Symphony No.8 ''Songs of Transcience'' [Revised Version] - Krzysztof Penderecki

Polish Sinfonia Iuventus Orchestra & Choir from Symphony Orchestra of the Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic Białystok conducted by Krzysztof Penderecki. Thomas E. Bauer as the baritone, Iwona Hossa as the soprano, Agnieszka Rehlis as the alto.

I - By Night: 0:00
II - End of Autumn: 2:59
III - The Burning Tree: 3:53
IV - By a Lime Tree: 12:13
V - Lilac: 14:29
VI - Spring Night: 16:46
VII - End of Autumn: 20:10
VIII - Do I tell you, beloved trees?: 20:58
IX - In the Mist: 24:23
X - The Flower Garden: 27:01
XI - Farewell: 30:43
XII - Transitoriness: 35:52
XIII - End of Autumn: 37:49
XIV - Autumn Day: 39:39
XV - Oh Green Tree of Life: 41:56

Penderecki's Symphony No.8 was composed in 2005, combining German poetry in a song-cycle symphony in a style similar to Mahler. It was premiered on June 25 of 2005, performed by the Luxembourg Philharmonic Orchestra and EuropaChorAkademie conducted by Bramwell Tovey. In 2008, Penderecki added three extra movements from the original twelve.

Penderecki's selection of poems: by Joseph von Eichendorff and Rainer Maria Rilke, Bertold Brecht and Karl Kraus, Johan Wolfgang Goethe and Herman Hesse, as well as Hans Bethge and Achim von Arnim, reveals the ways in which his ideas formed his artistic imagination. On one hand, the poetic texts are filled with a delight at the beauty of nature: meadows at sunrise and by moonlight, streams like silvery threads and a deer falling asleep, a beloved tree and a spring lilac in bloom. On the other hand, they reveal the truth of the frailty of human existence and the sadness resulting from life’s transient nature.

The first movement is a setting of Joseph von Eichendorff's "Nachts", a poem that evokes an Eden-like innocence. Beginning hesitantly in lower strings and woodwind, it opens out into an elegiac setting for mezzo and chorus, replete with the toiling of bells. The second movement sets the first verse of Rainer Maria Rilke's "Ende des Herbstes", its warning of the inevitability of change given forceful treatment by chorus and orchestra, lower brass to the fore. The third movement sets the poem "Der brennende Baum" by Bertold Brecht. Tragic in nature, as its first bars, interpreted by a solo flute, show us, it is sung by the soprano and the tenor. A dramatic orchestral interlude precedes a more intense section performed by the three soloists and chorus. It ends with an orchestral postlude with a new flute solo and the special sound provided by the ocarinas played by the choir members, in the form of optional pitch notes placed in the middle register.

The fourth movement returns to Eichendorff with his "Bei einer Linde", a reflection on the passing of spring in parallel to the onset of human experience. The text is taken by the baritone, his imploring manner mirrored by the orchestra, with sighing phrases on strings and plaintive oboe solo at the close. The fifth movement features baritone in a setting of Karl Kraus's "Flieder" which, in telling of the renewal of natural as well as human life, is notable for its skirling woodwind and incisive strings in music that is more animated in expression. The baritone remains for the sixth movement, a setting of Hermann Hesse's "Frühlingsnacht' and the nocturnal corollary to the preceding poem, which opens with an atmospheric prelude for cor anglais along with harmonics in the upper strings. Briefly disrupted by fugitive activity in brass and woodwind, the atmosphere is as suspenseful as is the text.

The seventh movement features the second stanza of Rilke's "Ende des Herbstes", in which the imminence of decay (whether natural or human) is depicted in music that has been reduced to stark string phrases by the close. The eighth movement has a soprano with a setting of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's "Sag' ich's euch, geliebte Bäume?", which views human aspiration in a metaphysical manner, the fervent vocal writing accentuated by interjections from percussion. The mood changes rapidly when the chorus enters, building to the biggest climax so far, with trumpets and bells to the fore. The chorus opens the ninth movement, a setting of Hesse's "Im Nebel" that draws parallels in the separation of trees from each other with the isolation of humans as they go through life. Its rapt tone is complemented by the hushed orchestral backdrop, but takes on a new immediacy as the soprano enters, the chorus returning in a mood of expectancy.

[Musical analysis continued in the comments section].

Lyrics (Absent III, X and XI): https://bit.ly/3WZ2hfv

Picture: "The Course of Empire - Desolation" (1836) by the English-American painter Thomas Cole.

Sources: https://bit.ly/3x0fsCh, https://bit.ly/3JInmYG and a study by Regina Chlopicka.

Unfortunately the score is not available.

Видео Symphony No.8 ''Songs of Transcience'' [Revised Version] - Krzysztof Penderecki канала Sergio Cánovas