Sir Andrzej Panufnik was born in 1914 in Warsaw, Russia (Poland). Having failed to entry in the piano class of the Conservatory of Warsaw, Panufnik turned to composition and orchestral conducting. After graduation in 1936, he went in 1936 to study in Vienna with Felix Weingartner (1863-1942). He returned to Poland shortly after the Anschluss, lived a few months in Paris and London and, despite the situation, returned to Poland. During the German occupation, he formed a duo with Witold Lutoslawski (1913-1994), and composed of resistance songs. After the war, he moved to Krakow, where he became the principal conductor of the Philharmonic Orchestra of this city and, subsequently, was named music director of the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and guest conductor of the Philharmonic Berlin. He decided to emigrate to Britain in 1954, both for political and personal reasons, in particularly incredible circumstances. He was head of the Birmingham Symphony Orchestra from 1957 to 1959 which significantly reduced his composition activity but, after 1963, he had a composition activity increasingly important, and was knighted in 1990. He died in 1991 in Twickenham (United Kingdom).
Among his major works, we can see the "Variations" for piano, a piano trio, three string quartets, a "Quintetto Accademico" for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon, string sextet, a "Concerto in modo antico "for trumpet, two harps, string harpsichord and orchestra, Concertino for timpani, percussion and string orchestra, a piano concerto, a concerto for violin, a cello concerto, Concerto for bassoon, an Overture" Tragic "Opening a" Eroica "," Nocturne "and" Epitaph for kathyn "for orchestra, twelve Symphonies (numbered 1 to 10, the first two having been lost or destroyed), and choral and vocal music, including" Underground Resistance Four Songs "to words by Stanislaw Ryszard Dobrowolski," Homage to Chopin "for soprano and piano," Symphony of Peace "for choir and orchestra, or even" Song to the Virgin Mary "for choir a capella.
