Sym.2, Adagio From Sym.4 : Penderecki / Ndr.so

The first sketches for Krzysztof Penderecki's Second Symphony were made on Christmas Eve in 1979 - that's why the subtitle is Christmas Symphony. In Penderecki's homeland, Poland, the Second Symphony was immediately understood as national music, an immediately and subjectively 'romantically' affective tone, which gave expression to the painful memory of the struggle, suffering, and hope of the Polish people. Adagio - Fourth Symphony for large orchestra was commissioned by the French Ministry of Culture and Radio France on the occasion of the bicentennial of the French Revolution of 1789. Adagio is a meditation on the essential question of any revolution: the question of destiny and the dignity of the individual. In 1992, Penderecki received the Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition for this work.