Romance for small symphony orchestra, 1950, 5'
Little Ballad for orchestra, 1950, 7'
The Labour Song for orchestra, 1950, 3'
Warsaw Serenade for orchestra, 1950, 4'
March for orchestra, 1950, 3'
These short compositions were found in the Polish Radio archives in Warsaw, with the first two surviving in recordings made in 1950 and the other being recorded in 2006, on the basis of the manuscript discovered in the Polish Radio Library. Unfortunately, we know very little about these short pieces – the composer himself did not include them in the catalogue of his compositions, nor did he mention them in his autobiography.
It seems that they must have been commissioned by the Polish Radio as illustrations to radio programmes. All of them are illustration-like, clearly song-like. The first two, for example, are atmospheric and nostalgically lyrical, while The Labour Song emerges as a diametrically different, energetic march, a kind of orchestral mass song, a fact in any case indicated by the title. Its march-like nature is emphasised by a vivid, ostinato-like piano accompaniment.
That all compositions must have been utilitarian is suggested by their simple, stanzaic structure as well as the musical language used by the composer – tonal, marked by a clear melodic line, with colour being added to it by the orchestral accompaniment.
The available information suggests that only Romance was performed in public, as its recording was made during a concert that took place on 22 August 1950 at the Warsaw Philharmonic Hall, with the Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra being conducted by Stefan Rachoń.