Grażyna Bacewicz Essentials

Spanning the short but turbulent period between 1924 and 1968, Polish composer Grażyna Bacewicz’s music arches from deep Romanticism to fizzing modernism, from east to west. There is barely a genre she left untouched, her remarkable output embracing seven violin concertos, four symphonies, almost 40 chamber works and so much more. While remaining largely tonal, Bacewicz’s music nevertheless displays a musical imagination of staggering originality. Much of it remains undiscovered. This playlist is just a sample of her visionary creative powers, from the explosive opening Overture and dazzlingly brilliant string quartets, to the Prokofiev-like Piano Sonata No. 2 and the Sinfonietta for String Orchestra whose spirited energy recalls pre-war Benjamin Britten. Among her most thrilling moments is the final, insistent movement of the Music for Strings, Trumpets and Percussion from 1958, and her intoxicating music for solo violin that combines Bach-like beauty with the ferocity of Soviet-era Shostakovich.