Dance Preludes [Preludia taneczne], 2nd version | Witold Lutosławski

Chester Music is the publisher of this work in all territories except Poland, Albania, Bulgaria, China, countries of the former Czechoslovakia, countries of the former Yugoslavia, 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
timp.perc/hp.pf/str
Alternative Orchestration1111/1000/1111
Soloistsclarinet
Duration7 min

CategorySoloists and Orchestra
Alternative CategoryOther

Composer
Witold Lutosławski

Performances
View Past Performances

Programme Note

In 1954 Lutoslawski completed a work for clarinet and piano entitledDance Preludes. The following year, he re-worked it for clarinet, harp, piano, percussion and strings and four years later he produced a third version for the Czech Nonet (woodwind quintet, violin, viola, cello and double bass). The work is in five movements and is based on folk songs from northern Poland, although the original folk material has been so seamlessly interwoven as to make any precise identification impossible.

The composer has referred to it as “My farewell to folklore for an indefinite period” and it completed what had been one of the most difficult times of his career.
The work lasts for seven minutes

© Sheila MacCrindle