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- Witold Lutosławski
Concerto for Orchestra [Koncert na orkiestre] (1954)
- Chester Music Ltd (Worldwide except Poland, Albania, Bulgaria, China, countries of former Czechoslovakia, Croatia, former territories of Yugoslavia, Cuba, North Korea, Vietnam, Romania, Hungary and countries of former USSR)
Chester Music is the publisher of this work in all territories except Poland, Albania, Bulgaria, China, countries of the former Czechoslovakia, countries of the former Yugoslavia, Cuba, North Korea, Vietnam, Romania, Hungary and the whole territory of the former USSR, where the copyright is held by Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne (PWM).
- 3(2pic)3(ca)3(bcl)3(cbn)/4441/timp.3perc/2hp.pf.cel/str
- 29 min
- 4th May 2025, Congresshalle, Saarbrücken, Germany
- 5th May 2025, Congresshalle, Saarbrücken, Germany
Programme Note
It was in 1950 that Witold Rowicki, as Musical Director of the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, asked Lutoslawski to write a work especially for this newly formed ensemble. It was to be based to some extent on folk music and display the orchestra’s qualities without being too difficult. The resulting Concerto for Orchestra took nearly four years to complete. While much of the material used is folk orientated, no attempt was made to reproduce folk idioms. Lutoslaswki felt free to treat his basic ideas in a manner that did not put any curb on his creativity. Free use is made of all twelve notes, while sometimes the part writing suggests several simultaneous tonal planes.
The Concerto departs from convention in the matter of architecture, for no movement approximates, even remotely, to sonata form. The structure of the opening ‘Intrada’ is A-B-A, the whole of the first section being played over a reiterated pedal on F sharp – the work’s tonal centre. Whereas this first paragraph stems form a single idea that is handed over from one group of instruments to another, the texture gradually becoming more and more complex, the larger central panel is less limited in its material.
The final section provides a much condensed, quiet reprise of the opening one, the pedal F sharp now sounding in the high register. The second movement is also in tripartite form and it displays a similar contrast between its outer sections based on the same material. The first climax of any size introduces the central ‘Arioso’ which, far from being a slow section, maintains the same tempo as the ‘Capriccio’. The very condensed reprise of the first part finally peters out on divided double basses and drums of different sizes.
By far the longest movement is the third, which consists of three main sections, the ‘Toccata’ and ‘Chorale’ making up the first and second, while the substantial coda that follows constitutes the third. During the opening ‘Passacaglia’, the superimposed structures do not necessarily coincide with the basic theme which, because it is cyclic (its ending is also its beginning), can be said to start at more than one point. As the ‘Toccata’ draws towards its close, the ‘Chorale’ begins to emerge out of it, but later the two become ingeniously intertwined. The last part of the movement – a finale in all but name – refers back to the previous material, the theme of the ‘Passacaglia’ returning in a varied form.
© Malcolm Rayment
The Concerto departs from convention in the matter of architecture, for no movement approximates, even remotely, to sonata form. The structure of the opening ‘Intrada’ is A-B-A, the whole of the first section being played over a reiterated pedal on F sharp – the work’s tonal centre. Whereas this first paragraph stems form a single idea that is handed over from one group of instruments to another, the texture gradually becoming more and more complex, the larger central panel is less limited in its material.
The final section provides a much condensed, quiet reprise of the opening one, the pedal F sharp now sounding in the high register. The second movement is also in tripartite form and it displays a similar contrast between its outer sections based on the same material. The first climax of any size introduces the central ‘Arioso’ which, far from being a slow section, maintains the same tempo as the ‘Capriccio’. The very condensed reprise of the first part finally peters out on divided double basses and drums of different sizes.
By far the longest movement is the third, which consists of three main sections, the ‘Toccata’ and ‘Chorale’ making up the first and second, while the substantial coda that follows constitutes the third. During the opening ‘Passacaglia’, the superimposed structures do not necessarily coincide with the basic theme which, because it is cyclic (its ending is also its beginning), can be said to start at more than one point. As the ‘Toccata’ draws towards its close, the ‘Chorale’ begins to emerge out of it, but later the two become ingeniously intertwined. The last part of the movement – a finale in all but name – refers back to the previous material, the theme of the ‘Passacaglia’ returning in a varied form.
© Malcolm Rayment
Media
Concerto for Orchestra: 1. Intrada: Allegro Maestoso
Concerto for Orchestra: 2. Capriccio notturno e Arioso: Vivace - Stesso movi- mento
Concerto for Orchestra: 3. Passacaglia, Toccata e Corale: Andante con moto - Allegro giusto - Molto allegro - Presto
Scores
Features
- Catalogue Classics: Witold Lutosławski's Concerto for Orchestra
- Discover Witold Lutosławski's Concerto for Orchestra and a selection of our suggested repertoire pairings.
