Witold Lutoslawski (1913-1994)

[Maciek]

I regret to say it is. (Because I generally like the violinist, Krzysztof Bakowski, very much. I just don't think he does well in this specific instance.)

[karlhenning]

Thanks!

[not edward]

I'd agree there; I don't think the Naxos recording can be regarded as competitive against Mutter. Also, why they recorded the triptych in the wrong order is entirely beyond me....

I've got the original issue of that CD; again I don't think the performances of the major works are the best I've heard, but it is nice to get the whole triptych in the right order!

FWIW, I still prefer the original violin/piano version of Partita. I think the orchestral additions slightly weaken the focus of what is one of L's best works.

[lescamil]

FWIW, I still prefer the original violin/piano version of Partita. I think the orchestral additions slightly weaken the focus of what is one of L's best works.

Completely agree, although I think my personal reason comes from the fact that I discovered the work through a very spirited performance while at university, which incidentally was also coupled with Penderecki's 2nd violin sonata, but the Partita was much better. It really shines in live performance.

[Maciek]

But pedantic haggling is what the fun of forums like this is all about! (That, and broad generalizations, of course. ) So let me join in.

There is more to minimalism than the American brand. And there are other ways of creating minimal music than repetition. The brand of minimalism I had in mind (I did mention Tomasz Sikorski, one of the first minimalists in Europe) is based on reducing means and material. And in that respect, I think one could say that the Interlude is a minimalistic work.

Anyway, I think you're right about the re-release being the only Interlude recording with the composer conducting, which makes it all the more attractive. However. One of the two Wojciech Michniewski recordings is quite excellent. Though I don't remember at the moment which one (I have both). They're both good, but I remember that one of them stands out.

I'm surprised to hear people feel that the orchestrated version of the Partita is so deficient in comparison to the original. I never felt that way. I do have several recordings of both versions (have heard them performed live too), and a score of the chamber version, and have always found the orchestrated version more effective and definitely no less focused. But to each his own, I guess. It may be that I still haven't heard that performance of the chamber version. I do like both of them anyway - the piece has such a fantastic urgency - but I like the orchestrated version better.

[Mirror Image]

I just purchased 7 of the Wit conducted recordings and I really look forward to hearing them.

I've done some research on Lutoslawski and would just like to know what is it about his music that you enjoy so much?

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

I've done some research on Lutoslawski and would just like to know what is it about his music that you enjoy so much?

What I like about his music is basically:

1. In general, he was able to combine the most advanced modernist techniques with a strong communicative dramatic sense. This ensures that his music is never boring - there's always a sense that it's going somewhere, and the incidents along the way remain interesting.

2. His scoring often has an extraordinary "human" quality - the instruments shout, laugh, sigh, argue, etc. This creates a very vivid soundscape.

3. His use of form is highly psychological - that is, it is geared to dealing with the listener's expectations and experiences. Luto once said that, although he was an admirer of Brahms, he found B's symphonies exhausting because of the heaviness of B's ideas when expressed in 4-mvt. classical form. By contrast, Luto devised a binary form which met his expectations better.

[Mirror Image]

Velimir and Toucan thank you for your responses. They have been very informative.

[bhodges]

Last Friday, as the grand finale of Juilliard's annual Focus! Festival (Polish Modern: New Directions in Polish Music Since 1945) conductor Jeff Milarsky led the Juilliard Orchestra in a sensational all-Lutoslawski program. All four pieces were fascinating, but the clear highlight was Jay Campbell, in a brilliant performance of the Cello Concerto (1969-70). I last heard this when Yo-Yo Ma played it in the opening concerts at Disney Hall in Los Angeles, but as good as he was, Campbell made an even stronger impression--and he played it from memory.

Review here.

--Bruce

[Maciek]

Looks like a great concert indeed. And probably a cellist to look out for!

{I do have a gripe about that NYT title, though: "composer who rolled the dice"? Oh, doesn't that sound fancy. But it is precisely what Lutoslawski did not do in the pieces mentioned. He may have done that in Venetian Games (don't remember, but can't rule it out, as it was Lutoslawski's only out-and-out aleatoric piece). But the fact remains that Lutoslawski rarely (if ever!) used aleatoric procedures as part of the composing process!

[OK, OK, so maybe in a figurative sense. He "rolled the dice" because he did not notate everything precisely, so he couldn't predict how certain sections of the pieces would be performed exactly. But same can be said about virtually any piece (how about basso continuo?) - it's just a matter of degree of freedom. And those ad libitum sections in Lutoslawski are actually devised in such a way that the resulting "sound" is quite consistent between various performances (even in the string quartet, which has no actual score). Plus: when the phrase "roll the dice" is used in conjunction with alleatorism, one automatically imagines the composer literally throwing dice to decide on some aspect of the composition - which was not the case in any of the pieces mentioned in the article (at least not according to my knowledge).]

