Lutosławski's Last Concert

Featuring

Witold Lutosławski
Fujiko Imajishi
Valdine Anderson
New Music Concerts

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Composer Biography

Witold Lutosławski, the composer, began improvising on the piano at age six and decided it was his fate to compose music three years later.

Compositional Technique

Lutosławski incorporated controlled aleatoricism into his music, starting with Jeux Vénitiens in 1961, after hearing John Cage's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra.

Performer Biography

Fujiko Imajishi, the violinist on this album, performed Lutosławski's solo works for violin and orchestra, Partita and Chain 2, conducted by the composer himself.

Recording & Production

This album documents Witold Lutosławski's final appearance as a conductor of his own works before his death in 1994.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Lutosławski developed a 'functional music' style during the Stalinist era, using folk, diatonic tunes with non-tonal counterpoint, but abandoned it in 1955.

Historical Context

During the Nazi occupation of Poland, Lutosławski formed a piano duo with composer Andrzej Panufnik, performing in cafés to conceal his fugitive status.

Critical Reception

Lutosławski's First Symphony was labeled 'formalist' by the Polish minister of culture in 1949, leading to it not being performed in Poland for ten years.