Mała Suita (Little Suite) – II. Hurra Polka
This was from the last concert that I got to play before everything got cancelled, and it turned out quite nice.
Witold Lutosławski was a prominent 20th century Polish composer; he wrote his Little Suite for Symphony Orchestra in 1951. This is the second movement from that piece, which translates to (as best as I can tell) “Hurray Polka.” It’s definitely intense. There is an interesting musical technique that the composer uses here – starting at about 0:25 (and again at 1:05), there is a motif that is played three times, but one note gets longer each time it’s played. Side note, I think this is the only orchestral piece I’ve seen that has flutter tongue for the brass – it’s a rough sound that normally doesn’t match, but it seems to work here. Also, that ending is really nerve-wracking – it’s difficult to follow, and a single person coming in early can ruin it (and did many times in rehearsal), but it worked on the gig, which is where it counts.