Today is the centenary of the birth of Polish master Andrzej Panufnik, about whom I wrote a few days ago to promote last Sunday night’s “The Lost Chord,” which was devoted to two of his symphonies. (The show will be repeated Friday at 3 a.m. ET and then posted as a webcast at http://www.wwfm.org.)

Here’s a fascinating audio documentary about Panufnik and his friend Witold Lutoslawski. You’ll remember that Lutoslawski and Panufnik formed a piano duo which performed in Warsaw cafes, since it was the only means through which to share music during the Nazi occupation, when there was a ban on organized gatherings.

http://www.fallingtree.co.uk/listen/warsaw_variations

“Warsaw Variations” aired several times on BBC radio and was awarded a Prix Europa for Best Radio Music Documentary. Lutoslawski’s “Variations on a Theme of Paganini,” which had its origins in the piano duo’s repertoire, features throughout.

“I think they both had a sort of mission that people needed music, and they needed music more than any other time ever, almost, in order to keep their courage up.”

– Camilla Jessel Panufnik, the composer’s widow

PHOTO: Lutoslawski (left) and Panufnik (right), with violinist Eugenia Umińska. Umińska joined the Polish resistance, took part in the Polish Uprising, and survived capture to become a professor and later rector at the Academy of Music in Kraków. The photo was taken in 1942.