St Luke Passion (Penderecki)

1966 oratorio by Krzysztof Penderecki

The St Luke Passion (full title: Passio et mors Domini nostri Jesu Christi secundum Lucam, or the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to St Luke) is a work for chorus and orchestra written in 1966 by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki. He composed the work to commemorate a millennium of Polish Christianity following the baptism and conversion of Polish duke Mieszko I in 966 AD. Penderecki's setting is one of several musical settings of the Passion story and contains text from the Gospel of Luke as well as other sources such as the Stabat Mater. Despite the Passion's almost total atonality and use of avant garde musical techniques, the musical public appreciated the work's stark power and direct emotional impact and the piece was performed several more times soon after its premiere on 30 March 1966.

The Passion is almost entirely atonal, except for two major triads which occur once at the end of the Stabat Mater, a cappella, and once, an E major triad, at the very end of the work with full choruses, orchestra and organ. It makes very frequent use of tone clusters, often played fortissimo by brass or organ. The contrapuntal equivalent of tone clusters is micropolyphony, which is one approach to texture that occurs in this piece
Occasionally, Penderecki employs twelve tone serialism, and utilizes the B A C H motif. Moreover, David Wordsworth believes that the B A C H motif unites the entire work The principle tone row, Cantus Firmus I, is C–D–F–E–E–F–G–G–B–B–A–C. The tone row of Cantus Firmus II is E–E–F–F–D–C–G–A–B–A–C–B. The chorus makes use of many extended techniques, including shouting, speaking, giggling and hissing.

The text of the St Luke Passion is entirely in Latin. The primary source of the text is the Gospel of Luke; however, it contains other sources such as hymns, Psalms and Lamentations.

The Passion is divided into two parts and twenty seven sections, thirteen in Part I and fourteen in Part II. Their titles are as follows.