Krzysztof Penderecki Essentials

Krzysztof Penderecki may be among the best-known composers of avant-garde classical music to mainstream audiences, thanks in part to directors like Stanley Kubrick and David Lynch, who used his unearthly pieces in The Shining and Twin Peaks, respectively. Influenced by innovative modernists like Stravinsky and Webern, the Poland-born Penderecki announced his arrival in the late ’50s, writing what would become his most performed work—the unsettling Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima—in 1960. Many of his compositions throughout the 20th century were also inspired by political events, but Penderecki’s style was constantly evolving. Whether couching religious matter in dissonant atonality, exploring choral work and opera or, at the age of 78, collaborating with Radiohead guitarist/composer Jonny Greenwood, Penderecki, who died in March 2020, will forever be remembered as one of classical’s most groundbreaking voices.