Lutoslawski - Concerto for Orchestra (2/4) Capriccio

Witold Lutoslawski (1913-1994)

2. Capriccio notturno ed Arioso — the Capriccio is an airy, virtuoso scherzo, the main subject of which is intoned by the violin, followed by the remainder of the strings and woodwinds. It is followed by an expressive Arioso initiated by the brass section. The reprisal of the capriccio is intoned by the cellos and harp, the theme bowed, then with pizzicato. It is concluded with the ominous rumblings of the drums, double-basses and contrabassoon.


Polish composer Witold Lutosławski's Concerto for Orchestra was written in the years 1950-54, on the initiative of the artistic director of the Warsaw Philharmonic, Witold Rowicki, to whom it is dedicated. It is written in three movements, lasts about 30 minutes, and constitutes the last stage and a crowning achievement of the folkloristic style in Lutosławski's work. That style, inspired by the music of the Kurpie region, went back in him to the pre-1939 years. Having written a series of small folkoristic pieces for various instruments and their combinations (piano, clarinet with piano, chamber ensemble, orchestra, human voice with orchestra), Lutosławski decided to use his experience of stylisation of Polish folklore in a bigger work. However, the Concerto for Orchestra differs from Lutosławski's earlier folkloristic pieces not only in that it's more extended, but also that what is retained from folklore is only melodic themes. The composer moulds them into a different reality, lending them new harmony, adding atonal counterpoints, turning them into neo-baroque forms.

The Oregon Symphony conducted by James De Preist

Category:

Music

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• lutoslawski
• concerto
• for
• orchestra

[teambasics]

awesome piece~one of the hardest things I've every played...

[gmtry1]

This movement has been my all-time inspiration. Thanks for posting!

[jewgienij100]

masterpiece



[elainebmack]

So difficult to play, but great!