Concerto for piano and orchestra (1949)

Tadeusz Baird described the work as “the worst stain on my honour”. Written within a short period (less than 3 months) and commissioned by the Łódź Philharmonic, it was premiered in Łódź in 1949 with Kazimierz Serocki as the soloist. As Baird was working on the piece, he was accompanied by youthful arrogance (resulting from the success of his Sinfonietta), pressure of time and a need to bolster his finances. The commission was a lesson in humility for the composer, for not only was the work not very good, the financial reward remained only a dream. At the same time thanks to this personal failure Baird became close friends with the eminent conductor Grzegorz Fitelberg, who very openly said what he thought about the concerto:

Mr Baird, I’ve conducted hundreds of works in my life, but it’s the first time I’ve seen such a mess of a score like yours.

The form of the concerto is based on a three-part sonata cycle:

I. Poco Allegro, II. Adagio non troppo ma molto tranquillo, III. Allegro

The piece is representative of neo-classicism in Polish music from the 1949-1952 period: in addition to having a classical form, it is characterised by a motoric nature, simple and clear progression, homophonic texture, counterpoint measures, free harmony with elements of folk stylisation as well as joyful and light mood.

Tadeusz Kaczyński described the concerto as a piece deeply stuck in a “museum of neo-classicism”. Despite the fact that it is “written skilfully and with gusto”,

the superficiality of the narrative, schematic nature of some turns as well as allusions to folklore, irritating in their artificiality, keep it [...] in this museum and will probably not let it go.