KRZYSZTOF PENDERECKI (b 1933)

Fonogrammi* - Horn Concerto ‘Winterreise’† - Partita#

The Awakening of Jacob, Anaklasis, De natura sonoris

Urszula Janik, flute*

Jennifer Montone, horn†

Elżbieta Stefańska, harpsichord#

Michał Pindakiewicz, electric guitar#

Konrad Kubicki, bass guitar#

Barbara Witkowska, harp#

Jerzy Cembrzyński, double bass#

Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra / Antoni Wit

Each of these six orchestral works bears the imprint of Penderecki’s greatness as a composer. Fonogrammi alternates piquant sonorities, pulsating vehemence and moments of great intimacy. Intensity

accompanied by neo-Romantic elements can be heard in The Awakening of Jacob whilst Anaklasis is a stunning example of juxtaposed, multiple sound patterns. De natura sonoris I explores more improvisational, jazz-influenced areas, as does the richly orchestrated Partita. The Horn Concerto, composed in 2008, offers an evocative landscape, glacial, powerful, yet wistful.

Penderecki’s orchestral works are some of the most sonically spectacular of our time. He is one of the greatest of living composers and his music appeals to those who are fascinated by his earlier, more sensational works as by his later, more neo-Romantic turns of phrase.

Antoni Wit, one of the most highly regarded Polish conductors, studied conducting with Henryk Czyz and composition with Krzysztof Penderecki at the Academy of Music in Kraków, subsequently continuing

his studies with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. In 2002 he became managing and artistic director of the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra.

Naxos 8572482