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Born in Warsaw in September 2014, Andrzej Panufnik was one of the most original symphonic composers of the second half of the 20th century. 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, at great personal risk. He also conducted illegal concerts and composed patriotic resistance songs. As a composer he won international admiration and honours in his own country establishing him as a leading figure of the Polish avant-garde. After the war, with the imposition of Soviet Socialist Realism, Panufnik’s situation changed drastically and in 1954 he made a dramatic escape from Poland as a protest against Communist control over creative artists. This resulted in total censorship of his name and his music in the country for 23 years. He settled in England and from 1957 to 1959 he served as Chief Conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, his last official position before deciding to dedicate his life entirely to composition. He took British nationality in 1961. Petroc explores the life and music of Andrzej Panufnik with archive material of the composer himself, as well as contributions from his widow, Lady Camilla Panufnik, the Polish Music expert Adrian Thomas, and a number of Polish musicians from different generations, including conductor Antoni Wit, pianist Ewa Poblocka and violinist Szymon Krzeszowiec of the Silesian String Quartet. Broadcast in September 2014 Photo credit: Camilla Jessel