Grażyna Bacewicz (1909 – 1969) Orchestral Works, Volume 1 Symphony No. 3 (1952) I Drammatico – Molto allegro energico – [Poco meno mosso] – Poco meno mosso – Un poco più mosso – Meno mosso – Tempo I – Più mosso – Più mosso – Poco meno mosso – Tempo I – Meno mosso – Poco più mosso – Meno mosso – Più mosso – Vivo . II Andante – Un poco più mosso – Tempo I . III Vivace – [ ] – Tempo I . IV Finale. Moderato – Poco meno mosso – Allegro con passione – Poco meno mosso – Poco meno mosso – Poco meno mosso – Poco sostenuto – Presto. Symphony No. 4 (1953) . Grzegorzowi Fitelbergowi I Appassionato – Allegro inquieto – Meno mosso – Più mosso – Poco meno mosso – Meno mosso – [Più mosso] – [Più mosso] – (Più mosso) – Più mosso, energico . II Adagio – Poco più mosso – Tempo I . III Scherzo. Vivace – [ ] – Tempo I – . IV Adagio mesto – Allegro furioso – Poco più mosso – Meno mosso . Overture (1943) for Orchestra. Allegro – Andante – Allegro energico. BBC Symphony Orchestra, Igor Yuzefovich leader, Sakari Oramo CHSA 5316 SACD 21.98

Description: The three works on this album were all composed between 1943 and 1953. Despite the extreme experiences and difficulties she faced during this undoubtedly most tragic time in Poland’s history, Grazyna Bacewicz managed to compose outstanding works which constitute splendid testimony to the vibrant creative potency for which she was renowned. Until 1939 her career as a virtuoso violinist and an emerging composer evolved naturally. Trained by the best Polish pedagogues at the Warsaw Conservatory, she went on to acquire an international education thanks to an Ignacy Paderewski Scholarship, which allowed her to pursue her studies in Paris: composition with Nadia Boulanger, violin with André Touret (1932 – 33) and Carl Flesch (1934 – 35). In spite of her soloistic successes she decided to join the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra as its leader, in order that an improved knowledge and understanding of an orchestra should inform her composition. Poland then suffered terribly at the hands of Hitler and Stalin, before coming under the control of the Soviet Union. This album was recorded and released in collaboration with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, a state cultural institution promoting Polish culture around the world and actively participating in international cultural exchange.