Publications

Grzegorz Michalski, Lutosławski w pamięci. 20 rozmów o kompozytorze (Lutosławski in Memory. Twenty Conversations About the Composer)

A transcript of conversations about the composer with Julia Hartwig, Krzysztof Zanussi, Krystyna Zachwatowiczowa, Andrzej Wajda, Marcin Bogusławski, Krystyna Witkowska, Halina Szpilmanowa, Ryszard Kapuściński, among others. The collected conversations, although intended for publication, reveal a noticeably private character. I expected to hear memories about the man – his views, customs, habits, and problems. (Text by Grzegorz Michalski.)

The publication was funded by the capital city of Warsaw.

Contents

The book is available at the bookstore of the publisher, słowo/obraz terytoria.

Witold Lutosławski, Zapiski (Notes), edited by Z. Skowron

A document of special significance is to be found among the manuscripts of Witold Lutosławski, which are presently kept at the Archives of the Paul Sacher Foundation in Basel. This document is a notebook with the composer’s notes, started probably around the end of the 40s and beginning of the 50s as a sketchbook for planned compositions.

However, the significance of the Notes is not limited to the sphere of compositional workmanship and technique, since what the document also reveals is Lutosławski’s thoughts connected with the situation of contemporary culture. Defining in the course of the years his stance regarding the phenomena and directions in new music, which nonetheless stand far from categorical judgements and valuations, Lutosławski painted in his Notes a valuable picture of his ‘artistic consciousness’, which allows us to understand him more fully not only as a creator, but also as a person.

The project was realized within the Operational Program for the Promotion of Readership announced by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage.

Contents

The book is available at the bookstore of the University of Warsaw Publishers: www.wuw.com.pl

Zofia Owińska, Lutosławski o sobie (Lutosławski About Himself)

The special character of Zofia Owińska’s conversations with Witold Lutosławski stems from the intimate, almost family-like relations between the two interlocutors. In his frequent contacts with journalists, and even more so in published texts bearing his name, Lutosławski assigned much care to the propriety and precision of his verbal expression, not allowing himself to use colloquialisms and indiscretions, as well as consistently avoiding subjects referring to his family life. This style of conversation dominated not only the public image of this composer, but was also present in his everyday contacts with acquaintances, and even friends. It is confirmed by numerous and detail-rich reminiscences of individuals who, in different periods, remained with him in close contact. Here, in a unique gesture, the old master talks about himself, about his loved ones, and about his music with less-than-usual restraint, showing his interviewer a sincerity which no other journalist could enjoy.

The publication appeared thanks to the financial support of the capital city of Warsaw.

Contents

The book is available at the bookstore of the publisher, słowo/obraz terytoria: www.terytoria.com.pl

Witold Lutosławski, O muzyce. Pisma i wypowiedzi (About Music. Writings and Spoken Appearances), edited by Zbigniew Skowron

The writerly activities of Witold Lutosławski have until now remained in the shadow of his compositional achievements. What contributed to this was that not only were his writings dispersed in various rare sources, but also that the bulk of the texts, including lectures given at compositional courses, has never before been published. However, as seen in the present collection, this writerly output reveals – in equal measure to its original style – the richness and multi-directionality of the author’s interests; it also tells us that while he was open to revealing the secrets of his compositional technique and architecture of particular works, he was also an attentive and critical observer of Polish musical life, not least in its social and political dimension.

The book has been published with the financial support of the capital city of Warsaw, the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, as well as the Institute of Musicology of the University of Warsaw.

Contents

The book is available at the bookstore of the publisher, słowo/obraz terytoria: www.terytoria.com.pl