One of the best - known pieces based on texture and process is Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima ( 1960 , NAWM 208 ) for fifty - two string instruments , by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki ( b . 1933 ) . The score gives few defi nite pulses or note values , and instead measures time by seconds . Again each instrument has a unique part to play . Each section focuses on a particular kind of sound , using newly invented notation that shows the effect graphically but not imprecisely .