In the early 1960s the estranged Polish composer Andrezj Panufnik went to the United States, to explore possibilities as a conductor as well as a composer. While there he received plenty of support from Leopold Stokowski, but did not get much conducting work. However he did receive a significant commission, to write a work in celebration of 1,000 years of statehood for Poland, due to be marked in 1966.
And so Sinfonia Sacra, the composer's third symphony, was born. Bernard Jacobson's engaging study of the composer as part of a Phaidon book, A Polish Renaissance, goes on to detail how, in tribute to Poland's rich cultural and Catholic tradition, 'it would incorporate the melody of the Bogurodzica hymn that had struck his imagination so forcibly in 1936'.
In May 1962, Panufnik's circumstances were improving, with marriage to Camilla and the prospect of a new house, when it was announced that the Sinfonia Sacra - had won a competition sponsored by Prince Rainier of Monaco.
Thoughts
Although the Sinfonia Rustica and Elegiaca are very enjoyable pieces of music to listen to, there is a noticeable tightening of the screw in the Sinfonia Sacra, confirmation that Panufnik has honed his symphonic credentials to write a lean structure where not a single note is wasted.
The piece captures the listener immediately, with a bold and uplifting fanfare that eventually resolves into pure C major. So far, so good – but then instead of continuing in celebratory vein Panufnik reveals the opening material to be a rather empty gesture, as the strings paint the picture of a barren wasteland.
It takes a while for the music to recover from this desolation, as it moves into an angry and resentful music that is high on energy but feeling in need of consolation. This arrives in the form of the hymn tune, gathering power towards the profound final pages. Here there is a huge sense of courage and strength in depth, the music moving between brief glimpses of consonance and peace and then back to discord, giving an indication of pain that won’t entirely go away – but which for now lies vanquished.
The Sinfonia Sacra is a powerful experience, a triumph of the human spirit over what Panufnik terms an 'invocation of the battle fields', which can be taken to mean the horrors of persecution and war. Its victory is hard won, but is all the more dramatic for it.
Recordings and Spotify Link
Panufnik's own recording, with the Monte Carlo Opera Orchestra, can be heard on an album here, with the Sinfonia Rustica and Sinfonia concertante. There are a number of other versions, though a particularly fine and recent account is made by Lukasz Borowicz, conducting the Konzerthausorchester Berlin on CPO here
Next up: Sinfonia concertante (Symphony no.4
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