Grażyna Bacewicz was an icon of Polish composition in the 20th century as well as a virtuoso violinist.
In the early 1930s she was a composition student of the great Nadia Boulanger in Paris. After completing her studies, Bacewicz returned to Poland where she became the principal violinist of the Polish Radio Orchestra, a position that gave her the chance to hear a lot of her own music performed. During World War II Bacewicz continued to compose and gave secret underground concerts in Warsaw.
She wrote her Violin Sonata No 4 for herself to play. Its moods range from highly gestural and expressive, to witty and flirtatious.
