• WL100/1: Lutosławski in Belfast

Twenty five years ago today, on 17 December 1987, Lutosławski paid his one and only visit to Northern Ireland.  He had come for the Winter graduation at The Queen’s University of Belfast where he was to be awarded an Honorary DMus on 18 December.  I was teaching at Queen’s at that time and the proposal that the University should recognise Lutosławski came from my colleague, the innovative social anthropologist and ethnomusicologist, John Blacking.

On the night before the degree ceremony, the Department of Music mounted a short concert of Lutosławski’s chamber music in his honour: Dance Preludes, Five Songs, Sacher Variation, Epitaph, Grave and Partita.  The performers were graduands of the University, joined by György Pauk and Roger Vignoles.  Lutosławski seemed very pleased with the occasion, and afterwards he inspected an exhibition of his scores and record sleeves (LPs in those days!) and mingled happily with the audience at a post-concert reception in his honour.

I’ll post some more pictures from the occasion in the coming days.

From left to right: György Pauk (violin), Donal McCrisken (piano), Damian Frame (clarinet), Francis King (piano), Lutosławski, Colin Stark (oboe), Jacqueline Horner (mezzo-soprano), John O’Kane (cello), Roger Vignoles (piano)

The programme notes for the concert may be accessed here.