Penderecki

Available for over a year

Katie Derham delves into the surprising connections between classical music and and gardening, with guests who have a passion for both. Composer Krzysztof Penderecki is known for his Modernist masterpieces and avant-garde music, as one of Poland's foremost composers. His music has been heard by many after being used in The Shining and Twin Peaks. Composing in a variety of styles, he burst on to the music scene as a firebrand, before turning to neo-Romanticism. A key inspiration for his composing was his garden in Lusławice, where he created labyrinths, formal gardens and an enormous collection of trees. In this episode, Katie meets two people who knew him as a musician and as a gardener. Katie Derham speaks to Jan Topolski, who was part of the team at Adam Mickiewicz Institute who created the immersive website Penderecki's Garden, where visitors can explore the composer's life, music and gardens. He explains how the project combined two of Penderecki's greatest loves. Visit https://pendereckisgarden.pl/en/ Anna Schmidt created her film 'Paths Through The Labyrinth, a portrait of Krzysztof Penderecki' by spending a year with the composer and uncovering his thoughts on how his gardens inspired his music, and vice versa. She talks with Katie about how Penderecki about what it was like to follow this titan of contemporary music, and how his generosity, warmth and philosophies are seen in the gardens at Lusławice. Producer: Sofie Vilcins