Krzysztof Penderecki is a recognized Polish composer of opera and choral music, but not only. His works have been used in such classics as “The Shining”, “The Exorcist” or “Twin Peaks”.
The composer was born in the small town of Dębica in 1933. He comes from an Armenian, German and Polish family. At first, piano lessons were anathema to him, but when the violin appeared in the family, everything changed. After graduating from high school, he went to Krakow to study music. Already in 1959, he won three prizes in the Young Composers Competition, which amazed the jurors (he sent the pieces anonymously).
He has always been a titan of work.
I often spend several hours a day on the score, regardless of where I am, whether in the country or abroad.
The hard work has paid off. 1959-61 Penderecki composed Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima , one of his most famous works to this day. After him came: the famous St. Łukasza, Polish Requiem and Symphony No. 3.
The Devils of Loudun is the composer’s first opera. It tells about a priest accused by the abbess of the Ursuline order in love with him of possessing nuns. Paradise Lost , an opera about the fall of Satan, he composed in 1976-78. In addition, he has created countless pieces for solo instruments and orchestra, as well as chamber and choral music. However, we are primarily interested in film music.
Although at the beginning the works he composed were decorated (it’s hard to believe) fairy tales for children, in later years she was almost appropriated by horror films. His music has been used many times, e.g. in The Saragossa Manuscript (1964), also in 2001: A Space Odyssey , in the horror films The Exorcist (1973) and The Shining (1980), such films as Wild at Heart (1990), Children of Men (2006) ), Katyn (2007), The Island of Secrets (2010), In 2015 he composed the music for the Polish film Demon , and in 2017 Twin Peaks Masteczek used his train with the Victims of Hiroshima.
Below is a sample from The Shining :
The composer was the laureate of the highest Polish decoration, the Order of the White Eagle.
Krzysztof Penderecki was a great lover of trees. One of the most outstanding contemporary composers, for 40 years he created a multi-hectare arboretum in Lutosławice. He could name the Latin names of all the trees and shrubs he planted.
Planting trees is my favorite, constant occupation. I wouldn’t find my balance without it. The trees will stay.
Just like Mr. Krzysztof’s music will remain, which we can admire while watching once again outstanding works by Staney Kubrick.
He married for the first time at a very young age with the pianist Barbara Graca, after the divorce his wife was Elżbieta Solecka, his support and a well-known initiator of music festivals.
Krzysztof Penderecki died on March 29, 2020. An official funeral worthy of this composer is to take place after the end of the epidemic. For now, his ashes rest in the Church of St. Florian in Krakow.