I was introduced to Krzysztof Penderecki’s music at the age of 12 when my music teacher played us Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima. I still remember being surprised at the strings’ entry and feeling slowly overwhelmed by anguish. It was simply “noise” for me at that age.
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Just after starting at medici.tv, I discovered the documentary Paths Through the Labyrinth and was immediately intrigued when I saw that Jonny Greenwood, Radiohead’s guitarist, was one of the interviewees. In the documentary, he speaks about Polymorphia, one of Penderecki’s works that greatly inspired him. The work is both marvelous and absolutely terrifying. I had already heard it in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, a fitting feature for this decidedly disturbing piece.
The Polymorphia’s layers of atonal sounds create a sort of unsettling, dysmorphic musical entity, in which lies the genius of the piece. No note has been placed at random; they all fit together perfectly, responding to and intertwining with each other to create a whole that culminates in a brilliant C major chord at the end of the piece. It was at that moment, after watching this documentary, that this “noise composer” had my full attention.
Paths Through the Labyrinth presents the complexity and experimentalism that characterize Penderecki’s music. At the start of his career, his musical method consisted of taking traditional codes of Western music and reworking them to create new sounds. For example, some of his works require an alternative string technique, to bring out the instruments’ percussive sounds, and he incorporates chromaticism to create new colors. The documentary also gives us a glimpse into how the late Polish composer spent his days at 80: walks in the park, family beach visits, and other peaceful pleasures that contrast starkly with his inner musical universe.
In her documentary, director Anna Schmidt paints a portrait of a free musical spirit who made a name for himself in the contemporary landscape. Join me in exploring the labyrinth that is Penderecki’s work, and you won’t be disappointed!
