Krzysztof Penderecki, one of Poland’s most famous and successful composers, is best known as a composer of choral and symphonic music. However, instrumental and chamber music also occupies an important place in his oeuvre.

His String quartet No. 3 Leaves of an Unwritten Diary, composed in 2008, was commissioned by the Shanghai Quartet. The Warsaw premiere was received with great enthusiasm by audiences and critics, who uncovered that this opus had turned away from the radical musical language previously favoured by the composer. Leaves of an Unwritten Diary is steeped in the Hutsul folk melody the composer heard from his father as a child. “Presented in the variations, its motif almost took over the whole work,” said the composer. The dramaturgy of the work is based on a continuous development, which has its own phases, as well as musical aspects that vary in tempo, character and tone. The music is therefore full of both the energetic Vivace sections and thoughtful Adagio notturno meditative moments.