‘Theatre of Death and Resurrection’ – this is how Mieczysław Tomaszewski titled the chapter devoted to Utrenja in his book about Krzysztof Penderecki. The monumental religious work, which consists of Utrenja I, created in 1969/70, and Utrenja II, written in 1971, grew out of the composer’s fascination with theatricality of the Easter rites in the tradition of Orthodox music. As he admitted, ‘Utrenja is not only a focused prayer, but also an ecstasy.’
