Neil Fisher, The Times, 7th February 2014
★★★★
“…Hearing two of his most skilfully constructed works, vividly performed by the London Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Michael Francis, afresh was something of a revelation. Sinfonia Sacra, from 1966, is a hymnlike vision to Poland’s Catholic faith, but its ecstatic song only arrives after three fragmentary movements, the work’s lean skin and bones (Poland’s neverending suffering?) preceding harmonic and melodic resolution. Panufnik’s Lullaby, from 1947, is an extraordinary work for string orchestra: divided into 29 individual parts, its mournful tune flickers through a cluster of eerie sonorities, the effect as much nocturnal horror as sleepy bedtime song…”
