Symphony No.5 "Korean" - Krzysztof Penderecki

Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Antoni Wit.

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Penderecki's Symphony No.5 was composed between 1991-2, being commissioned by the International Cultural Society of Korea for the 50th anniversary of liberation of Korea from the Japanese occupation. It was premiered on August 14 of 1992, performed by the Korean Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by the composer.

Although a single-movement work, Symphony No. 5 has a highly varied structure, whose highlight (and a reference to the occasion for which it was composed) is the incorporation of an old Korean patriotic song, banned under the Japanese occupation. A symbol of Korean independence, the tune uses just three notes: B, F and C.

The work opens with strongly repeated accents on one pitch, this time in the violas. Other strings (and gradually other instruments) then appear above that note and descend in a mournful gesture. Everything pauses for a moment. Then the violas begin their earnest declaration, or chant of evocation, again. And the previous enfolding gesture occurs again. Another melody is hinted at between these repeated, successively more intensely orchestrated gestures. After this first section, the violas suddenly enter with an energetic, long, and unfolding melody that is joined by the winds and upper strings which extend it into skipping and onrushing phrases. There are accents and stabs from the percussion and brass which continue to build toward a tremendous first climax. Sustained brass and lower strings recede from this powerful density into a droning texture.

A plaintive English horn interweaves a melody with a high string melisma, and the atmosphere is funereal with tolling tubular bells. The descending figure of the beginning re-occurs as a flash of some terrible unnamed vision, but quickly disappears. The strings and winds begin whirling figures that develop into a grotesque danse macabre in markedly accented triplets that end in downward chopping bowings. A half-comical, half-marching band-like toy soldier theme then develops in an odd trio. The whirling motive begins to return. This evokes the danse macabre scherzo once again in its mad triplet frenzy. A peak is reached, and the horns and cellos begin to lead away from that vision with entreating and tear-filled gestures surrounded by an eerie, desolate atmosphere.

The oboe creates a long solo harmonized simply by other winds. Creating a shock, the scherzo breaks in suddenly. The horns sail across the whirling and frantic orchestra. Powerfully harmonized chords are joined in by the full orchestra as it builds toward but doesn't reach a final climax; tubular bells are heard once again. Instead of breaking into a climactic passage, the music recedes as the English horn and oboe play odd chromatic melodies over tubular bells, that suggest very isolated, abandoned figures. The sighing, descending strings of the beginning are heard again, along with the slight, clustered texture of more bells. Just as everything seems to be dying away, the strings bring in a double-dotted martial theme that builds to a dramatic shimmer of scales in ascending and descending directions. This leads to a powerful coda in which the single note F is driven home with a determined demeanour that draws the whole to a conclusion in the true sense, rather than to a Romantic transcendence.

Picture: Photograph of Japanese repression of a Korean pro-independence march (1919).

Source: https://bit.ly/3HkpNxL

Unfortunately the score is not freely available.

Видео Symphony No.5 "Korean" - Krzysztof Penderecki канала Sergio Cánovas