Tout un monde lointain

Tout un monde lointain... (A whole distant world...) is a concertante work for cello and orchestra composed by Henri Dutilleux between 1967 and 1970 for Mstislav Rostropovich. It is considered one of the most important 20th-century additions to the cello repertoire and several major cellists have recorded it. Despite the fact that the score does not state that it is a cello concerto, Tout un monde lointain... has always been considered as such.

Each of the five movements was inspired by the poetry of Charles Baudelaire, and the overall feel of the work is mysterious and . A typical performance runs approximately 27 minutes.

The work was initially commissioned by Igor Markevitch for the Concerts Lamoureux and Mstislav Rostropovitch around 1960. Occupied with other projects, Dutilleux only completed the concerto in 1970. Since Markevitch had left the Concerts Lamoureux in 1961, Rostropovitch was accompanied for the premiere by the Orchestre de Paris, conducted by Serge Baudo, at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence (July 25, 1970). The cello part was edited by the Russian cellist and published with his fingerings.

In addition to the solo cello part, the concerto is scored for two flutes, piccolo, two oboes, two clarinets, bass clarinet, two bassoons, contrabassoon, three horns, two trumpets, two trombones, tuba, celesta, harp, timpani, percussion (bongos, tom-toms, snare drum, bass drum, crotales, triangle, suspended cymbals, cymbals, gongs, tam-tams, xylophone, marimba, and glockenspiel), and strings.

The piece has five movements, each bearing a title and a quotation from a poem from Les fleurs du mal, by Charles Baudelaire. Dutilleux began to work on Baudelaire's poetry on Roland Petit's advice.

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