Lublin

In 1942, Witold Lutosławski came to Lublin to give a concert at the Apollo cinema. He performed in duet with Andrzej Panufnik, his usual partner, with whom he played in the cafes of Warsaw. In 1984, he travelled here in a completely different role, attending a Polish Musicological Conference organised at the Catholic University of Lublin.

Today, Lutosławski’s name is perfectly familiar to the people of Lublin, although not on account of Witold. Since 1909, the banks of the River Bystrzyca have been spanned by one of the first reinforced concrete bridges in south-eastern Poland, and it was constructed by engineer Marian Lutosławski. He was Witold’s uncle – the one who with Józef, the future composer’s father, was shot by the Bolsheviks in 1918 in Moscow. In 2012, Marian Lutosławski became the patron of that landmark of engineering history, whilst the bridge is called the ‘Bridge of Culture’ and is used for a variety of events.