Lifetime Achievement - Krzysztof Penderecki
Krzysztof Penderecki has been composing music for more than half a century. Throughout the years, his music has changed and evolved following one principle: to write his own music with as few influences as possible.
Since the beginning of his composing career, German composers Bach and Beethoven have had a major influence on his work. Growing up in a very multicultural environment, Penderecki developed a wide-range of musical interests from the 16th century to Polish folk songs.
Even though Penderecki’s work is considered difficult to perform and sometimes too “out of the box”, it has gained the sensibility of a vast and international public for more than sixty years.
With an oeuvre as polyphonic as his, Penderecki is a vital source of inspiration for many film directors who use it to heighten dramatic tension in their work. The Shining and William Friedkin‘s The Exorcist are masterpieces of suspense and horror, which gave other stories to Penderecki’s pieces.
"It is a great joy for me that the jury of the prestigious World Soundtracks Academy decided to award the most outstanding living Polish composer, the father of the Polish musical avant-garde, an iconic figure of 20th century classical music, an important icon of world culture as well." - Robert Piaskowski Artistic Director of the Krakow Film Music Festival.
Within the framework of the upcoming World Soundtrack Awards Gala, Film Fest Gent will honour Penderecki’s impressive career with a 'World Soundtrack Lifetime Achievement Award' followed by Brussels Philharmonic's live performance of Penderecki's most iconic music.