: Orchestral Works, Vol. 1 (Naxos 8.554491, 2000).
  11. 1 2 3 Kałużny, Jan A. (1963). "Krzysztof Penderecki and his Contribution to Modern Musical Notation". The Polish Review. The University of Illinois Press on behalf of the Polish Institute of Arts & Sciences of America. 8 (3): 93–94. JSTOR 25776495.
  12. ↑ Griffiths, Paul (1976). "Review of Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima, Penderecki, K." The Musical Times. 117 (1605): 915. doi:10.2307/958398. JSTOR 958398.
  13. ↑ Kozak, Mariusz (1 February 2017). "Experiencing Structure in Penderecki's Threnody: Analysis, Ear-Training, and Musical Understanding". Music Theory Spectrum. 38 (2): 200–217. doi:10.1093/mts/mtw015. ISSN 0195-6167.
  14. ↑ Pappademas, Alex (9 March 2012), Radiohead’s Runaway Guitarist, The New York Times, retrieved 16 July 2014
  15. ↑ Doherty, Mike (13 March 2012), Album Reviews: Jonny Greenwood and David Byrne meet their heroes, National Post (Canada), archived from the original on 20 March 2012, retrieved 16 July 2014
  16. ↑ "Classical Music in Movies : P - Classical Soundtrack and Classical Background Music". Naxos Records. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
  17. ↑ Muir, John Kenneth (1998). Wes Craven: The Art of Horror. Jefferson: McFarland. p. 161. ISBN 9780786419234. OCLC 66655309.
  18. ↑ Murray, Noel (26 June 2017). "'Twin Peaks' Season 3, Episode 8: White Light White Heat". The New York Times. NYTimes Co. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  19. ↑ Atad, Corey (26 June 2017). "Last Night's Terrifying 'Twin Peaks' Will Be Remembered as One of the Best Episodes of Television Ever". Esquire. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
  20. ↑ Journey to the Far Side of the Sun (Motion picture). Directed by Robert Parrish. Screenplay by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and Donald James. Produced by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. Music by Barry Gray. Cinematography by John Read. Edited by Len Walter. Century 21 Cinema Productions. 27 August 1969. OCLC 905922131.
  21. ↑ Power, Martin (2012). Nailed to History: The Story of the Manic Street Preachers. London: Omnibus. ISBN 9781780381480.
  22. ↑ "SebastiAn (Producer)'s 'Bird Games (Interlude)' - Discover the Sample Source". WhoSampled. Retrieved 5 May 2017.
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