Krzysztof Penderecki, revolutionary composer, dies at 86

Influential Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki, passed away on Sunday. He was 86. His passing was confirmed by The Polish Ministry of Affairs. His cause of death has not been confirmed.

Born in Dębica in 1933. Penderecki found international acclaim with his 1960 composition, ‘Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima’. The composition was featured prominently in Alfonso Cuarón’s 2006 film, Children of Men, and as the focal point of the masterpiece eighth episode of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: The Return. His music acted as a soundtrack to many of cinemas greatest triumphs including William Friedkin’s The Exorcist, Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, and Lynch’s Wild at Heart.

The composers influence reverberated through modern music. Manic Street Preachers sampled ‘Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima’ heavily in their 1991 song ‘You Love Us’. Aphex Twin collaborated with Penderecki in 2011 on remixes of ‘Threnody’ and ‘Polymorphia’.

Perhaps the most significant collaborative partnership was with Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood. The pair released a collaborative album in 2012. Greenwood was profoundly inspired by the composers work. This influence pulsates in Greenwood’s There Will Be Blood composition ‘Popcorn Superhet Receiver.’

“What sad news to wake to,” Greenwood tweeted. “Penderecki was the greatest—a fiercely creative composer, and a gentle, warm-hearted man. My condolences to his family, and to Poland on this huge loss to the musical world.”

“The loss of Krzysztof Penderecki leaves a huge void in my heart as well as an enormous one for all musicians and music lovers around the globe,” wrote violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter,. “The premiere of his “Recordare” in September 1984 in Stuttgart was a life-changing experience for me. His violin concert “Metamorphosis” became my lifeline during the terminal illness and death of my husband in 1995.”