In recognition of Penderecki's contributions to the music of our time, a group of scholars came together in Poland on the occasion of Penderecki's 60th birthday celebration in 1993 to discuss how this burgeoning interest in Penderecki scholarship could be enhanced, focused and made available to the worldwide academic and musical community. These initial discussions led to a meeting in June 1994 in the polish city of Cracow where a mission statement was developed an editorial board was identified and elected, and a decision was made to move forward with a plan to create an annual publication with the working title studies in Penderecki. It was also decided that the language of the journal would be English. The present volume is a result of these efforts. The editorial board has chosen to focus this initial volume on a retrospective view of the composer's career by commissioning four major articles on the topic: Krzysztof Penderecki: a career in retrospect. (152 pages).