Witold Lutoslawski

Une courte pièce de 3 minutes écrite en 1951 pour Tadeusz Ochlewski, chef d'orchestre du Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne. / Violon Et Piano

Score. The title of the work relates to its form, which consists of two structurally independent strands. Sections within each strand begin and end at different times. Chain 2 is in 4 movements: AD LIBITUM - A BATTUTA - AD LIBITUM - A BATTUTA - AD LIBITUM - A BATTUTA In the AD LIBITUM movements the element of chance plays a part within fixed parameters. / Violon

Commissioned by the Salzburg Festival. First performance given by the Austrian Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by the composer, with Krystian Zimerman on piano. / Piano

Pour hautbois et piano. Ecrit comme un hommage au compositeur et pianiste Alan Richardson (1904-1978). Première représentation donnée par Janet Craxton et Ian Brown à Londres, 1980. / Hautbois

Composed at the request of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and first performed by Pinchas Zucherman and Marc Neikrug in January 1985 in Minnesota, USA, Duration c.15 mins. / Violon Et Piano

Trois poèmes d'Henri Michaux was written for the Zagreb Biennale and first performed there by the orchestra and choir of Radio Zagreb, conducted by the composer and Slavko Zlatic on 9 May 1963. It is composed for 20-part choir and an orchestra similar to that of the Symphony of Psalms, though without the lower strings of the latter.Lutoslaswski has said that the general outline of the work came to him first, and only then did he choose the three poems. These reflect his Francophile taste: Henri Michaux was born in Belgium in 1899 and later became a painter: the trenchant Le Grand Combat, with its onomatopoeic invented words, dates form the 1920s- the other two texts, which are more philosophic than pictorial, form the 1930s. Choir and orchestra need separate conductors even though throughout they alternate more often than they combine.A description of the course of the music itself will be more useful than any discussion of its technical processes or of its notation. A quiet section of orchestral polyphony, which brass sforzandi punctuate with increasing frequency, frames the beginning and end of Pensées. After the choir's first unaccompanied passage, the woodwind have a staccato section over which the female voices, singing downward glissandi, are superimposed ('Ombre de mondes infimes?'). Then the woodwind and both pianos join in a lapping ostinato which illustrates the text of the next forte choir entry 'Pensées à la nage merveilleuse?' The climax of the movement comes as these characteristic woodwind figures alternate with the tintinnabulation of a gamelan-like ensemble of vibraphone, céleste, harp and pianos. / Orchestre

Une amusante chorale travailler pour 3 voix égales avec accompagnement piano sur la célèbre Tralalinski de Tralislaw et sa famille de chanter, les animaux de compagnie et les voisins. / Chant Et Piano

Written as a 70th birthday tribute to Paul Sacher and based on the letters of his name. The work was requested by Mstislav Rostropovich, who gave the first performance in May 1976. / Violoncelle

A folk song based on Polish words by Julian Tuwim for SSA and piano. Handy as a short item to include in a Junior/Middle school concert. / Voix

First performed in November 1954 by the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Witold Rowicki. Duration c.29mins. Orchestral material available for hire from Chester Music.