Programme:
Krzysztof Penderecki Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima (1960-61)
Jonny Greenwood Popcorn Superhet Receiver* (2005)
Krzysztof Penderecki Polymorphia (1961)
Jonny Greenwood 48 Responses to Polymorphia* (2011)

AUKSO Chamber Orchestra of the City of Tychy
Krzysztof Penderecki conductor
Marek Moś conductor*

An iconic figure in the struggle for freedom behind the Iron Curtain from the 1960s until the fall of the Wall and a leading composer in the international landscape of avant-garde classical music, Krzysztof Penderecki makes his first Barbican appearance in over 12 years, for an outstanding collaboration featuring music by Radiohead guitarist and radical innovator Jonny Greenwood.

This special concert - which is accompanied by a striking contemporary video and lighting design - celebrates the strong influence Penderecki's music has had on Greenwood's compositional career, featuring two pieces from the Polish master's avant-garde period -Polymorphia and Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima - which inspired Greenwood to write the other two pieces performed tonight, Popcorn Superhet Receiver and 48 Responses to Polymorphia.

48 Responses to Polymorphia is a new piece that was performed for the very first time by the AUKSO Orchestra under Marek Mos during the European Culture Congress in Wrocław on 9 September.

The concert was originally produced by the National Audiovisual Institute to accompany the European Culture Congress, which took place in Wrocław on the 8-11 September 2011 as part of the National Cultural Programme of the Polish EU Presidency

The compositions by Krzysztof Penderecki and Jonny Greenwood to be performed during the concert have been recorded and an album will be released on Nonesuch Records in 2012.

Produced by the Barbican in association with the Polish Cultural Institute in London, The National Audiovisual Institute in Warsaw and Event-factory s.c.