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An important part of our mission is to uncover the forgotten but important pages of Polish music. These certainly include the music of Roman Palester (1907-1989), one of the most important composers of the 20th century, condemned to oblivion by the communist authorities for his work in Radio Free Europe. This ‘curse’ has proved astonishingly enduring and the works of this artist are still largely forgotten.

Sinfonia Iuventus is contributing to their renaissance – in 2019 we recorded an interesting and well-received album of his graceful Concertinos (Anaklasis) under the baton of Łukasz Borowicz, with outstanding soloists. Preparations are underway (involving the development of scores) for a new recording of orchestral and chamber works. Among them will be the striking Symphonic Music (1931), which brought the young composer, who was only twenty four years of age, to the attention of listeners and critics, the classicising works Sinfonietta for chamber orchestra and Divertimento for 9 instruments (both from 1948) – which were among the first post-war compositions, when, prior to his decision to emigrate, Palester’s position on the Polish music scene was still very high – and Study 58, composed ten years later already in Munich, in which the author expressed his interest in dodecaphony.

We will keep you informed about the dates of the recording and its availability!