Brahms proclaimed himself impressed by Stojowski's orchestration in the Suite for Orchestra, and no wonder. It's gorgeous, not in a gratuitously flashy sense, but written so that the sounds we hear always seem to "fit" the music in a particularly colorful and inevitable way. The piece has three movements: variations on a Polish hymn, a delicious Intermède polonaise, and a final dance: Réverie et Cracovienne. That second movement is a gem--irresistibly melodic and incredibly charming. It would make a stunning concert encore. Ironically, the only available score and parts are located in the Fleisher Collection at the Free Library of Philadelphia, as the booklet notes graciously observe. If there is any justice in the universe this piece will become a repertory work, and it's very beautifully played here by a Polish ensemble from Bialystok that's clearly putting its best foot forward.

The same generally high quality of execution applies to the two choral works (English translations thoughtfully included). Le printemps sets the same poem as did Debussy in the original version of his identically titled work. It's delightfully tuneful and quite well sung by the choir. Prayer for Poland is a dramatic 20-minute-plus piece composed during the First World War. A plea to the Virgin to come to Poland's aid, it's remarkably exciting and again strikingly scored, with the organ well integrated into the orchestral textures. The musical idiom is also more advanced than in the two works from the 1890s, with suggestions of impressionism in the harmony and some strikingly apt dissonances reminding us of the music's wartime origins.

Here the sopranos have some problems with the high tessitura, the heavy orchestration sometimes overwhelms the voices, and the solo soprano isn't entirely free of what's sometimes described as a "Slavonic wobble", but it really doesn't matter. If you enjoy works such as Holst's Hymn to Jesus, then you'll really want to hear this piece. Indeed, there isn't a note anywhere on this disc that falls below a very high level of compositional craft, and the performers have every reason to be proud of their accomplishment. Stojowski's name may be known to some collectors thanks to Hyperion's advocacy of him in its Romantic Piano Concerto series (and one further solo album for the same label by pianist Jonathan Plowright). Clearly, he's a composer worth exploring in greater depth.

--David Hurwitz