This album presents the chamber music output of Grażyna Bacewicz (1909–1969) and contains both works created before World War II and those from the late period of the composer's life.

Although Bacewicz's artistic style changed over the years, all the pieces share an unerring sense of form, care for both clarity and tone colour and a kind of sophisticated elegance. Chronologically, the earliest piece is the Sinfonietta for string orchestra from 1935, combining a classicising form with new musical content, diversified in terms of mood, loosely based on folk melodies. This is one of the most representative compositions of Bacewicz from that period.

The Symphony for string orchestra, composed shortly after the war, in 1946, is an example of numerous references to Neoclassicism, including Baroque techniques. Perhaps it was the need to organise the chaotic post-war reality that influenced the composer's strong predilection for classic and disciplined forms, but the tragedy of the times preceding the creation of the work was imprinted in the slightly dark character of the piece. The same is true for the Concerto for string orchestra, created two years later, called a 'contemporary Brandenburg concerto' by Stefan Kisielewski. In addition to Neoclassical inspirations, however, new elements can be heard here – increased rhythm-driven nature in the fast movements and mild harmonic blurs in the middle one, which are a harbinger of the composer's later tone colour quest. It will be heard in the Divertimento for string orchestra, written a few years before Bacewicz's death, in 1965. Against the background of an interesting sonoristic sound layer, the composer used her favourite techniques – rhythm-driven, figural sequences, increased movement as well as 'rough' dissonances and glissandos, characteristic of this piece. The formal discipline was perfected – there is not a single unnecessary note, the architecture of the whole piece is logical and coherent.

The works by Grażyna Bacewicz are performed by the Amadeus Chamber Orchestra of Polish Radio under the baton of an outstanding Polish conductor of world renown, Agnieszka Duczmal.

"The music's rhythmic vitality, wonderfully amplified in these gutsy vintage performances (the oldest is from 2004), is the most obvious sign of Bacewicz's uniquely determined spirit. ... dynamic and full of life" – BBC Music Magazine, 4 stars