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The late Krzysztof Penderecki was a legend of contemporary music. In this new limited podcast series, hear two famous British journalists, Jack Pepper and Charlotte Gardner, delving into the maestro's iconic work.

Hosting five episodes each, every episode focuses on a single piece from Penderecki's impressive body of work. From the piece itself and the history of its creation, hear interesting stories from the master's biography, the history of Poland, and the world at the time the composition was created. Learn all about the influence of the composer on the world of contemporary culture, and not only on classical music.

Want to learn more about Penderecki? The show is a companion piece to the site PendereckisGarden.pl.

  1. All Episodes
  2. A Polish Requiem: Nationhood

Nov 22, 2021

We use Penderecki's A Polish Requiem to explore the volatile history of the Polish nation, and how this in turn influenced Penderecki's outlook. From trade union protests to sustaining religious faith under communist rule, we discover how a composer can reflect wider issues of state, nationhood and identity.

Further reading & listening:

Many thanks to the Penderecki estate for granting us permission to use extended parts of his music. Some of the pieces heard in this episode can be listened to in full elsewhere on the Internet:

Hosted by Jack Pepper

Transcription WCAG

A Polish translation of the audio can be found here.