Subito

As a violinist himself at one time and as a composer who, towards the end of his life, was enchanted by the playing of Anne-Sophie Mutter – he was writing a concerto for her when he died –Lutoslawski understood the instrument like few of his contemporaries.    His Subito, which was commissioned as a test piece for the International Violin Competition in Indianopolis in 1994, has since found a firm place in the repertoire not only because of its challenging violin part but also because it is so effectively written for the violin in partnership with the piano. It is a work of abrupt contrasts (hence the title Subito, meaning “suddenly”), petulant urgency alternating with expansive lyricism. The dramatic opening gesture, which gives way at an early stage to an expressive melody with more than a hint of the Hungarian-gypsy idiom, recurs several times, either in its original form or varied as a tiny scherzo or miniature moto perpetuo. The contrasting material regularly displaces it until the two are combined at the climax of the piece, although it is the opening gesture that has the last word in a brilliantly witty ending.