Penderecki and Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima: An Analysis One of the most chilling and haunting pieces of music I have ever heard goes by the name of Threnody. Written in 1960 by Krysztof Penderecki, a Polish award-winning composer, this piece is dedicated to the residents and victims of Hiroshima that experienced the atrocities of an atomic weapon being dropped on their home. It is one of the most notable works of 20th century compositional feats, not only for its cultural and social significance, but also because of its innovative techniques and scoring. Something that Pendericki had to deal with, even before writing the music down on paper, was the issue of notating the sounds he wanted to hear. He found that the traditional system …show more content…
The first time that this shows up in the piece is around “bars” 6-10. The first technique requires the musician to play an indefinite pitch. This means that they will play the highest note possible on their instrument. However, this note is high enough that it is not possible to determine the pitch of it. The second technique involves bowing between the bridge and the tailpiece. This method creates a scratchy, distorted sound. The third technique has the musician play just behind the bridge (not in the middle like the second technique) and arpeggiate on the four strings. The fourth technique involves using the stringed instrument as a percussive instrument. How this technique works is the sounding board is struck with the finger-tips. Moving on to the fifth technique, this method directs the player to play completely on their tailpiece, not touching a single string. They are also directed to play directly on top of the bridge in a sixth technique. The final extended technique in this piece is the incredibly specific vibrato. Per Penderecki’s directions, the player is to play with a quarter-tone vibrato by sliding their finger. Because of the various effects employed in Threnody, a homogenous group of instruments is able to achieve a very unique sound a