Witold Lutosławski (25 January 1913–7 February 1994) was a Polish composer and
conductor, born in Warsaw and one of the leading figures of 20th-century
European modernism. He studied piano and composition at the Warsaw Conservatory,
and during World War II earned a living playing piano in Warsaw cafés, often in
a duo with Andrzej Panufnik. His early works, including the Symphonic Variations
(1938) and Concerto for Orchestra (1954), drew on neoclassicism and Polish folk
music, while his Musique funèbre (1958), written in memory of Béla Bartók,
marked a decisive move toward his ma...