Krzysztof penderecki biography of william

Bylander, Cindy. Krzysztof Penderecki: A Bio-Bibliography. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2004.

An extensive annotated bibliography through 1998 that also includes a works list with selected performances, a discography (through 2003) and a very brief biography. Focus on press coverage in musical and mainstream periodicals in English, French, German, and Polish, with summaries.

Erhardt, Ludwik. Spotkania z Krzysztofem Pendereckim. Kraków: Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne, 1975.

Polish music publisher’s biography by a critic who was one of Penderecki’s early champions. Emphasizes his international success, connections, and renown by tracing his career as conductor alongside that of composer. Celebratory in nature, the book includes lengthy statements by the composer and generally avoids musical analysis.

Jacobson, Bernard. A Polish Renaissance. London: Phaidon, 1996.

In this collection of Polish composer portraits for the general public, Jacobson celebrates Penderecki’s success in western Europe, drawing attention to commissioning institutions and reproducing many images from stage productions. Much of the biographical detail replicated from Schwinger 1994. Also includes quotations from an informal interview by Jacobson from 1967. A brief essay on interiority in later music by Górecki and Penderecki caps the volume.

Lisicki, Krzysztof. Szkice o Krzysztofie Pendereckim. Warsaw: Instytut Wydawniczy PAX, 1973.

First book-length biography of the composer. Chronological organization with substantial attention to the 1950s. For a general Polish, musically literate audience and thus provides unusual perspective on Penderecki’s legibility to broader audience familiar with the postwar avant-garde. Dramatic works from the 1960s explained at length along with musical notation and extended techniques.

Robinson, Ray. Studies in Penderecki. 2 vols. Princeton, NJ: Prestige, 1998–2003.

Collection of brief articles brings together international perspectives in musicology and music criticism on Penderecki. Focused analyses cover works from across his career. Covers reception and performance history in various national contexts and compares his relationship to the avant-garde, conceived broadly. Contains synopses of many scholars’ larger-scale studies and is therefore a useful tool for orientation.

Schwinger, Wolfgang. Krzysztof Penderecki: Begegnungen, Lebensdaten, Werkkommentare. Mainz, Germany: Schott, 1994.

Most recent update of an influential biography first published in 1979 and translated into English in 1989. Issued by Penderecki’s publisher, includes many photos and score excerpts. Remains the most comprehensive biography not in Polish. Attention to reception by the power brokers and performers of the German avant-garde gives the volume a focus on his career in international perspective. Work commentaries are descriptive and include comprehensive information about sources and genesis.

Thomas, Adrian. “Penderecki, Krzysztof.” Grove Music Online, 2001.

Concise biography that traces Penderecki’s international commissions and conducting career along with a brief sketch of his compositional output, with the mid-1970s as a dividing point. Thomas distinctively draws out larger themes—such as genre mixture in dramatic works and commemorative themes in choral compositions—rather than reproducing narratives about spirituality and neo-Romanticism. Available online by subscription. Complements the essayistic Thomas 2003 (cited under Music for the Stage) on Penderecki’s operas.

Tomaszewski, Mieczysław. Krzysztof Penderecki and His Music: Four Essays. Kraków: Akademia Muzyczna w Krakowie, 2003a.

A collection of articles by a prominent musicologist and close collaborator with Penderecki from 1989 to 2003. Interprets coherence across the composer’s career. Tomaszewski develops a theory of the composer’s attitude toward sound that bridges the sacred and profane, while rejecting postmodern readings of his early career. Though affect is of primary concern, form, tonal space, and genre are also discussed.

Tomaszewski, Mieczysław. Penderecki. Warsaw: Adam Mickiewicz Institute, 2003b.

Part promotion, part biography, and part reflection, this synthesis presents Penderecki to an English-speaking audience. Although it is a trove of details, readers should be aware that many of the anecdotes in the volume are unsubstantiated personal reflections—anecdotes that give a sense of Penderecki’s cultural significance and visionary presence for some aspects of musical life in Poland.