The works of Witold Lutosławski include not only symphonies and concertos, but also works intended for the youngest. His songs for children were written mainly in the post-war decade. Some of them will be heard during a Witold Lutosławski World Days concert performed by young vocalists – the NFM Girls’ Choir and the NFM Boys’ Choir conducted by Małgorzata Podzielny, as well as the Lutosławski Quartet and LutosAir Quintet.

The composer divided his works for children into two separate categories – for children listening to music and for singing children – these he referred to as “children’s songs”. This group includes, among others Wianki (Wreaths) and Pożegnanie wakacji (Goodbye to Holidays), written respectively to the words of Stefania Szuchowa and Lucyna Krzemieniecka, and dated 1953. “[Lutosławski] produced a series of works that entered the bloodstream of musical life, set the line of the applicable level, set a high tone in the field treated purely functionally. There is simplicity in them achieved through concentration, not giving up on means, using their rich ensemble, but allusive, counting on the sensitivity and intelligence of the listener. Every sound that might not be there disappears, the texture becomes thin and fragile as a plant, but it is doubly important: even in the quietest piano every note must sound, every note is important,” highlighted the Polish musicologist and theorist Mieczysław Tomaszewski. It is hard to dispute his words, as this area of Lutosławski’s work is still an important contribution to musical literature intended for children. 

The Four Silesian Melodies is an expression of Lutosławski’s interest in Polish musical folklore. Although they were originally intended for four violins, this evening they will be performed in an arrangement for a string quartet. They will be preceded by the Dance Preludes from 1954. This cycle is a five-movement suite, also clearly inspired by Polish folk music. Lutosławski himself described the work as his “farewell to folklore”.