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Composed in 1910, at a time when Szymanowski was influenced by Richard Strauss, Reger and Scriabin, the unusually structured Symphony No. 2 is a work of great power and invention.

Brahms' first connection with choral music came in 1857, and his first appointment in Vienna, in 1863, was to conduct the Singakademie.

Although Szymanowski later dubbed his Symphony No. 1 a "contrapuntal-harmonic-orchestral monster" and disavowed the influence of Wagner, Reger and Richard Strauss, it is an astonishingly powerful... more

Although Szymanowski later dubbed his First Symphony a "contrapuntal-harmonic-orchestral monster" and disavowed the influence of Wagner, Reger and Richard Strauss, it is an astonishingly powerful... more

Mieczysław Karłowicz six symphonic poems, composed between 1904-09, are the pinnacles of a career tragically ended when he perished in an avalanche during a solitary mountain hike. His fame as one of... more

Although he left the merest handful of compositions at his seemingly accidental death in an avalanche while skiing, Mieczysław Karłowicz ranks among the most important Polish composers of his... more

Since 1966, with the composition of the St Luke Passion, Penderecki has enjoyed an international reputation for music that blends direct, emotional appeal with contemporary compositional techniques.

This is a great start, not just to this cycle, but to anyone new to Penderecki. The bulk of the disc is the 45 minute Symphony No. 3, started in 1988 and completed in 1995. Like most of Penderecki's... more

The range of Penderecki's music is exemplified by this disc, which presents five works written over a period of nearly 40 years. Hymne an den heiligen Adalbert was composed in 1997 and evokes the... more

These four works, written between 1973 and 1993, fully reflect Gorecki's expressive variety. The Little Requiem for a Certain Polka, for piano and thirteen instruments, combines a wide range of... more

Leoš Janá?ek was an authority on his native folk-music, and the Lachian and Moravian Dances preserve and celebrate culture and traditions which were vanishing even in his own lifetime. Based on... more

Composed over a period of some thirty years, the six string works in this programme cover the full stylistic range of Penderecki' towering compositional career.

Szymanowski' Symphony No. 3 'ong of the Night' creates a potent atmosphere of Persian mysticism in it's rich blend of voices and exotic orchestration. His Symphony No. 4 is largely extrovert in... more

With it's enormous vocal, choral and orchestral forces, Mahler' Eighth Symphony, later to be dubbed 'ymphony of a Thousand', is one of the largest and longest symphonies in the active repertoire.... more

Penderecki' Utrenja was inspired by the Orthodox liturgy for Holy Saturday with it's focus on the lamentation of Christ' death and the Easter Sunday morning service commemorating the Resurrection.