St Luke Passion (Penderecki)

St Luke Passion
by Krzysztof Penderecki
Performance at the Novaya Opera Theatre, Moscow, in 2016
English	Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to St Luke
Full title	Passio et mors Domini nostri Jesu Christi secundum Lucam
Text	from Gospel of Luke Stabat Mater hymns psalms Lamentations
Language	Latin
Performed	30 March 1966 (1966-03-30)
Scoring	narrator soprano baritone bass three choirs children's choir orchestra

The St Luke Passion (full title: Passio et mors Domini nostri Jesu Christi secundum Lucam, or the Passion and Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to St Luke) is a work for chorus and orchestra written in 1966 by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki. He composed the work to commemorate a millennium of Polish Christianity following the baptism and conversion of Polish duke Mieszko I in 966 AD. Penderecki's setting is one of several musical settings of the Passion story and contains text from the Gospel of Luke as well as other sources such as the Stabat Mater. Despite the Passion's almost total atonality and use of avant-garde musical techniques, the musical public appreciated the work's stark power and direct emotional impact and the piece was performed several more times soon after its premiere on 30 March 1966.