Lutoslawski: Funeral Music / Chain II / Interlude / Partita for Violin and Orchestra / Symphony No. 4

This fine disc not only contains Lutoslawski's last major work, the compact and elegiac Fourth Symphony, it neatly gathers his two pieces for violin and orchestra, Chain II and the Partita. Like most Polish composers, Lutoslawski had a natural feeling for the violin, and although he never wrote a formal violin concerto, the Partita in particular certainly fits the bill. Like all of his best work, the music is modern in tone, but so lucidly structured and sonically eventful that, while it's certainly not easy listening, no sympathetic ear can fail to be impressed by its beauty and emotional directness. The performances, by the composer's compatriots, are all superb, and this budget-price disc is part of survey of the composer's complete orchestral music. Wonderful. --David Hurwitz