Penderecki's Partita was commissioned by the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York to commemorate the institution's 50th anniversary.
[5] The work was finished in 1971 and had its first hearing in Rochester on February 7, 1972, with Felicja Blumenthal playing the harpsichord and Walter Hendl conducting the Eastman School of Music Philharmonia.
[5] The second premiere took place in Munich, with Elisabeth Chojnacka at the harpsichord, Michael Goltz at the electric guitar, Hans Lengefeld at the bass guitar, Han-An Liu at the harp, Matthias Weber at the double bass, and Penderecki himself conducting the Munich Philharmonic.
[2] Even though the title of the composition may misleadingly suggest a standard suite of dances or dance-related movements, it is generally conceived as a concerto grosso and variation form.
It is worth mentioning the implementation of three cadenzas for harpsichord, which were added by the composer for the second premiere of the work.