European American Music Distributors Company is a member of the Schott Music Group

U.S. Premiere of Witold Lutosławski’s Little Suite

Sep. 01, 2015

U.S. Premiere of Witold Lutosławski’s <em>Little Suite</em>

On September 3, the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra closed their Summermusik Festival with the U.S. premiere of Polish composer Witold Lutosławski’s Little Suite, in its original version for chamber orchestra, alongside works by Rameau, Mozart, and Bottesini.  

Like many European composers working in the mid-20th century, the Second World War interrupted a fruitful time for Lutosławski’s work. Prior to the war, he gained critical success with Symphonic Variations in 1938; however, the German occupation of Poland stripped the immediate potential for his career. Residing in Warsaw during the occupation, Lutosławski made a living playing piano in cafes. Little Suite was written after the war in 1951 and was seen as a significant success six years later at the “Warsaw Autumn” International Contemporary Music Festival. 

The original version of Little Suite was written in 1950 for a commission from the Warsaw Radio and was revised shortly after into a version for symphony orchestra. The work utilizes folk melodies from the village of Machow in the region of Rzeszow.

Kelly Kuo conducted the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra’s performance, which took place at the School for Creative & Performing Arts’ Corbett Theater in Cincinnati, Ohio.

For more information on the performance, visit ccocincinnati.org.

Details on Witold Lutosławskican be found at pwm.com.pl.

Witold Lutosławski
Little Suite (1950)
for chamber orchestra
1.1.2.1-1.0.0.0-timp-str
11’

News