Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts

In 1973, Lutosławski was made a member-correspondent of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts. The first consequence of this was his invitation to give a lecture at the academy. The second was the award of the Ernst von Siemens Prize to Lutosławski, as the tenth laureate of that most generously endowed German distinction open to musicians. On 28 March 1983, the award ceremony was accompanied by the first German performance of Grave for cello and piano, played by Walter Grimmer and Aloys Kontarsky. In expressing his gratitude, Lutosławski stressed that talent is something entrusted to us, which we should cultivate and pass on to others in the form of created works. That task is not always straightforward, and so recognition from outside, such as this award, ‘is of invaluable assistance, since it provides us with the conviction that the efforts to which we devote our lives may be of use to someone’.