Penderecki, Krzysztof [key], 1933–2020, Polish composer. His music is characterized by unusual sonorities, and he devised his own system of notation to convey the effects he desired. His early works were in the avant-garde tradition, but after decades in which he produced a large body of works, he turned toward a distinctive kind of neo-romanticism. Penderecki's works include several symphonies, the Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima (1960), a concerto for five-stringed violin (1967–68), operas including The Devils of Loudun (1969), Utrenja [morning prayer] (1970), the St. Luke Passion (1963–66), the choral Seventh Symphony (Seven Gates of Jerusalem, 1996), and the choral Polish Requiem (first written 1980s, expanded 1993, 2005). He is also known for his modernist film scores for William Friedkin's The Exorcist (1973), Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (1980), and David Lynch's Wild at Heart (1990), and his music has influenced a number of rock musicians. From 1972 to 1987 he was rector of the Kraków conservatory, and he long served as conductor of the Kraków Symphony.
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