Lutoslawski, Witold
(1913-1994)
Polish composer, whose music is known internationally for its twelve-tone, and aleatoric elements. He was born in Warsaw, where he studied piano, composition, and mathematics.
During World War II, after escaping from a prisoner-of-war camp, he earned his living as a café pianist while composing at night. His early works, such as the Concerto for Orchestra (1954), show the influence of the Hungarian composer Béla Bartók in their use of folk idioms; his Musique funčbre (1958) was dedicated to Bartók's memory.
Lutoslawski's meeting with the American avant-garde composer John Cage in 1961 influenced him greatly, leading him to begin including ad libitum sections in his compositions, in which each instrument plays independently of the others—all the elements are composed, however, not improvised; only the precise rhythmic coordination of the instruments is affected. This has been one of the common elements of Lutoslawski's music ever since. The Symphony No. 2 (1967) shows another common element: a two movement form, in which the first movement is introductory in nature, and the second weightier and climactic.
The series of pieces called Chain (1, 1983; 2, 1985; 3, 1986) extend the idea of independent parts sounding simultaneously but not together: here each section of the music overlaps with the beginning of the next section, like the links of a chain. Epitaph for oboe and piano (1979) marks a major turning point in Lutoslawski's development, the beginning of a simpler, less dense harmonic language. His music had never been governed by the twelve-tone system, but, like Bartók, used all twelve notes freely, especially in small three-note cells.
The development of the 1980s represented a paring down of this harmony to essentials, rather than a move to a more tonal idiom, as was being made by his compatriot Penderecki (among many others). This approach found fruition in the Symphony No. 3 (1983), the Piano Concerto (1988) and the Symphony No. 4 (1992), his last major work.