Reviews
Premiered 65 years ago under the strictures of socialist realism, this work cleverly circumvented censorship by grafting Polish folk music onto a Bartókian model, yet a changed world has not diminished its power.
14th August 2019
This brittle but brilliant work is enormously direct. It was given a slightly cool but very persuasive performance here. The ebullient first movement seemed a perfectly constructed arch, and the second seethed and scurried with a precision that was almost effortless.
Always an elegant conductor, Mariss Jansons began the Passacaglia poised like a cat about to pounce on the double bass section, then kept a tight rein on this movement's menacing turbulence, effecting a beautifully calm transition into the simple wind chorale at the centre, and winding up the acceleration at the end excitingly.
Always an elegant conductor, Mariss Jansons began the Passacaglia poised like a cat about to pounce on the double bass section, then kept a tight rein on this movement's menacing turbulence, effecting a beautifully calm transition into the simple wind chorale at the centre, and winding up the acceleration at the end excitingly.
5th September 2005
The folklike Intrada, arresting in its propulsive rhythms, yields to the gossamer textures of the Capriccio notturno e Arioso. The lengthy concluding Passacaglia, Toccata e Corale, an intricate study in regenerating and reshaping primary materials, may be the most invigorating 16 minutes in contemporary music.
7th March 1991
Discography
Lutosławski
- LabelAlpha Classics
- Catalogue Number232
- ConductorKrzysztof Urbanski
- EnsembleNDR Sinfonieorchester
- Released4th March 2016
Opera Omnia Vol. 4
- LabelAccord
- Catalogue NumberACD 196
- ConductorStanislaw Skrowaczewski
- EnsembleWroclaw Philharmonic Orchestra
- Released2014
The Best of LutosLawski
- LabelNAXOS
- Catalogue Number8.556692
- EnsemblePolish National Radio Symphony Orchestra
- SoloistAndrzej Bauer, cello; Krzysztof Bakowski, violin; Piotr Paleczny, piano
- Released2001
Lutoslawski
- LabelDux
- Catalogue Number0499
- ConductorAntoni Wit
- EnsembleWarsaw Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra
- SoloistRafal Kwiatkowski
Bartók & Lutoslawski: Concertos for Orchestra
- LabelTelarc
- Catalogue NumberSACD 60618
- ConductorPaavo Järvi
- EnsembleCincinnati Symphony Orchestra
Lutoslawski
- LabelChandos
- Catalogue NumberCHSA5082
- ConductorChristian Ehring
- EnsembleBBC Symohony Orchestra
- LabelNaxos
- Catalogue Number8 553779
- ConductorAntoni Wit
- EnsemblePolish National Radio Symphony Orchestra / Camerata Silesia
- LabelErato
- Catalogue Number4509-91711-2
- ConductorDaniel Barenboim
- EnsembleChicago Symphony Orchestra
Symphonic Sound Stage, Vol. 1
- LabelDelos
- Catalogue NumberDE3070
- ConductorJames DePreist
- EnsembleOregon Symphony Orchestra
Szymanski & Lutoslawski
- LabelDecca
- Catalogue Number448 258 2DF2
- ConductorC. von Dohnanyi / P. Kletzki / V. Ashkenazy / Witold Lutoslawski
- EnsembleSuiss Romande Orchestra / Cleveland Orchestra / London Sinfonietta / Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
- SoloistPeter Pears, tenor, Peter Jablonski, piano
- LabelEMI
- Catalogue NumberCZS5 73833-2
- ConductorWitold Lutoslawski
- EnsemblePolish National Radio Symphony Orchestra
- LabelEMI
- Catalogue NumberCDM5 65305-2
- ConductorWitold Lutoslawski
- EnsemblePolish National Radio Symphony Orchestra
Essential Lutoslawski
- LabelPhilips
- Catalogue Number464 043-2PM2
- ConductorWitold Lutoslawski / W. Lutoslawski / W. Rowicki
- EnsembleBavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra / Polish National Philharmonic Orchestra / Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra / Polish National Radio Orchestra
- SoloistHeinrich Schiff, cello; Martha Argerich, piano; Nelson Freire, piano; Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, baritone
- LabelChandos
- Catalogue NumberCHAN9421
- ConductorYan Pascal Tortelier
- EnsembleBBC Philharmonic Orchestra
- LabelFinlandia
- Catalogue Number0630-14909-2
- ConductorSir Andrew Davis
- EnsembleStockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
