Krzysztof Baculewski "Subjective Annals 60 Editions of the Festival"

The 9th Festival (strangely scheduled between Tuesday 21st and Thursday 30th September) was more fortunate as far as prominent participants from the outside world were concerned. ese included the Orchestra of the City of Helsinki, who performed Apparitions by György Ligeti and Hexaèdre by Krystyna Moszumańska-Nazar - though three works by Sibelius were also included for balance. Other performers included the Orchestra of the City of Berlin with Kurt Sanderling, the Orchestra of Romanian Film Industry (sic!), the Brussels-based Musiques Nouvelles (Interestingly, Wieland Kuijken, now better known for his performances of early music, played the cello in this ensemble), LaSalle string quartet, the Groupe Instrumental à Percussion de Strasbourg and the Dancers' Workshop Company of San Francisco. Among guest performers were also conductor Ernest Bour, soprano Dorothy Dorow, and cellist Siegfried Palm. Significant works included: String Quartet by Witold Lutosławski, Répons by Henri Pousseur, Chronochromie by Olivier Messiaen, Les Sons by Witold Szalonek, and Epitaffio by Arne Nordheim. Debuts included Zygmunt Krauze and Krzysztof Meyer. This edition of the Festival also provided the occasion for the first appearance of music by Alfred Schnittke (Music for Piano and Chamber Orchestra). And, finally, it was the first 'Warsaw Autumn' to be directly observed by the present author.