Witold Lutoslawski’s Piano Concerto Analysis
Abstract
This article analyzes Witold Lutoslawski’s Piano Concerto in terms of formal structure, harmony, and orchestration. Lutoslawski’s pieces have always been noted in technical and aesthetic structure. He appears to be able to affect his contemporaneous composers and, later, the contemporary composers. This concerto was written between the years 1987 and 1988. Although Lutoslawski was a skilled pianist since he was very young, this piece is the only piano concerto he had left behind. According to the author, the composer’s collection of works had a significant effect on his (the author) point of view, particularly, Lutoslawski’s Piano Concerto. This article studies the harmony, formal structure, and orchestration of two movements; second and third. The author analyzed these two movements because of the special chasing in the second movement and the recitative piano solo in the third movement. This article is based on library studies and was written with a descriptive research method. Lutoslawski’s piano concerto score has also been studied and analyzed in this article. In this article, the author asks questions such as has the composer used the traditional form of concerto? Did the composer, like his other works simultaneously, use twelve-note harmony? Has Lutoslawski used a new orchestration in his piano concerto?
Keywords: Witold Lutoslawski, Piano Concerto, Harmony, Orchestration, Formal structure