Krzysztof Penderecki: Viola Concerto (1983) with score

Performers: Grigori Zhislin (viola), Szymon Kawalla (conductor), Polish Radio and TV Symphony Orchestra of Krakow

Description from Culture Poland:
Krzysztof Penderecki's Viola Concerto was commissioned in 1983 by the government of Venezuela to mark the bicentenary of birth of Simon Bolivar, the South American hero of the struggle for independence. Its first performance - in Caracas on 24th July 1983 - featured José Vasques as the soloist and Eduardo Ran as the conductor.
In contrast to Penderecki's earlier concertos (two for viola and the Violin Concerto No. 1) with their monumental sounds and thick textures, the Viola Concerto is closer to chamber music while preserving the character of a virtuoso work. Its clear, one-movement form juxtaposes forms of contrasting tempos: Lento, Vivace, Lento, Vivo, Lento, with Vivace and Vivo, the fast movements, having a playful, scherzo-like character. Solo cadenzas which precede, among others, the two "scherzos", serve as interludes. The nostalgic main theme, which is introduced by a viola solo in piano dynamics, develops from the minor second motif and recurs in a number of variants, including inversion, but does not really reappear in its basic form.

"The development of musical phrasing strikes one with a very economical and restrained use of means, creating the impression that the composer tries to say as much as possible with the least possible number of notes and the narrowest possible range of sound pitches", writes musicologist Tadeusz Zieliński in his latest study 'Dramat instrumentalny Pendereckiego' (PWM, Kraków 2003). "The emotions, avoiding theatrical insistency, are deeply intimate, focused and intense, though naturally not free from the underlying strong, dramatic tensions … The considerable emotional charge are released in formulas which are less typical of the exuberant romantic phrasing and more akin to the more focused and logically concentrated thinking of Bach's or Bartók's. Compared to the earlier concertos, this one brings fewer local reminiscences of the avant-garde technique of young Penderecki's, though the score includes some sophisticated sound-and-colour ideas. All in all, the Concerto is work of moderation rather than any kind of exaggeration ..."
Grigorij Zhyslin has been the one to offer some excellent interpretations of the solo part of the Concerto on a number of occasions, including the 1986 Warsaw Autumn Festival, when he was accompanied by the Symphony Orchestra of the Polish Radio and Television in Katowice under Antoni Wit. Zhyslin has also made several recordings of the Concerto.