Keeping the Spirit Alive
A Portrait of Witold Lutoslawski
For the people of Poland the two decades between the outbreak of the last war and the end of the 50s were lost years. For her leading composer WITOLD LUTOSLAWSKI they meant a struggle to preserve and develop his artistic identity.
In his mid-20s as his country's most promising young composer, the Nazi occupation which suppressed all artistic life in Poland compelled him to spend five years playing piano duets in Warsaw cafes. Then, with the liberation of Poland by the Russians, a decade of officially imposed Stalinist art crushed all hope of a post-war renaissance in the arts. Only in 1956, when the dogma of Stalinism was overthrown, could Lutoslawski emerge as a new voice in European music.
In the second of two films about music in Poland, this programme paints the portrait of a man who has performed the traditional role of the Polish artist in keeping the nation's spirit alive. with Robert Tear
The London Sinfonietta
Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by the composer
Film cameraman JOHN HOOPER
Film editor ANGUS NEWTON
Executive producer HERBERT CHAPPELL
Directed by DENNIS MARKS
Lutoslawski is one of This Week's Composers, 6-10 March, Radio 3