Forged in the fires of the two World Wars, Sir Andrzej Panufnik’s compositional output is inextricably linked with the major social and political events of the 20th century. Born in Warsaw at the onset of the First World War, he lived through the German occupation of the city in the Second World War and participated in musical resistance activities with the composer Lutosławski. Over the course of the conflict, Panufnik lost many of his closest relatives and saw his compositions consumed by the fires of the Warsaw Uprising. Initially fêted by the socialist government, he was unwilling to compose the suitably ‘patriotic’ music demanded of him by the regime and was forced to make a dramatic escape to Britain in 1954.

This Centenary Celebration will present chamber works spanning his life – from his piano trio (1934), reconstructed after the war, to his three string quartets (written between 1976 and 1990) to be performed by the Brodsky Quartet, ‘Artists in Residence’ at Kings Place. The programmes will include complementary pieces by his daughter Roxanna including the London Première of a new quartet especially written for the Brodsky Quartet. The Celebration will culminate with a 1930s Warsaw Cabaret evening, led by Jacqui Dankworth and Charlie Wood.

Panufnik 100: A Family Celebration
30 November 2014 | Kings Place
Tickets from £6.50
http://www.kingsplace.co.uk/panufnik100

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