Emanations, also referred to by its original German title Emanationen or by its Polish title Emanacje, is a composition for two orchestras by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki. Composed in 1958, it is one of his early compositions.
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Composition and premiere
The composition was conceived and written in 1958 and won the second prize at the Polish Composers Union Young Composers Competition, in April 1959. It would eventually be premiered in September 7, 1961, at the Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Music. Michael Gielen conducted the Southwest German Radio Symphony Orchestra for its premiere. It was dedicated to Tadeusz Ochlewski and was published by the Polish Music Publishing House and the Moeck Musikinstrumente + Verlag.
Analysis
Emanations is scored for two string orchestras that are tuned a minor second apart. It takes approximately 7 minutes to perform and features the sound-painting compositional style that became a well-known trait of his works from the 60s and 70s, until his first symphony.
Notable recordings
Following are some of the most well-known recordings of this piece: