A Craving for New Music
The End of Stalinism and the Warsaw Autumn
Deutsche Fassung
Abstract
Launched in 1956, the festival Warsaw Autumn was an outcome of Polish society and art’s awakening after Stalinism. New Music by Polish and international, even Western, composers was performed at the festival. A pioneer of Polish music’s opening up to the world, Witold Lutosławski was co-founder of the festival and long-time member of the programme committee. Until 1990, the hugely popular festival acted as a showcase of “the West in the East” and served as a central meeting place for musicians and composers from all of the Socialist countries. Today, the festival is no longer exceptional, but it still enjoys considerable prestige among those interested in music.
(Osteuropa 11-12/2012, pp. 85–102)