A new
freebie is available from Alexander Street.
More properly, I should say
freebies (plural), because they always give away
several tracks ("one complete work," they say) when they make their giveaways each two weeks.
Alexander Street says,
This week's download features Lutosławski's Five Folk Melodies
. These tunes are arrangements from his larger work, Melodie Ludowe (Folk Melodies)
, for solo piano. This recording is performed by the Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie under the direction of Jean-Paul Dessy.
Here are the five
free pieces that they are offering. They are all MP3's:
- O, my Johnny
- Hey, I come from Kracow
- The Grove
- The Gander
- The schoolmaster
I usually say nothing, or very little, about the composer(s) when I make a classical music post. In many cases, they are well known. However, I would like to quote this much from Alexander Street about Lutoslawski, since his name might not be as familiar to you as some of the older composers:
Witold Roman Lutosławski was a Polish composer and orchestral conductor. He is one of the major European composers of the 20th century, and one of the preeminent Polish musicians during his last three decades.
Alexander Street requires that you have an account with them, in order to get their free downloads. The form near the bottom of
this webpage is as good as any to use to sign up. Alexander Street markets to institutions, such as libraries, so some of the questions may not apply to you. If you will just put something down, however, you should be able to secure an account (they do not forbid individuals from having an account). Once you have your account, you can go to
this webpage, which will have the actual download links near the upper righthand corner (they are in blue) Alternatively, you may return to
the webpage where you signed up for your account, and click on the bright blue "download" button that should be at the bottom righthand corner of Mr. Lutoslawski's photograph.