Symphony No.2 "Sinfonia Elegiaca" - Andrzej Panufnik

Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Łukasz Borowicz.

I - Molto andante (𝅘𝅥 = c.40) [0:00] - Molto allegro (𝅘𝅥 = c.120) [9:15] - Molto andante (Tempo I / 𝅘𝅥 = c.40) - Poco più lento [16:10]

Panufnik's Symphony No.2 was composed in 1957, while he was working as the Musical Director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. It was premiered on November 21 of 1957 in Houston (Texas), performed by the Houston Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leopold Stokowski. It was revised in 1966, although we don't know the changes he made in the score.

In 1951, Andrzej Panufnik wrote a three-part choral Symphony of Peace to the poem "Peace" by Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz. The ideological message of the symphony was dictated by the requirements of socialist realism, the official doctrine at the time in Poland, and the communist authorities’ expectations with regard to Panufnik. Therefore, it is hardly surprising that after defecting to the West, the composer decided to withdraw it from the catalogue of his works. Rejecting the choral third movement, he slightly recomposed the remaining two movements, thus creating the purely orchestral "Sinfonia Elegiaca".

Dedicated to the victims of World War II, the symphony is obviously elegiac in nature. In his programme note, the composer wrote: "The new version of the symphony was to be in one continuous movement, built in three parts, symmetrically arranged like a vast triptych. It did not have any literary programme, only allusions to contrasting aspects of war. The central section (molto allegro) would be a dramatic protest against inhumanity, madness, bloodlust and violence. The two outer sections (both molto andante) would be lamentations for the dead and for the bereaved, with added grief that their agonies and sacrifices had failed to bring peace to the world, or full freedom to countries such as my native Poland."

The work is structured in ternary form. It begins with a barely audible tremolo on timpani, followed by entries of cellos and basses introducing a funereal, chorale-like lament as the main theme. It is contrasted by a deeply lyrical second theme on the English horn, before the lament is repeated by horns in counterpoint with the second theme on violins, the music unfolding in a mix of dignified solemnity and restrained grief. After a brief pause, the central section opens with a violent and forceful motive on timpani on which the middle section is based (which also resembles the principal rhythmic motto theme of Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony’s first movement). This motive is transformed in an agitated and boisterous theme shared between brass and percussion. The violins then offer a contrastingly melancholic second theme, also derived from said motive.

The whole orchestra, as heard before, repeats and combines the material in a powerful passage of great energy. The same dynamic happens when cellos take the second theme in a noble way, with woodwind figures from the main theme leading to a forceful climax. A cymbal clash leads us into the third section which begins with contemplative phrases of strings, answered almost religiously by woodwinds. The chorale-like lament is then recapitulated by strings. A long diminuendo brings the work to its conclusion on a barely audible timpani tremolo, as at the start. The central movement may be seen as a dramatic protest against the inhumanity and madness of war, whilst the two outer sections framing it are lamentations for the dead and the bereaved. The failure of peace and freedom in countries such as the composer’s native Poland is underlined by the fact that the symphony ends in same mood and character in which it began, as if nothing has changed.

Picture: "Group Scene No 238" by the Polish painter Andrzej Wróblewski.

Sources: https://tinyurl.com/2qbtolsp and https://tinyurl.com/2e58cmqd

To check the score: https://tinyurl.com/2zmytj47