Witold Lutosławski and the Post-war Avant-garde, as Seen from the Perspective of Six Decades
Krzysztof MEYER
John Paul II Institute, Faculty of Philosophy, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Al. Racławickie 14, 20-950 Lublin, Poland , PolandAbstract
This article presents the strategies that Witold Lutosławski adopted after 1956 in order to assert himself in national and international musical life. This involved becoming associated with the avant-garde of the time and experimenting with compositional techniques, as well as participating in the discourse on the condition and the future of music. However, apart from a few pieces composed in the 1960s, especially those using the so-called controlled aleatoric technique, Lutosławski’s music seems closer to tradition that to the avant-garde works of the time. This was not clearly seen due to the composer’s declarations, in interviews and lectures, in which he advocated an almost permanent revolution in music, doing so very suggestively, as confirmed by his texts cited in the article.
Keywords:
avant-garde, dodecaphony, serialism, cluster, ad libitum performance practise, aleatoric, concrete music, collage, minimal musicJohn Paul II Institute, Faculty of Philosophy, John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Al. Racławickie 14, 20-950 Lublin, Poland
