Krzysztof Penderecki’s sacred music for a cappella choir

Abstract

Penderecki’s a cappella works have been written over the span of over 50 years since 1958, when the psalm Exaltabo Te Domine from the Psalms of David was composed, followed by the Stabat Mater sequence from St Luke Passion (1962), the multiple movement Missa brevis, intended for a cappella choir in its entirety, being the most recent work in the series (its first performance took place in January 2013). A cappella compositions form distinct movements within the large vocal-instrumental works or they are written as independent pieces, usually dedicated to friends or connected with specific events. Even though the works came into being in different periods and they were often written in different musical languages, they do constitute a group of works which is relatively uniform from the point of view of general style. The article aims at discussing on the one hand the chronology, text sources and a type of musical language used in a cappella works, on the other the general features of style and ways of developing musical narration by the composer.