Krzysztof Penderecki: Te Deum

Krzysztof Penderecki (Composer), Antoni Wit (Conductor), Agnieszka Rehlis (Performer), Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra (Orchestra), Warsaw Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra (Orchestra), Izabella Klosinska (Performer), Adam Zdunikowski (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Agnieszka Rehlis, Izabella Klosinska, Adam Zdunikowski
• Orchestra: Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Warsaw Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra
• Conductor: Antoni Wit
• Composer: Krzysztof Penderecki
• Audio CD (September 25, 2007)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Naxos
• ASIN: B000U7V9EY
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #69,857 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful Penderecki sampler, May 31, 2010

By 

Marius Cipolla - See all my reviews

This review is from: Penderecki: Te Deum / Hymne An Den Heiligen Daniel / Polymorphia / Ciaconna (MP3 Download)

Although the works on this CD are disparate, and from widely separated phases in the great composer's career, they were clearly chosen to provide a bouquet of Penderecki's most accessible shorter compositions.

The Te Deum is a magnificent example of Penderecki's liturgical music, full of power and glory. Secular listeners sometimes complain that Penderecki's religious music is "dark" and "not exactly cheery;" but it should be noted that for this deeply religious composer, being in the presence of God is not the sentimental glow of a religious card, but an experience filled with overwhelming, unearthly sensations of awe akin to terror.

This holds true for Polymorphia, which dates from the period when the composer declared, "I want to liberate sound beyond all tradition." This is a seminal work which everybody ought to listen to at least once in a concert hall, rather than as the backdrop to a horror film.

The beautiful Hymne opens other and more rarefied vistas, and the Chaconne is a seductive neoclassical work unlikely to challenge even the most conservative listener.

I think that many people are going to find this an excellent introduction to the thrilling, terrifying, sublime world of Penderecki. Nobody will regret buying it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best CDs in Naxos' Pendercki cycle, April 27, 2008

By 

Vanilor (Colorado) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Krzysztof Penderecki: Te Deum (Audio CD)

Penderecki's Te Deum was written in 1979, some 15 years after the St. Luke Passion, and just a year before the Polish Requiem. It greatly resembles the most exciting moments of the Polish Requiem, compacted into about 35 minutes. It is full of action, very interesting, and very exciting.

The other two major works on this CD are actually even better. The Hymne is stunningly beautiful, and Polymorphia, from Penderecki's early avant-garde period, is simply incredible in its chaos. It deserves to be just as well known as the Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Before thine altar we bear our petition: Father restores to us our rightful land.", February 8, 2010

By 

Eric S. Kim (Southern California) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Krzysztof Penderecki: Te Deum (Audio CD)

I have always had a fascination with 20th-Century Classical Music. Ever since I first discovered Igor Stravinsky's "Le Sacre du Printemps (The Rite of Spring)," I wanted to go further into this particular era. Now, composers like Stravinsky, Debussy, Respighi, Holst, Glass, Tavener, Ligeti, Kodaly, and Vaughan Williams have become some of my favorites of all time. I'm always enthralled whenever I hear works from the eras of Impressionism, Minimalism, and Avant-garde. Krzysztof Penderecki, on the other hand, was someone that I had overlooked for a brief period of time, and now that I have finally had the chance to listen to his St. Luke's Passion for the first time, I have officially become an admirer.

Penderecki's own music can be quite diverse: he has created avant-garde works as well as neo-romantic. Te Deum, a 35+ minute choral work leans more toward latter rather than former. Some of the atonal techniques remain, but the expressions are purely neo-romantic. Same goes for Hymne an den heiligen Daniel, but this one is a bit more tonal than Te Deum. It is also more gently meditative, sounding more like a composition from American composer Morten Lauridsen. Nonetheless, these are two astonishing works from Penderecki, and they prove that he can do more than just the St. Luke Passion.

If you have seen the movie, "The Shining," then you might recognize Polymorphia right away. It's an 11-minute work from the composer's avant-garde period, and it requires a large handful of strings. Filled with plucking and clanking and various other effects, it's something that you would typically hear in a horror film. As for Chaconne, this could very well be an excellent introduction to the composer's Polish Requiem, in which this later became a part of. This 7-minute work was performed as a tribute to Pope John Paul II, who died back in April of 2005.

The performances.....well, what can I say? Antoni Wit and the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra have done a spectacular job with all four works featured here on this Naxos CD. The Warsaw Philharmonic Choir is a powerful delight for the ears with Te Deum & Hymne. The soloists for Te Deum have the right voices for this sort of choral work. Finally, the sound quality is unbelievably outstanding for its budget price.

If you are currently fascinated with Penderecki's work, buy this CD. If you have never heard of Penderecki and would like to explore into his world of music, then buy this CD. If you are interested in 20th Century Classical Music in general, then buy this CD. You'll be amazed at the avant-garde & neo-romantic qualities of these compositions.

Grade: A


NOTE: The quote for the title of this review is from the liner notes to this CD.