Search - Krzysztof Penderecki, Jonny Greenwood :: Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima / Popcorn

Nonesuch Records releases an album of works by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki and composer/Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood. The artists' work was presented side-by-side in two concerts in September 2011, highlighting Penderecki's influence on younger composers, at the European Congress of Culture in Wroc aw. In its report on the Congress, which celebrated Poland's presidency of the European Union, London's Independent called Penderecki "Poland's godfather of the musical avant-garde" and Greenwood "the doyen of English art-pop," describing their concert as "rapturously received." The composers went to Kraków's Alvernia Studios immediately after the performances to oversee the recording of the same music, along with one other piece by Greenwood.

The Wroc aw concert included two works by Penderecki dating from the early 1960s: "Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima" and "Polymorphia (for 48 strings)," the latter of which inspired the Greenwood piece on the program, "48 Responses to Polymorphia;" all three are on the Nonesuch record. An additional piece by Greenwood, "Popcorn Superhet Receiver," which was inspired by Penderecki's "Threnody," also was recorded for the album. (Greenwood incorporated material from "Popcorn Superhet Receiver" in his award-winning score for the 2008 film There Will Be Blood, which was also released on Nonesuch.)