Polish Requiem

Un'opera commissionata a Penderecky da Solidarność nel 1980 per celebrare i 10 anni dalla strage di Danzica, quando decine di operai portuali, in sciopero contro il regime del presidente Gomulka, furono uccisi negli scontri con l'esercito.

The Polish Requiem is a musical work written by Krzysztof Penderecki between 1980 and 1984, and revised in 1993. During 1980, Penderecki was commissioned by Solidarity to compose a piece to accompany the unveiling of a statue at the Gdańsk shipyards to commemorate those killed at anti-government riots there in 1970. Penderecki responded with the Lacrimosa, which he later expanded into this requiem, writing other parts in honour of different patriotic events. It has become one of the best known works of his later period.
A first version of the requiem was performed on 28 September 1984 by the Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Mstislav Rostropovitch. The definitive recording was made by the composer on 11 November 1993 in Stockholm.
en.wikipedia

Krystof Penderecki Talks about the Polish Requiem