Andrzej Tuchowski states in "Krzysztof Penderecki's Music in the Context of the 20th Century Theater" that the most interesting aspect of the opera is Penderecki's sensitivity toward what goes on invisibly in the minds of almost all the characters in the opera: the psychological state of a socially ostracized individual, that of the society, that of the struggle between them, etc. 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. Another tendency in the music of the time, according to Tuchowski, was a departure from the past; music started to sound less and less familiar to the ears of the audience. In order to sustain the interest of the listeners in the new foreign-sounding music, it became essential for composers to find a way to connect with the audience.