Lutosławski offers two bars from the main theme of Concerto for Orchestra, the first of his works to gain international recognition.

The quotation is affixed at the right side to a piece of larger black paper, on which someone has written the title of the work as a caption in silver ink. A small magazine photograph of the smiling composer is also affixed to the black paper, overlapping a blank corner of the quotation. (The photograph could easily be removed).

Lutosławski's early career was not easy. He performed in the cafés of German-occupied Warsaw, playing Polish music that had been outlawed by the Nazis, before fleeing the city with only a handful of his scores and sketches. His First Symphony was rejected by Soviet authorities after the war, which forced him compose simpler music that would not offend. Finally, in 1950, Lutosławski received a commission from conductor Witold Rowicki to compose a new work for the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra. The resulting Concerto for Orchestra, which premiered in 1954, put Lutosławski on the international map and launched his compositional career in earnest.