Warsaw Concerto

The Warsaw Concerto is a short work for piano and orchestra by Richard Addinsell, written for the 1941 British film Dangerous Moonlight, which is about the Polish struggle against the 1939 invasion by Nazi Germany. In performance it normally lasts just under ten minutes. The concerto is an example of programme music, representing both the struggle for Warsaw and the romance of the leading characters in the film. It became very popular in Britain during World War II. However, referring to the entire ten minute composition as the complete 'Warsaw Concerto' is a misnomer, because in the film for which it was written, the protagonist and love interest, Carole Peters, scans the programme for the evening's concert and the camera pauses on the three movement orchestral work entitled 'Warsaw Concerto' -- and then stops completely on the tempo marking for the third movement ('ALLEGRO MODERATO. PRESTO').