End of rant.}

[bhodges]

Hi Maciek, most interesting. Here's what the program notes say (which is probably where the reviewer got the comments), in the notes for the Cello Concerto:

"The Concerto is the earliest of the four pieces heard tonight that incorporates aleatoric procedures, which Lutosławski  had first used in his Venetian Games (1960-61) for chamber orchestra. Having been inspired by a radio broadcast of [John] Cage's Concert for Piano and Orchestra, he gave Cage the manuscript of Jeux V in gratitude. Lutosławski 's version of chance procedures is, however, quite different from Cage's. Whereas Cage conceived randomization as a way to completely avoid asserting the composer's personal taste, Lutosławski used randomization with certain controls, so that he retained complete control over pitches but left some elements of rhythm or coordination up to chance...

"...Lutosławski , on the other hand [i.e., as opposed to Cage], provides the players with fully written-out material. The only thing truly left to chance is coordination. For much of the Cello Concerto, the orchestral writing is controlled-aleatory, and creates clouds of sound that conflict with the audible drama of the cellist's part."

Perhaps something got slightly lost in translation, on the way from notes-to-review?

--Bruce

[Maciek]

Maybe I'm just being unkind. In fact, there is nothing in the review itself to suggest that Lutoslawski actually rolled dice (or tossed a coin, or whatever) while composing. But the title is very evocative (in the context of alleatoric music)... I'm sure the author's* motives were completely innocent ("think up short and catchy title"). But it is a bit misleading (and might maybe give the wrong idea about the music?).


[* - update: the author of the review probably wasn't involved in creating the title, see Bruce's explanation below]

[bhodges]

Yes, I think you're right about the "short and catchy" part. (And PS, for what it's worth, the Times's headlines are created by another person on staff, different from the writer.) Catchy, maybe, but inaccurate.

--Bruce

[karlhenning]

Well, 'tis pity, for the headline creates the initial impression.

[Maciek]

(And PS, for what it's worth, the Times's headlines are created by another person on staff, different from the writer.)

Oops, didn't know about that. How embarrassing. That was a bit unfair of me then - I shouldn't have implied that the author was to blame. Sorry.

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

(even in the string quartet, which has no actual score).

What is this supposed to mean?

I was at a performance of the String Quartet just a few months ago. The musicians definitely had some pieces of paper in front of them. What's more, the performance sounded a lot like the recording I have. How can it "not have a score"?

[Maciek]

Each of the musicians has his part, but there is no standard score, because the parts are not "synchronized". So there would be no point in writing out a score (a score indicates which notes should be played simultaneously).

I'm guessing the beginnings of sections are coordinated somehow (at least that's how it works in the ad libitum sections of his orchestral pieces).

The fact that what you heard sounded similar to a recording proves the composer was right when he pronounced that "controlled aleatorism" doesn't limit "in the least the full ability of the composer to determine the definitive form of the work" (quote comes from Lutoslawski's comments on the quartet).

[Maciek]

Oddly (and aptly) enough, yesterday France Musique aired a program on Lutosławski, with some space devoted to his adaptation of alleatoric composition methods. It can be found here (should be available for the next 29 days):

Witold Lutosławski (premier volet), par François-Xavier Szymczak

Have just finished listening to it, and it's a very interesting program (though only 30 minutes long). It features a series of recordings of Lutosławski speaking (in French) about the pronunciation of his name ( ), his work (among other things, he touches on subjects such as working out a new idiom after 1948 or developing the 2-movement structure), his influences (Szymanowski, Stravinsky, Roussel - "the French Brahms" , and most aptly, in view of our discussion here - John Cage, "the spark thrown into the powder keg in me"). As I mentioned, there's an informative section on his use of alleatorism. Some of the descriptions are very evocative. He mentions the "rhapsodic" character of the ad libitum sections, and quotes a conductor who explained to the musicians that these sections should played as if they were solo cadenzas.

Musicwise, it's just bits and pieces (a snippet from the Paganini Variations, a bit from the 1st Symphony, Concerto for Orchestra etc. - they only get to the 2nd Symphony, as there'll be a second episode next week).

[Maciek]

And this week, the second installment:

Witold Lutosławski (second volet), par François-Xavier Szymczak

[Brian]

Cross-post from Listening thread:

Listening to my very first Lutoslawski: the Concerto for Orchestra. Holy cow, why didn't I figure out earlier that this guy is AWESOME? Great, great music - even prefer it to the Bartok Concerto I think - gotta move on and explore some more. Fantastic musical language, great development of themes, really dramatic emotional arc, all the things I love in 20th century work. Really need to do more listening to Lutoslawski.

PNRSO/Antoni Wit, by the way.