Andrzej Panufnik

about

Sir Andrzej Panufnik (September 24, 1914 – October 27, 1991) was a Polish composer, pianist, conductor and pedagogue. He became established as one of the leading Polish composers, and as a conductor he was instrumental in the re-establishment of the Warsaw Philharmonic orchestra after World War II. Born in Warsaw on 24th September 1914, Panufnik started to compose at the age of nine. He graduated from the Warsaw Conservatoire with Distinction in both composition and conducting, developing his classical conducting skills as a favourite pupil of Felix Weingartner at the Vienna Academy, and then studying French Impressionist composers with Philippe Gaubert in Paris, with further music explorations in London. Just before the outbreak of World War II, Panufnik returned to Warsaw to look after his parents. In Nazi-occupied Poland, with public concerts banned, he arranged a massive amount of classical music for two pianos which he played as a duo in “artistic cafés” with his friend and contemporary Witold Lutosławski; also performing with his Jewish violinist friend Tadeusz (known post-war as Thadé Geisler). Despite the Nazi terror in Warsaw, at great personal risk he conducted illegal concerts and composed patriotic resistance songs, including the still-famous Warszawskie Dzieci. During the war he lost most of his closest relatives, as well as every note of music he had composed in his first 30 years, including two symphonies, destroyed by fire during the 1944 Warsaw Uprising. I

top songs

albums

Panufnik: Symphonic Works, Vol. 3

PANUFNIK: Old Polish Suite / Concerto in modo antico / Jagiellonian Triptych / Hommage a Chopin

Panufnik: Symphonic Works, Vol. 2

Sinfonia Sacra / Arbor Cosmica

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The Panufnik Legacies II

Panufnik: Symphonic Works, Vol. 5

Panufnik: Symphonic Works, Vol. 7

Panufnik: Symphonic Works, Vol. 6

Panufnik: Symphonic Works, Vol. 1

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Sinfonia Sacra

Andrzej Panufnik: Concertos (Symphonic Works, Vol. 8)

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Andrzej & Roxanna Panufnik: Messages

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