Chain 2 [Lancuch 2], Dialogue for Violin and Orchestra | Witold Lutosławski

Commissioned by Paul Sacher

Chester Music is the publisher of this work in all territories except Poland, Albania, Bulgaria, China, countries of the former Czechoslovakia, Cuba, North Korea, Vietnam, Romania, Hungary and the whole territory of the former USSR, where the copyright is held by Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne (PWM).

Orchestration
2(2pic)2(ca)2(bcl)2/0220/timp.perc/pf(cel)/str(6.6.4.4.2)
SoloistsViolin
Duration18 min

CategorySoloists and Orchestra

Composer
Witold Lutosławski

Performances
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Programme Note

I composed Chain 2 during the years 1984-85. The title of the work relates to its form. Over the last few years I have been working on a new type of musical form, which consists of two structurally independent strands. Sections within each strand therefore begin and end at different times. This is the premise on which the term ‘chain’ was selected.

I had already composed Chain 1 for an ensemble of soloists but this does not mean that the Chains form parts of a cycle. They are completely independent compositions.

Chain 2 for violin and orchestra (commissioned by and dedicated to Paul Sacher) is in four movements:

1. Ad libitum
2. A battuta
3. Ad libitum
4. A battuta – Ad libitum – A battuta

In the Ad libitum movements and in the Ad libitum section of the fourth movement the element of chance plays a part within the fixed parameters. This has been a feature of my compositional style since 1960 and always offers new possibilities. However, in the last few years I have been particularly preoccupied by the shaping of the pitch (i.e. Melody, harmony and polyphony) as the organisation of time. In my opinion, the traditional scale with its twelve notes has not yet been fully exploited in terms of harmony. I believe that there are till many possibilities to be discovered, even independently from Shönberg’s twelve-tone technique.

Chain 2 was commissioned by Paul Sacher who conducted Collegium Musicum, Zurich with Anne-Sophie Mutter (violin) in the first performance on 31 January 1986 at the Grosser Tonhallesaal, Zurich.

© Witold Lutoslawski
January 1986

Media

" Chaîn 2 " , Dialogue pour Violon et Orchestre: I.

" Chaîn 2 " , Dialogue pour Violon et Orchestre: II.

" Chaîn 2 " , Dialogue pour Violon et Orchestre: III.

" Chaîn 2 " , Dialogue pour Violon et Orchestre: IV.

Scores

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Reviews

Again two independent strands of material are concatenated, by turns loosely and strictly; but this time their terms are so distinct – strongly lyrical violin well forward, orchestra twinkling and fragmented, mostly hushed but for the stinging punctuation – that the mesh seems only a matter of solo-and-accompaniment. I thought the frictions in Chain I generated more musical excitement, though Chain II is full of moment to moment delights.

David Murrey, Financial Times

15th August 1988

Chain 2 runs to four concise movements, like an elliptical concerto in which the conventional signposts and reminders are left out and everything focuses on the essential material and what can be made of it. It is packed with teasing, scurrying or languid fragments and gestures, beautifully laid out and woven together, and meeting the inquisitive ear with the aural equivalent of an enigmatic smile.

Robert Maycock, The Independent

15th August 1988