Utrenya by Krzysztof Penderecki: Concerning the Question of the Influence of the Musical Traditions of Orthodox Christianity

Abstract

The object of research in article is Krzysztof Penderecki’s large-scale work
Utrenya composed in 1970–1971 after the composer’s visit to The Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius.
The author analyzes the textual basis of the composition, explaining the principles of selection
of the verbal texts, and describes the relationships between individual techniques of the position
of the words to the music with the tendencies in the development of choral music in the 1950s
and 1960s. Analysis of textural and timbre features of the composition reveals three main sources
of the technical compositional solutions: Krzysztof Penderecki’s own methods of choral writing,
applied in Stabat Mater and in Passio Et Mors Domini Nostri Jesu Christi Secundum Lucam; the
innovations of the post-war avant-garde, which became widespread in the works of Karlheinz
Stockhausen, Luigi Nono, Mauricio Kagel, György Ligeti; the intonational and textural elements
of choral writing typical of Orthodox Christian worship. All these components of Penderecki’s
choral style are organically combined with each other as part of the embodiment of a vivid sound
picture of the climactic services of the church year, reflecting the extreme contrast between the
mourning of Christ (Orthros of the Great Saturday) and the joy of His resurrection (Easter).
A separate issue studied in the article is the position of sacred works in Penderecki’s legacy and the
relationship between the composer’s choral oeuvres composed between 1962 and 1971.

Keywords: Krzysztof Penderecki, choral music, Orthodox Christianity and Catholic Church,
the post-war avant-garde, words and music, phonemic composition, texture, timbres