Witold Lutosławski (1913 - 1994)

Although Lutosławski studied the piano in parallel with composition at the Warsaw Conservatoire, he wrote surprisingly few works for solo piano. His earliest surviving piece, dating from 1934, is the Piano Sonata, which he later deemed to be ‘over-Romantic’ because of its indebtedness to the music of both Szymanowski and Ravel. Nevertheless, he retained enough affection for it to play it in public from time to time and it garnered critical praise for its contemplative mood and sincerity of expression, not least from Szymanowski.