Variations on a Theme of Paganini (1941)

In occupied Poland in the 1940s musical life was banned by the Nazi authorities. As Lutoslawski later explained, “It was one of Hitler’s future plans to completely annihilate the Polish nation… So, officially, there was no cultural life in Poland” – which, for a young composer who had escaped a German prison camp in the eastern region of the country and had walked 400 kilometres to get back to Warsaw, was a desperately discouraging situation. As well as participating in underground concerts, however, he and his colleagues could legally play in cafés. “Even the best artists played in cafés… I played piano duets with Andrzej Panufnik. It was his idea to form a duet and we made over 200 arrangements over the years. We starrted with Bach organ toccatas and got as far as Ravel and Debussy. Unfortunately, almost all of these transcriptions were burnt during the Warsaw uprising in 1944, which also put an end to our activity.”

One of those that survived was Lutoslawski’s arrangement (for two pianos rather than piano duet) of Paganini’s 24th Caprice. Although it was published under the title of Variations on a Theme of Paganini, it is actually a freely elaborated transcription of Paganini’s own 11 variations on his theme in A minor rather than a set of new variations like Rachmaninov’s famous Rhapsody. It does, however, have its own very brilliant sound, its own dynamic colouring, its own witty or even satirical harmonies, its own hyper-active counterpoint, it own structural adjustments. Lutoslawski’s approach to the two Andante variations, a lingering 6th and a 10th propelled by a galloping ostinato, changes the internal proportions. Even so, Paganini’s treatment of his them remains clearly recognisable until very near the end where, unlike Paganini, Lutoslawski recalls the original theme.