St Luke Passion (Penderecki)


The St Luke Passion is a work for chorus and orchestra written in 1966 by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki, which, considered within the context of the officially atheistic Polish People's Republic and other Eastern Bloc countries, makes its potentially subversive subject matter even that much more remarkable. Penderecki wrote the work to commemorate a millennium of Polish Christianity following the baptism and conversion of Polish duke Mieszko I in 966 AD. Penderecki's setting is one of several musical settings of the Passion story and contains text from the Gospel of Luke as well as other sources such as the Stabat Mater. Despite the Passion's almost total atonality and use of avant-garde musical techniques, the musical public appreciated the work's stark power and direct emotional impact and the piece was performed several more times soon after its premiere on 30 March 1966.

Musical content

Compositional techniques

The Passion is almost entirely atonal, except for two major triads which occur once at the end of the Stabat Mater, a cappella, and once, an E-major triad, at the very end of the work with full choruses, orchestra and organ. It makes very frequent use of tone clusters, often played fortissimo by brass or organ. The contrapuntal equivalent of tone clusters is micropolyphony, which is one approach to texture that occurs in this piece.
Occasionally, Penderecki employs twelve-tone serialism, and utilizes the B-A-C-H motif. Moreover, David Wordsworth believe that the B-A-C-H motif unites the entire work. The principle tone row, Cantus Firmus I, is C–D–F–E–E–F–G–G–B–B–A–C. The tone row of Cantus Firmus II is E–E–F–F–D–C–G–A–B–A–C–B. The chorus makes use of many extended techniques, including shouting, speaking, giggling and hissing.

Orchestration

The St Luke Passion is scored for large forces: a narrator ; soprano, baritone and bass soloists ; three mixed choruses and a boys' choir; and a large orchestra consisting of:
Woodwinds
Brass
Percussion
Keyboards
Strings

Text

The text of the St Luke Passion is entirely in Latin. The primary source of the text is the Gospel of Luke; however, it contains other sources such as hymns, Psalms and Lamentations.

Sections of text

The Passion is divided into two parts and twenty-seven sections, thirteen in Part I and fourteen in Part II. Their titles are as follows.

Part I

  1. O Crux Ave, chorus and orchestra
  2. Et egressus ibat, narrator, baritone and orchestra
  3. Deus Meus, baritone, chorus and orchestra
  4. Domine, quis habitat, soprano and orchestra
  5. Adhuc eo loquente, narrator, baritone, chorus and orchestra
  6. Ierusalem, chorus and orchestra
  7. Ut quid, Domine, chorus a cappella
  8. Comprehendentes autem eum, narrator, soprano, bass, chorus and orchestra
  9. Iudica me, Deus, bass and orchestra
  10. Et viri, qui tenebant illum, narrator, baritone, chorus and orchestra
  11. Ierusalem
  12. Miserere mei, Deus, chorus a cappella
  13. Et surgens omnis, narrator, baritone, bass, chorus and orchestra

    Part II

  15. Et in pulverem, chorus and orchestra
  16. Et baiulans sibi crucem, narrator and orchestra
  17. Popule meus, chorus and orchestra
  18. Ibi crucifixerunt eum, narrator and orchestra
  19. Crux fidelis, soprano, chorus and orchestra
  20. Iesus autem dicebat, narrator, baritone and orchestra
  21. In pulverem mortis, chorus a cappella
  22. Et stabat populus, narrator, chorus and orchestra
  23. Unus autem, narrator, baritone, bass, chorus and orchestra
  24. Stabant autem iuxta crucem, narrator, baritone and orchestra
  25. Stabat Mater, chorus a cappella
  26. Erat autem fere hora sexta, narrator, baritone, chorus and orchestra
  27. Alla breve, orchestra alone
  28. In pulverem mortis... In te, Domine, speravi, soprano, baritone, bass, chorus and orchestra