Krzysztof Baculewski "Subjective Annals 60 Editions of the Festival"

The inaugural concert featured Poetries by Kazimierz Serocki and Concerto lugubre by Tadeusz Baird, co-creators of the 'Warsaw Autumn', who both died in 1981. The Festival programme included the striking Exodus by Wojciech Kilar, String Quartet by Eugeniusz Knapik, Arabesque by Grażyna Pstrokońska-Nawratil, the sensational Harpsichord Concerto by Henryk Mikołaj Górecki with the soloist Elżbieta Chojnacka, as well as Krzysztof Penderecki's Symphony No. 2 (later referred to as the 'Christmas' Symphony because of a quotation from a carol). However, instead of the State Symphony Orchestra of Georgia from Tbilisi the Festival hosted the Orchestra of the State Conservatory of Moscow; the Soviet rulers could not bear the dedication to Mstislav Rostropovich in the commentary to a work by Valentin Silvestrov, which was to be included in the programme. During the next few years not only was it impossible to invite that artist to Warsaw, but even to print his name under the successive notes on compositions. John Tilbury's interpretation of Sonatas and Interludes by John Cage created a sensation. Ensemble de l'Itinéraire from Paris brought the first works by Gérard Grisey (Périodes) and Tristan Murail (Ethers), who at that time were not yet referred to as spectralists... ere were performances by cellist Roman Jabłoński, violinist Wanda Wiłkomirska, flutist Aurèle Nicolet, oboist Heinz Holliger, London Contemporary Dance Theatre, the Wilanów Quartet, the Silesian Quartet, the Budapest Symphony Orchestra conducted by György Lehel. An impressive debut by Paweł Buczyński with Muzyka opadających liści (Music of Falling Leaves), performed by the Polish Chamber Orchestra under Jerzy Maksymiuk.