The title of the piece Lignis can be loosely translated here as The Story of a Tree. The progression of the composition can be likened to a view of a sprawling oak tree from its crown down to its roots. In the first section, we hear the rustling of the thinnest twigs and leaves, the singing of birds; our gaze gradually shifts to the thicker branches, then to the main trunk, and finally rests on the ground, at the roots, beneath the earth.

The instrumentation of the composition is inspired by organ stops and makes extensive use of combinations of woodwinds, higher brass instruments, and melodic percussion. The strings play a more supporting role, quietly sustaining the tones highlighted by the other instruments. Over the course of the piece, an extensive cluster builds up in the strings, which in the middle of the composition may resemble a majestic organ chord. At a pivotal point in the work, this cluster is subtly shifted in intonation; as if the air pressure in the organ pipes were slightly increased, causing the entire sound to gradually shift into a different tuning and strange intonational relationships. Figuratively speaking—as if a massive, living tree trunk had begun to move imperceptibly on its own, without this being noticeable to the human eye at all. The melodic lines contained in the composition were created intuitively (e.g., through organ improvisation), while individual notes or small motifs were generated procedurally (their occurrence and transposition were determined by controlled computer-generated randomness, defined and live-controlled by the composer). The fluidity of the structure and melody is thus, to a certain extent, determined by the recording of the composer’s live performance using musical or technical means and its subsequent editing.

Premiered August 30, 2025, Europejskie Centrum Muzyki Krzysztofa Pendereckiego, Lusławice, Poland. Commissioned by the Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava, the Krzysztof Penderecki European Centre for Music and the Emanacje festival, Janáček Philharmonic Ostrava, cond. by Pawel Kapuła.

Reprise March 19, 2026, Janáček Filharmonic Orchestra, cond. by Lawrence Foster.