Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki was once all the rage as a hot young avant-garde composer. Born in Debica in 1933, Penderecki studied music first at the Kraców High School for music, with Malawski and, later, Wiechowicz. He benefited immeasurably from the liberalization of Poland in the mid-fifties and, in 1959, he won a competition sponsored by the Youth Circle of the Polish Composers' Union for one of his vocal pieces, Strophes. His music, characterized by tone clusters, harsh orchestration, and jagged vocal lines, was soon in demand both in Poland and internationally. His first major success came with the Threnody to the victims of Hiroshima, for 52 strings, written in 1960. Then, his St. Luke Passion for soloists, speaker, boys' choir, three mixed choirs, and large orchestra, completed in 1966, made a big splash, when performed at the Münster Cathedral in March of that year.

Subject Matter in Brief: Penderecki adapted his libretto for Devils of Loudun from a German translation by Erich Fried of a play by John Robert Whiting. Whiting had drawn much of the factual information from a study published in 1952 by Aldous Huxley entitled The Devils of Loudun. Huxley had carefully reviewed the many documents that had been written in the 17th-century concerning the "mass possession" that had supposedly occurred in the town of Loudun, between 1632 and 1638. Neither Whiting's play nor Penderecki's opera followed the facts of the case precisely and, in fact, the focal character, Urbain Grandier, was given markedly different treatment by the playwright and the composer. What is indisputable, however, is that a large crowd gathered in Loudun on August 18th, 1634 to see Grandier burned at the stake, most responding as though it were some kind of public entertainment event. Grandier had been charged with associating with the devil, fornication, dissolute behavior, and blasphemy. Only the charge of fornication had any merit. The exceptionally handsome Grandier did indeed have a weakness for women. Despite being subjected to excruciating torture, Grandier refused to confess to the other baseless charges. So, his failure to confess was taken as clear proof that the devil had sealed his lips and immunized him against all manner of pain. He was duly burned at the stake.

Chief among the "witnesses" against him was a mentally disturbed nun, Jeanne, the physically-deformed Prioress of the Ursuline Convent, who was obsessed with Grandier, without having ever met him, one on one. She claimed to have been possessed by Grandier, who, she said, was acting as an agent of the devil. Her fellow sisters soon joined in the hysteria, leading to the episode that was termed "mass possession." At one point, a representative of the King, Prince Henri de Condé, succeeded in conclusively debunking the ruse, by presenting a silver container which he claimed to be an ancient relic filled with the actual blood of Christ. Holding it aloft, he succeeded in "curing" the nuns of their demonic possession, at which point he turned the relic upside down to demonstrate that it was, in fact, quite empty.

The real reasons for Grandier's demise were complex. The major factor, in Penderecki's telling of the story, was political conflict. Grandier had opposed Cardinal Richelieu's desire to tear down the walls protecting the town of Loudun. Richelieu, who exerted a powerful influence over Louis XIII, was determined to revoke symbolically the Edict of Nantes which had been signed in Loudun in 1616, extending rights of free worship and work privileges to the Huguenots (the French brand of Calvinists). Richelieu saw the Huguenots as a threat to the dominance of Catholicism in France and elsewhere. Richelieu did finally have his was, convincing Louis XIII to agree to a de facto reversal the edict and, later, Louis XIV to a full legal revocation, in 1685. The practical consequence of these reversals was the persecution of thousands of Calvinists in eastern France and a resurfacing of the religious strife that had caused the devastating Thirty Years War (1618-1648). Entire congregations were burned to death, locked inside their churches, if they refused to convert to Catholicism. Grandier, however, was a Catholic priest, not a Calvinist. He was murdered because he stood in the way of the intolerance that the Catholic Church was choosing to promote as official policy.

The second factor evident in Grandier's downfall was the intolerance of communities for those who in any way stand apart – the aloof outsider. Grandier's piety, good looks, and independent spirit all tended to distinguish him from the society in which he lived, so he was ostracized and, finally, eliminated. To that extent, the story here is reminiscent of the one told in Britten's opera, Peter Grimes.

In Whiting's play, there was another factor. He portrayed Grandier as a man suffering an existential crisis, striving for self-destruction. Whiting's interpretation is, in my judgment, a dangerous one, similar to the claim of the schoolyard bully that his victim "was asking for it." My opinion is that Penderecki's interpretation is far closer to the truth behind the countless historical instances in which outsiders have been subjected to intolerance and organized violence by society

In telling this story, Penderecki appears to be trying to make two main points. First, powerful institutions often engage in corrupt and oppressive practices. Penderecki repeatedly demonstrated his genuine concern for the victims of organized violence. Second, Penderecki, a deeply religious man, was underscoring the distinction between being Christ-like (that is, following the teachings of Christ) and the Catholic Church as an institution. Any reasonably honest person, be they Christian or not, recognizes that the Christian Institutions (which was just the Catholic Church prior to the Reformation) have been responsible for an extraordinary amount of highly un-Christian violence and repression, over the centuries, from the Crusades to the Inquisitions, to abuse of children, to murdering pagans and Protestants, to witch burnings, and so forth). The Devils of Loudun is clearly not anti-religious, since the one morally exalted character, Granier, is motivated precisely by his religious convictions and achieves a state of Christ-like grace. The film does, however, stand strongly opposed to the anti-Christ activities sometimes perpetrated by powerful institutions claiming to represent Christ and acting in His name. However much the Catholic authorities in The Devils of Loudun try to justify their actions with the stamp of "official business" or by extracting "confessions" through torture, the more foul their activities are rendered. The rationalizations of the torturers are particularly telling.
http://www.epinions.com/review/Penderecki_Devils_of_Die_teufel_von_Loudun_Marek_Janowski/content_474201296516?sb=1