Męka Pańska według św. Mateusza Krzysztofa Knittla — źródła inspiracji twórczej

Krzysztof Knittel’s Passion is a contemporary work in which we can find references to the tradition of the passion genre (Gregorian chant and medieval mysteries). The composer divides the description of the Lord’s Passion into 8 segments, between which are inserted fragments of earlier chapters of St Matthew’s Gospel, presenting chronologically the full story of the life and teachings of Jesus. An inspiration for this structure Knittel found in the collage technique (typical of the visual works of Jiří Kolář). In accordance with this conception, the first picture is the gospel description of Christ’s Passion, ‘cut up’ into segments which the composer separated with fragments of the second picture, comprising descriptions of the life of Jesus. Each fragment of the second picture is additionally ‘cut’ into six sections which are presented simultaneously. For Knittel, this way of conveying the artistic message had its origin in his fascination with the beauty of polyphonic speech. The principle of inserting earlier events into the description of Christ’s Passion also has its source in the device of retrospection, characteristic of novels and films.