Advanced analytical concepts

Samir Obaido
20. July 2019

Lutosławski Intrada
Concerto for Orchestra is considered one of Lutosławski’s greatest works that employ
folkloric raw material to achieve a unique musical structure. The beginning melodic lines are
based on a Polish folk song, whose material was altered using neighboring tones, and a
rhythmic mold that acts as the foundation for imitative polyphony. I will discuss such elements
further in the analysis, as well as how he approaches the structure of the Intrada in relation to
the development of its materials.
Lutosławski establishes a special take on the folk melody of the main theme by
modifying it to exhibit rhythmic peculiarities through accents, legature, and a pulsating F#
driven by the timpani and harps. Marked agressivo, the opening section’s accents invite the celli
to play and iterate the theme with sharp consonants, which are made harsher due to the
respective clash of a major 7th (dim octave), diminished 4th, and tritone with the underlying
F#. Alongside their characteristic
indication, accents serve the
rhythmic peculiarity that governs
the horizontal line’s imitative
counterpoint with the successive
voices in the orchestra. Accents
give us a clue on how the line is
constructed, as it’s written in a simple 9/8, yet carries irregularities that are responsible for its
development. The line always starts with a lilting 3/8 that is in fact indicated as an upbeat to
the next bar, where a first high point is reached. The 3/8 becomes a 2/8 by diminishing the
first two notes to 16th notes, mimicking a release, yet is led to another accent on the offbeat,
which is always when Lutosławski returns to the tonic of the mode, avoiding a vertical
coincidence with the timpani and harps. He also uses a systematic diminution of rhythmic
values to develop the line’s harmonic content, which can be seen as an expression of
agitation. An example of this is in bar 5, where the music is felt to be led forward through
diminution, yet then interrupted by the reiteration of the beginning of the melody. He applies
a symmetrical approach to diminution in bar 8, where the original development in bar 5 is

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taken further by having a 1/8 feel twice in a row, resulting in an agitated growth that leads us
to the highest note of the minor mode melody, which is also interrupted by the beginning
figures, yet feels more organic due to the gradual return to the 3/8 lilting rhythm.
The imitation of the voices and the organization of their pitches are quite regular,
which is why I am going to use the celli again to discuss the nature of the melodic line. The
first impression one gets from the beginning is a modal one, which can be seen to transform
and discover other modes on top of the same drone note, but I argue that it is a minor mode
for the whole of the first period until bar 10. Implicit polyphony is also present in the melody,
where the accents act as the main guide. In relation to the modal tonic, the first is a minor
third and a minor 6th, then a minor 7th, and finally a minor 9th, which is sometimes
interpreted as breaking through the minor mode into a Phrygian mode based on D. The
second period is a major mode, which is reduced in intensity by having only 4 of each string
section play, and it also makes room for the next imitative entry. The melody starts with celli,
followed by violas, then 2nd violins, 1st violins, and finally, the woodwinds in unison/
doubling, for the rounding F# minor mode that is not interrupted at the end of its respective
first period, and is rather taken to a sequential development that whirls around a suggested E
minor/major harmony, but instead abruptly takes us to a Gb major harmony, enharmonically
sustaining the F# pedal note.
The beginning is a D minor mode on top of a recurring F#, forming a minor 6th with
the drone of the celli whenever the melody subsides. This harmony is expanded upon the
more instruments join this imitative polyphony, resulting in more drone notes that are
transformed into being part of a special harmony that also increases the general volume. The
final chord is an F#, D, A, E, B, and rounded by an F# on top; an open 5ths chord that is
sometimes filled with the respective modes’ major third by the horns. Major and minor 3rds
clashing are part of the nature of this piece in that bitonality becomes its reigning color,
which Lutosławski achieves through a variety of tools.
The melodic lines are mainly responsible for developing the structure of the intrada. Its
complexity is governed by the vertical occurrences of harmony, which are usually meant to
imply a duality of tonalities, and sometimes a multiplicity. The concerto establishes a
multiplicity of tonalities from the start by presenting the F# at the beginning as the tonic with
several instruments repeating it as the pedal tone, and juxtaposing this pedal tone with
harmonically contrasting melodic lines that have pedal tones of their own, or what I called
drones in the preceding paragraphs. It is interesting to note that at no point do we witness a

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horizontal occurrence of a tritone, which is partly owed to the folkloric nature of the
melodies, but also a conscious decision by the composer not to alter the raw material of these
two songs in such a manner. However, we get strong vertical occurrences of tritones such as
the trombones in the pesante Stravinsky-like (Rite of Spring) pounding section after the
singing Gb major second theme with the horns, and the second violins on the G string after
the second occurrence of the second theme, where it acquires a new meaning by the
aggressive downbows in the strings.
The piece is most harmonically stable when we arrive at the Stravinsky-like sempre ff e
molto pesante section, as it introduces an F minor harmony that supports turbulent 16th-note
figures in the woodwinds that don’t seem to contrast the harmony underpinning them. Aside
from clashing at a distance of a tritone F-B with the trombones and certain 16th-note figures,
this section doesn’t offer much bitonality in the major-minor sense that we encounter earlier
in the piece. This happens again when the pesante section is reiterated.
The rhythmical material is never inconsistent with what came before. Lutosławski
sustains a style that could be characterized as simple in service to the structure of the
movements. These rhythmical consistencies give leeway to insert contrasting rhythmical
motifs at moments of heightened expression and agitation. As the main theme is introduced,
for example, we witness underlying developments of 16th-note figures that are later
organically brought onto the surface as sequences.
True to its name, the Intrada can be considered as a precursor to what occurs in terms
of material in the last movement, and the middle section of the second movement. In terms
of length and intensity, the
The ending is an ethereal take on the introduction, only introducing a new harmony at
the end, appeasing the ideal of an F# tonic. The F# pedal is instead on top of the main
theme, iterated by the violins as a flageolet alongside the pulse by the celesta. Contrary to the
aggressive character of the introduction, the ending is marked with dolce ed espressivo, and even
with indifferente, indicating a subsidence in energy and intensity. The harmonic scheme at the
end follows the same progression as the beginning, and only changes at the final chord, which
is an F# major 7th chord, but is enharmonically written as an F# major triad with an added
F+Bb.