Lutosławski, Witold (1913-1994)
Trio (12:00) 1945 Publisher: PWM (c2003)
Allegro moderato
Poco adagio
Allegro giocoso
Instrumentation: oboe, clarinet, bassoon
This beautiful twelve- minute piece was written sometime between 1944 and 1945. Since the start of the German occupation in 1939, writing and making music in Warsaw was greatly suppressed. Between 1939 and 1944, Lutosławski and his friend, fellow composer Panufnik, arranged about two hundred pieces, mostly for two pianos, to fit the need of smaller performance spaces. In 1944, right before the Warsaw Uprising, Lutosławski left the city for Komorów. There, in a small villa up in the attic, he wrote this trio and other chamber works for reed instruments. The trio was publicly performed for the first time on September 2, 1945 at the Festival of New Music in Kraków.
The exposition of the first movement starts with a graceful motivic element, first introduced as a single thought followed by a fermata. That motive then travels throughout the piece in canonic motion, passed from oboe to clarinet to bassoon and back to clarinet, oboe, and so on.
The second movement of the trio is the least conventional, even though it is at the same time constructed in a very traditional way. It starts with a beautiful oboe melody accompanied by bassoon. The phrase structure is quite interesting and uneven. The first two phrases span two measures each, followed by two phrases spanning four measures each. Each phrase is in mixed meter, which makes the phrases even more irregular. Each phrase, (short and long), ends on a dissonance of a second. This makes the phrases sound incomplete and longing for resolution or something even more – a connection.
The third movement – strict Rondo – is almost a perfect example of neoclassicism. The whole movement is in 3/8 meter, with very lively thematic material and unexpected metric shifts created by very strong accents. These accents land on the second beat of the measure. The overlapping running notes between the rhythmical parts create an illusion of temporally nonexistent meter. The whole movement sounds very playful and light from beginning to end. The sonority of it makes it very different from the other two parts of this piece. From the performance perspective the work is technically challenging for all the players, and requires three expert players to make excellent performance. The rhythmical, technical and angular themes demand a good amount of attention, flexibility and control.
Grade: V-VI
Recordings: Szalowski, Spisak, Palester, Lutosławski, Tansman, Krauze, Krakowskie Trio Stroikowe (Cracow Reed Trio), Label: DUX 0493, 2005; From Shadow to Light, Sonora Winds, Label: MSR
Sheet music source: pwm.com.pl, trevcomusic.com
Witold Lutosławski
Born in Warsaw on January 25, 1913 and died in Warsaw on February 7, 1994.
He began his music study taking private piano lessons with Józef Śmidowicz, violin lessons with Lidia Kmitowa, and theory and composition lessons with Witold Maliszewski. Besides his heavy involvement in music Lutosławski was interested in mathematics. In 1931 he undertook study in mathematics at the University of Warsaw, and in 1932 he entered Warsaw Conservatory majoring in piano and composition. He studied mathematics and music at the same time until 1933.
After deciding on music he graduated from Warsaw Conservatory with a degree in piano performance in 1936 and degree in composition in 1937. At the conservatory he continued to study composition with Witold Maliszewski and his musical output has been very much influenced by Maliszewski’s treatment of musical form. Lutoslawski’s first successful composition “Symphonic Variations” was premiered in June of 1939 in Kraków.
The Second World War caused suspension of any cultural activities. Germans began a systematic liquidation of Polish cultural institutions, including universities, theaters, music schools, libraries and concert venues. As a result, musical events had to go underground. Between 1939 and 1944, Lutosławski and his friend and fellow composer Andrzej Panufnik arranged approximately 200 pieces, mostly for two pianos, to fit the need of the smaller and scarcer performance spaces.
After the war Lutosławski became a secretary and treasurer for the ZKP (Association of Polish Composers) and eventually became a board member. At this time he devoted himself to mainly to composing, and aught seasonal composition courses among them Berkshire Music Center in Tanglewood in Massachusetts in 1962 and at the University in Austin in Texas in 1968. From 1963 Lutosławski conducted performances of his own works in Poland and abroad. Lutosławski received numerous awards from different institutions such as: Academie des Beaux Arts in Paris, American Academy of Arts and Letters, The Royal Academy of Music in London. He also received numerous honorary doctorates from universities such as UW, UJ, Cleveland Institute of Music, McGill University in Montreal.