Komorów

Witold Lutosławski lived at 21 Brzozowa Street in Komorów during the thirties. He walked here from Warsaw shortly before the outbreak of the uprising in 1944. His mother’s sister, Janina Zaporska, had a house in Komorów, which is also where his grandmother, Joanna Olszewska, lived until her death, in 1943. Before her wedding, the composer’s aunt completed horticultural studies, and her husband, who was director of the biggest industrial plant of inter-war Warsaw, ‘Lilpop, Rau i Loewenstein’, bought her the ‘Chojnówka’ villa in Komorów, built c.1900. The new proprietress designed and laid out a delightful garden, and the house was soon renamed ‘Różanka’, meaning ‘rose-garden’. Today, barely a trace of her design remains.

Witold came here often, occasionally staying for a while. Here, he had excellent conditions in which to work. There was a splendid grand piano at his disposal, and an invaluable asset of that suburban villa was its peaceful location.