If I would be born in New Zealand, maybe, I would never write the Polish Requiem or pieces which were connected with the history of war. But this was my childhood. War was the main subject, and also in our family.
So many new things have been discovered in the 20th century that now, at the end of the century, we need some kind of synthesis, some musical language which will allow us just to write music.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote expresses the idea that the discoveries of the 20th century in music necessitate a new language or synthesis for musical expression.
Krzysztof Penderecki highlights the transformative discoveries made in the field of music throughout the 20th century and advocates for the need for a new musical language that can encapsulate these advancements. By calling for a synthesis of ideas, he suggests that the complexities and innovations of the time require a fresh approach to musical composition, enabling musicians to express new thoughts and emotions effectively.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a lecture on the evolution of modern music, you could use this quote to illustrate the necessity for new forms of expression.
More from Krzysztof Penderecki
All quotes →Similar quotes
Why has Scandinavia been producing such good thrillers? Maybe because their filmmakers can't afford millions for CGI and must rely on cheaper elements like, you know, stories and characters.
The supreme question about a work of art is out of how deep a life does it spring. Paintings of Moreau are paintings of ideas. The deepest poetry of Shelley, the words of Hamlet bring our mind into contact with the eternal wisdom; Plato's world of ideas. All the rest is the speculation of schoolboys for schoolboys.
It is the only point of getting up every morning: to paint, to make something good, to make something even better than before, not to give up, to compete, to be ambitious.
I was just a punk kid, trying to get a sound out of a guitar that I couldn't get off the rack, so I built one myself ... I wanted a Gibson type of sound but with a Strat vibrato .. I went to town painting it and I put three pickups back in, but they don't work - only the rear one works
I'm the haphazard engineer of my own music.
I have the most openness about my art... It's total freedom and willingness to work. I'm willing really to walk on the edge, and if I haven't achieved it, that's where I want to go. But in my life - maybe because my life has been so traumatic, so absurd - there hasn't been one normal, happy thing.