Original version

BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

BBC Radio 3

Radio 3

Migrated podcast image for: Composer Of The Week

Composer of the Week

Music: Classical

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

An informative and accessible guide to composers' lives and their music.

Composer of the Week: Witold Lutoslawski (1913-1994): The inescapable forces of circumstance

The inescapable forces of circumstance

Witold Lutoslawski (1913-1994)

BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, Witold Lutoslawski (1913-1994), The inescapable forces of circumstance

Donald Macleod and Dr Nicholas Reyland explore Lutoslawski's traumatic youth.

Donald Macleod and Dr Nicholas Reyland explore Lutoslawski's traumatic youth in Warsaw and his terrifying experiences during the Second World War.

Witold Lutoslawski's extraordinary life mirrors the turbulent history of his homeland Poland, yet he consistently denied the effect of any of this tumult on his music. Donald Macleod is joined this week by Dr Nicholas Reyland to explore the truth of this denial alongside the life and career of one the most revered composers of the Twentieth Century. The week begins by exploring Lutoslawski's traumatic youth in Warsaw and his terrifying experiences during the Second World War.

Lacrimosa
Lucy Crowe (soprano)
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Edward Gardner (conductor)

Two Studies
Ewa Kupiec (piano)

Symphonic Variations
Polish National Radio Symphony Orchestra
Witold Lutosławski (conductor)

Variations on a Theme of Paganini (2 piano original version)
Martha Argerich, Gabriela Montero (pianos)

Symphony No 1
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Esa-Pekka Salonen (conductor)

Producer: Sam Phillips.

Composer of the Week: Witold Lutoslawski (1913-1994)

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Donald Macleod explores works by Polish composer Witold Lutoslawski.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

Composer of the Week

Witold Lutoslawski (1913-1994)

The inescapable forces of circumstance

Genres

Brand

Series

BBC Radio 3

About BBC Radio 3