Composers / Witold Lutosławski / Places catalog

Warsaw

Warsaw is the city in which Witold Lutosławski was born, lived and worked for most of his life. His grave also lies here, in Powązki Cemetery.

The teenage Witold grew up in the centre of the city, living with his mother and brothers in a flat in a now non-existent tenement on Marszałkowska Street. From there, he would walk for lessons to the Batory School, and later to the Conservatory. During the occupation, he would play in a famous piano duet with Andrzej Panufnik in the cafes of Warsaw, and after the war he first lived for less than a year in the Praga district, on Waszyngtona Avenue, where he was taken in by a fellow musician, Jan Ekier, and later in Saska Kępa, where he moved after his wedding.

A commemorative plaque unveiled in 1996 records the 22-year-old composer’s stay in a pre-war tenement on Zwycięzców Street. Unfortunately, the flat that he occupied with his family on the second floor had one serious flaw: from all sides, noises from neighbouring flats could be heard. For a composer endowed with exceptionally sensitive hearing, and not just for music, that was such a serious hindrance in his work that he tried to move out to a quieter place. Yet the dearth of flats in Warsaw, which was still rising from the ravages of war, was so great that it was not until the end of the sixties that he succeeded in fulfilling his dream of a quiet house.

He bought it in the Żoliborz district, on Śmiała Street. It was in this house that he lived for the longest time, until his death, as we read on a commemorative plaque unveiled in 2004.

Yet Lutosławski’s Warsaw is not just flats or even the schools where he was taught; it is dozens of addresses associated with work, concerts, people important to him and historical events. This most important city in the composer’s life can be traversed in his footsteps to some extent, via places described in a mobile guide very similar to this one: Witold Lutosławski. Guide to Warsaw, which can be downloaded on the iOS, Android and Windows Phone platforms for free.

Place Category
Aix-en-Provence Appearances
Aldeburgh Appearances
Amsterdam Appearances
Århus Education
Aspen Appearances
Austin Other
Baranów Sandomierski Other
Basel Other
Basztowa Street Performance spaces
Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts Other
BBC Orchestra and other ensembles Appearances
Belfast Other
Berea Performance spaces
Berlin Appearances
Białystok Education
Boston Appearances
Brisbane Other
Budapest Other
Calgary Education, Other
Cambridge Other
Celle Publishers / Bookshops
Chicago Appearances
Cincinnati Other
Cleveland Appearances
Cologne Other
Copenhagen Appearances
Cracow Philharmonic Performance spaces
Dartington Education
Donaueschingen Other
Dresden Other
Drozdowo Flats
Düsseldorf Appearances
Edinburgh Other
Evian Appearances
Filmography Radio / TV
Florence Appearances
Geneva Appearances
Glasgow Other
Graz Other
Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Hagen Other, Performance spaces
Hamburg Other
Hanover (New Hampshire) Other
Helsinki Education
Herkulessaal Appearances, Performance spaces
Houston Other
Huddersfield Appearances
Indianapolis Other
Jagiellonian University Education
Katowice Other
Kazimierz nad Wisłą Other
Komorów Flats
Łagów Other
Lancaster Appearances
La Rochelle Appearances
Leeds Appearances
Leipzig Education, Performance spaces, Publishers / Bookshops
Lisbon Appearances
Liverpool Appearances
Łomża Education
London Sinfonietta Performance spaces
Los Angeles Appearances
Louisville (Kentucky) Other
Lublin Appearances
Lucerne Other
Madrid Appearances
Manchester Appearances
Mikołajki Other
Milan Appearances
Montreal Appearances
Moscow Appearances
Munich Philharmonic Appearances, Performance spaces
New York Appearances
Odense Education, Performance spaces
Olsztyn Education
Opio (near Grasse) Flats
Oslo Other
Paris Appearances
Pittsburgh Appearances
Poznań Other
Prague Appearances
PWM EDITION Publishers / Bookshops
Riga Performance spaces
Rome Other
Rotterdam Appearances
Royal Albert Hall Appearances, Performance spaces
Royal Philharmonic Society Appearances
Saint Paul (Minnesota) Other
Salzburg Other
San Francisco Appearances
Strasbourg Appearances
Stawisko
Stockholm Appearances
Sydney Appearances
Szczecin Other
Tanglewood Education, Other
Tokyo Appearances
Toronto Education
Toruń Education
Venice Performance spaces
Vienna Performance spaces
Villars-sur-Ollon Other
Warsaw Appearances, Flats, Other, Performance spaces
Washington Appearances
Wawel Appearances
Wehr near Rheinfelden Other
Wrocław Other, Performance spaces
Wzdów Other
Zagreb Performance spaces
Zegrze Other
Zurich Performance spaces