Jotting down a few thoughts on Lutosławski and his music - one of my favourite composers...
I first encountered Lutosławski through his work for two pianos, the variations on Paganini's famous 24th caprice. It's a fun work, an absolute blast to listen to, but ultimately not a very important part of his massive oeuvre. Back then though, at the ripe age of (around) 15, it made a big impression. It was terribly quirky music, with odd harmonies, funky rhythms and irresistible momentum. It was Martha Argerich and Gabriela Montero playing, a performance from the 2007 Verbier Festival that I found from my local library on a DVD. Anyway, I really enjoyed the work but ultimately forgot about the composer completely for many years to come.
The next big thrust toward his music came when I was passionately working my way through Krystian Zimerman's recorded output. It was then when I discovered the piano concerto - the only one he wrote - in a performance led by Lutosławski himself, with the BBC Symphony Orchestra. What a strange experience it was! The music would have scared me off had I heard it a few years earlier, but by then I was already familiar with many works of Schoenberg, Berg, Boulez and others. But there was something unique about the textures in the music. It was mysterious, light and elusive - like water that escapes when one tries to catch it with bare hands. I could spot familiar elements all over the music, but still it felt unfamiliar and exotic; this is a quality that I value in Lutosławski's music in general. It always feels fresh. On a side note, Zimerman later recorded the concerto again with Rattle and the Berliner Philharmoniker - a fine performance indeed, even if I slightly prefer the earlier take. However, through that new CD I got to know the 2nd symphony, a terrific work that made me even more curious about the work of this composer.
When talking about Lutosławski, it's of course necessary to discuss his usage of aleatoricism in his work. He discovered the possibility of implementing elements of chance in his music upon hearing a radio broadcast of Cage's piano concerto. This discovery led to a total transformation of Lutosławski's compositional style - the earlier folk-inspired music, interesting and brilliant in its own right, took a drastic turn into works like
Jeux vénitiens and the aforementioned 2nd symphony. I personally feel a very strong connection to this part of Lutosławski's music: it's unpredictable but organized, ever-changing but still controlled by the composer to an extent that it could never be called pure chance music, if such a term exists (I'm not trained musically, so I must apologize for any terminological inconsistencies, but I've gotten the impression that the users at this forum aren't too fussy about such things). I must make a disclaimer though: while I love discussing the development of Lutosławski's theoretical approach to music, I feel like such discussions sometimes overshadow the thing that matters the most: listening and playing the music, and reacting to the music and deciphering the message that lies within. This of course happens with a lot of 20th and 21st century composers...
Like I most often do with (for me) new composers, I continued my search through concertante works since it's a genre I connect with very strongly. Discovering Anne-Sophie Mutter's performances of
Chain 2 and the orchestrated
Partita was a game-changer, the music was so exciting that I became completely obsessed with it. Anyone reading this: if you haven't heard that recording, go do that now! The performances are full of fire and passion, and it was the learning of these works that, according to her own report, made Mutter realize that there's an urge to play contemporary music in her. I heard the
Partita live this season, along with the 4th symphony, and it felt very special indeed! Anyway, after those two I searched out the cello concerto and the double concerto for oboe and harp. Especially the latter felt like an absolutely essential piece already on my first hearing. I once read a critic calling it "lesser Lutosławski" - I beg to disagree! To each their own, I guess...
The 3rd symphony is a stunning work, already considered a classic by many. I really love it so much. There's so much going on there at all times, and there's a particularly touching moment near the end of the piece, where it feels like all the tension has come to an end and suddenly the listener is free to run where ever they wish... I'm going to hear the work live next season, can't wait! The Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, under its chief conductor Hannu Lintu, is actually making a complete recording of the symphonies, along with other works. Kudos to them! I feel like Lutosławski is at his very best in the orchestral scores he wrote. There's something shimmering, delicate and airy about his textures, even though he's sometimes terribly brutal - think about the massive piano banging in the
Jeux vénitiens; a moment that fills me with joy every time. There's so much to explore again and again: the
Musique funèbre,
Preludes and fugue, the
Livre pour orchestre, the
Mi-parti, the
Novelette, the
Chain 3... All works worth of careful listening and study! Even the early works that Lutosławski himself later dismissed, like the concerto for orchestra, are really fused with his unique imagination.
While Lutosławski's orchestral works form the main body of his output, there's still a lot of music he wrote in other genres too. How about the string quartet, a staggeringly difficult and complex work? It's quite a ride for the players and listeners alike, but ultimately very rewarding. The brief
Subito for piano and violin is a worthy piece, not to mention the chamber version of the
Partita. Certain vocal pieces are definitely among his best work:
Trois poèmes d'Henri Michaux,
Paroles tissées,
Les espaces du sommeil... He also wrote quite a lot of children's songs, accessible pieces that anyone can enjoy! Versatile is one of the words that I feel characterizes this marvelous composer very well.
There's no doubt that Lutosławski is my favourite Polish composer, and one of my favourite composers overall. Along with Schoenberg, he is the "Beethoven of the 20th century" for me, if such a silly term could be used - constantly exploring, always renewing and never ever compromising the artistic integrity of his work. His work is innovative, exciting, fresh and always full of new things to discover. I'm happy to see that his music is played with increasing frequency everywhere, but of course there's still a long way for him to be a household name. Leading performers - Rattle, Mutter, Rostropovich, Salonen... - who promote or have promoted his work certainly helps. Lutosławski often spoke of "fishing for souls" - meaning that he, through his music, tried to find people with similar sensibilities and aesthetic values. Well, I certainly grabbed his hook with enthusiasm and have never regretted it!
How do people here feel about Lutosławski's music? I know there's been plenty of discussion on this thread already, but I'd be happy to see some fresh activity too, since I really feel strongly for this composer.
