Despite their different musical languages, all works by the Polish composers Karol Szymanowski and Krzysztof Penderecki presented on this album have in common the inherent character of a lament: Szymanowski's Stabat mater, which was completed in 1926 and is based on a Polish translation of the Latin medieval poem, is considered as one of the most important compositions of the 20th century. Penderecki's three-part oratorio Dies Irae was commissioned for a commemoration day in remembrance of the murder victims at the former concentration camp in Auschwitz, and hence carries the epithet "Auschwitz Oratorium". The album closes with a Threnos for 52 string instruments dedicated to the Victims of Hiroshima. The final haunting bars of this composition present a tutti cluster, starting in a triple forte and fading out to quadruple piano.

Tracklist:

Stabat Mater, Op. 53: I. Stała Matka Bolejąca
Stabat Mater, Op. 53: II. I Któż Widział Tak Cierpiącą
Stabat Mater, Op. 53: III. O Matko Źródło Wszechmiłości
Stabat Mater, Op. 53: IV. Spraw Niech Płaczę Z Tobą Razem
Stabat Mater, Op. 53: V. Panno Słodka Racz Mozołem
Stabat Mater, Op. 53: VI. Chrystus Niech Mi Będzie Grodem
Dies Irae: I. Lamentatio
Dies Irae: II. Apocalypsis
Dies Irae: III. Apotheosis
Threnody To The Victims Of Hiroshima

UPC: 4011790212517
Label: Orfeo
Release Date: 9.2.22
Format: CD

Penderecki / Orf Vienna Radio Symphony Orch - Stabat Mater / Dies Irae (CD)