that's the version to go for.
it's a shame it was so popular back in the '90s.
put a lot of people off - me included.

Just like to ditto that I do quite like it.  Haven't listened to it in a while though...maybe should give it a spin this week again...hmm....

And this is an absolutely fantastic Górecki disc, with several of his most striking earlier works:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Essential-G%C3%B3recki-Henryk-Gorecki/dp/B000003W6X/ref=sr_1_1/026-9539117-0494024?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1183984261&sr=1-1

Oh yes, that is great.  Also his harpsichord concerto is certainly worth listening to.

Gladly, Pim.

I find that for most people the best place to start is with two of the earlier symphonies, the Sinfonia Rustica and the Sinfonia Sacra, though I am aware that both were included in the week's programmes, and seem not to have pushed your button at all. Nearly all of us have immunity to certain composers, which can be something as simple as psychological wiring, the same wiring which makes us addicted to the work of others; both of these pieces hit straight home the first time I encountered them, and they have remained best friends ever since.

The other good place to start might be the recent Naxos disc of early works, which starts with pieces which seem to be closely allied to the British string reworkings of old music such as Warlock's Capriol Suite, and moves forward to a work which has the same slightly ascerbic harmonic twists which remained with him until his final works. (8.570032)

The two symphonies were reissued last year coupled to one more after an absence from the catalogue on EMI mid-price 0946 3 52289 2. In both the composer plays with the orchestral layout: in Rustica two string orchestras are separated by a central block of flute, two oboes, two basoons, two horns and a trumpet, whilst in Sacra four trumpets are spaced around the orchestra. Both symphonies make use of Polish themes; in the Rustica they're folksy, in the Sacra it's the first known Polish hymn. The trick (maybe inspired by Jana?ek's Sinfonietta) of repeating the first movement over the climax of the last is one of my all time hair-on-the-back-of-the-neck moments.

Maybe try the Naxos first, and see if the Hommage à Chopin does anything for you: if it does, then I'll try and lead you through the Sacra stage by stage, to show you how intricately it's constructed - though you certaily don't have to be aware of that to enjoy it...

Best wishes,
Ron

It's at the point where the construction process takes precedence over the music itself that I'd agree with tinners, but in Panufnik's case it's in relatively few later works. I'd known and loved the two earlier symphonies for years before I had the score of the Sacra and began to see the tight processes which controlled it. His is of course a comment which could be levelled at many other works written in the last century or so: in the end if this creates a sterile, emotionless, intellectual exercise, then my reaction is likely to be negative too; but I've never found it to be the case with either of these works. Sacra is simply one of the most moving and uplifting pieces I know, and it was very plain from the reaction to the CoTW programmes last year that I was far from alone in my love for his music.

But, hey, tinners! Diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks...

Ron

The Rustica and Sacra are earlier than the Votiva, tinners: they belong to the same eastern european tradition as the Martinu symphonies or the Concerto for Orchestra by Lutoslawski (with whom Panufnik performed piano duets prior to his flight form Poland). The Helios Votiva; I find it a game of two halves, tending to listen to the second part whilst ignoring the first. Maybe that's partly down to Ozawa's conducting: there was a live version from the BBC conducted by the composer available for a while, and the whole piece makes rather more sense in his reading. The Concerto Festivo (written for and first performed by the LSO - sans conductor) is another victim of the fall of Conifer, which had in turn taken over the catalogue of his recordings amassed by Unicorn-Kanchana on their demise.

Now that Panufnik is accepted in Poland again, it may be that we get a complete cycle of his symphonies at last. Until then, the EMi recording is the one to go for; there's a later composer-led Sacra with the Concertgebouw which doesn't quite have the same fire, and is out of the catalogue anyway; a recent Polish one by Kazimierz Kord on the Accord label which is not bad at all; and a deleted one by Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle. He did Sacra at the Proms during his brief RLPO tenure a few years back and it was excellent, but his recording on JVC, which took a huge amount of hunting to find, has to be one of my greatest-ever disappointments; it all starts brilliantly, but his wilfully wayward tempo for the Hymn (he takes 16:33 where Panufnik takes 10:53 and 9:27, and Kord 10:45 - it's like Lenny's Nimrod all over again) just breaks its back completely.