Concerto for Orchestra

Witold Lutosławski’s Concerto for Orchestra is one of the undisputed classics of postwar orchestral music: an utterly individual masterpiece by an uncompromising modernist, loved by orchestras and enthusiastically received by audiences in Poland and around the world. Conceived in 1950 as a showcase for the newly formed Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the Concerto is grounded on Polish folk tunes: not because Lutosławski wanted to please the Communist authorities but because (he said) he felt that he was still forming his own voice. The result is unmistakably—and thrillingly—his own. Over three movements, Lutosławski takes his handful of folk songs and uses a large orchestra (with two harps, piano, celesta, and a sizable percussion section—it positively glitters) to break them down into fragments and shards: then, with his musical chemistry set, he powers driving rhythms, builds kaleidoscopic climaxes, constructs glistening mosaics, or simply sends his ideas hurtling, like fireworks, into the sky. Premiered in Warsaw in 1954, it was an instant and enduring success.