However, rather than a narrative of these historical events, the opera underscores a more general dichotomy between central and local power,[6] and thus provides a political commentary, denouncing the iniquities committed by the totalitarian states of the mid-20th century.

), large glissandi in orchestra, tone clusters, and pitches at extreme ends of instruments' ranges were used merely to produce atmosphere instead of creating a dramatic effect.

[20] In Penderecki's native country Poland, the first performance, which was held in Warsaw six years after its world premiere in 1969 and considerably less risqué, received generally very negative reviews.

The staging (by John Dexter) and the performers were praised, but the music was criticized for lack of drama and the libretto for its failure to arouse pity in the audience.

[37] Act 1: Sister Jeanne, the abbess of the Ursuline convent in Loudun, is having night visions in which Father Grandier, the Vicar of St. Peter's Church, appears wearing a heretic shirt with a rope around his neck as he is escorted by two guards.

Furthermore, Grandier assures his fatal destiny by opposing the decree to demolish the city's fortifications put forth by the King and the powerful Cardinal Richelieu.

Act 3: Grandier is held responsible for the demonical possessions of the Ursuline nuns, accused of conspiracy with the devil, and indicted for blasphemy and unchastity.

This multi-layering of the psychological states corresponds to the general tendencies in the 20th-century music theatre, such as valuing the conflicts that occur in the inner world of the characters.

Moreover, it has a stronger connection with the audience below the surface; in a deeper level, the psychological aspects of the story make allusions to various historical events and tendencies in the society and its people of the time.

In the midst of the nuns proclaiming to have been possessed in order to make excuses for their misbehavior, Grandier, who claims to be innocent, stands out as a non-conforming social outcast.

He has many qualities that distinguish him from others: his outstanding intelligence and good looks that incur the hatred and jealousy of some local notables; his sexual attractiveness that results in Jeanne's obsessions and accusations; his disobedience to the political powers that proves fatal in the process of his destruction.

This common phenomenon of ostracizing the non-conforming member of the society works similarly in The Devils of Loudun; in the end, Grandier's virtues and weaknesses alike, which make him unique, turn finally against him and bring him death.

Penderecki is telling his audience that the official persecution of Grandier in the opera is the same injustice brought by the totalitarian states in the 20th century, only in a much smaller scale.

The composer then tries to explain the source of this injustice in the opera by demonstrating that the incompatibility between Christian ethic and Catholic violence could become a basis of power.

For example, the townsmen of Loudun, who are presumably all goodhearted as individuals, view the destruction of Grandier as a good show; and the nuns undergo a collective hysteria as they start believing their own made-up stories.

[39] The libretto, written by the composer, is based on Erich Fried's German translation of John Whiting's dramatization of Aldous Huxley's essay The Devils of Loudun.

The employment of existing literature as the basis for the librettos was not exclusive to The Devils of Loudun; instead, it became the invariant among Penderecki's four operas; namely Paradise Lost, Ubu Rex, and Die schwarze Maske.

[40] The libretto is written in German (although both Polish and English adaptations exist) and it is fashioned into a series of thirty two scenes, which proceed, from one to another, quasi cinematically.

Nevertheless, it is claimed that the underlying cause of Grandier's fall was a political one, for the priest had secret alliances against the powerful Cardinal Richelieu, who planned to deprive Loudun of independence.

The capacity of the events for generating a multiplicity of interpretations and intertwining religious elements with political ones granted the possibility of new plots, new compositions, and new answers.

[7]: 72  In addition to Penderecki, the theme of Loudun appealed to other Polish artists, including Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz, Jerzy Kawalerowicz, and Romuald Twardowski.

The Devils of Loudun is an atonal grand opera written in an expressionist style, conveying feelings of insanity and portraying the characters in psychotic states.

While the use of chorus, soloist, and orchestral fragments all adhere to the operatic tradition, the influence of theatrical genres is evident on the operas' extensive use of speech.

In addition, it is possible to perceive some elements of comic opera in the male-voice quartet at the end of the second act; while the reference to the Passion play is obvious on the martyrdom figure of Grandier.

The Devils of Loudun is scored for enormous musical forces, including nineteen soloists, five choruses (nuns, soldiers, guards, children, and monks), orchestra, and tape.

The orchestration is written in cut-out score format, that is with very little metrical guidelines, very few rests, and includes some aleatory effects of notes and tone-clouds in approximate pitches.

In the contrast, the music depicting the dramatic scenes is scored for larger forces, featuring thicker textures and darker tone colors.

[45]: 20 While the composer depends on his instrumental writing for providing an expressive context to the actions, it is his use of many different vocal styles that enables a musical characterization of Father Grandier and Sister Jeanne.

The correct literary style of Grandier is emphasized in the opera by the fluency of the recitative, its coherence with speech intonations and subdued expression.

The frequent leaps, changes of character, drastic dynamic changes, and glissando, characteristic of Jeanne's vocal part, are emblematic of her hysteria and falseness.