UK/Poland Season 2025: Panufnik as interpreted by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in Edinburgh and Glasgow

The Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) will present two concerts of “Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony” – on Friday, 24 October at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh, and on Saturday, 25 October at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. The programme will feature works by Andrew Panufnik, Matthew Rooke, and Ludwig van Beethoven, under the baton of conductor David Niemann. These concerts form part of the UK/Poland Season 2025 cultural programme, The event celebrates the musical ties between Poland and Scotland, highlighting the importance of cultural dialogue and international artistic cooperation.

Two RSNO “Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony” Concerts in Scotland – From Panufnik to Beethoven

Founded in 1891, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) is one of Europe’s leading symphony orchestras. It has held royal patronage from Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II since 1977, and in 2007 was granted status as one of Scotland’s five National Arts Institutions. Under the leadership of music director Thomas Søndergård, the orchestra performs throughout Scotland, regularly appears at major classical music festivals, and records music for films, TV series, and video games. The RSNO believes that music has the power to enrich lives, and through its concerts, recordings, and extensive educational and community programmes, it inspires, educates, and engages audiences throughout Scotland and beyond.

The RSNO will perform two concerts of “Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony” – on Friday, 24 October at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh and on Saturday, 25 October at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. Conductor David Niemann will open the performances with two powerful freedom songs: a fiery testimony from post-war Poland and a vibrant new work by Matthew Rooke, written for timpanist Paul Philbert. The evening will conclude with Beethoven’s rousing “Eroica Symphony”, which caused a sensation when first performed, and whose echoes continue to resonate in classical music more than 200 years later.

“Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony” Concert Programme:

• Panufnik – “Sinfonia Sacra” (Symphony No. 3)

• Matthew Rooke – “Tamboo-Bamboo, concerto for timpani and orchestra” (world premiere)

• Beethoven – “Symphony No. 3, Eroica”

Poland and Scotland – Cooperation Linking Two Worlds through Classical Music

As part of the traditional RSNO pre-concert lectures, the documentary “Connecting Scotland and Poland: Through Music and Stories” will be screened. The film tells the story of a series of music workshops for young people of Polish descent living in Glasgow, where participants explored the stories and music that connect Poland and Scotland.

The Royal Scottish National Orchestra’s partnership with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute (AMI) has for years celebrated the rich cultural history linking Poland and Scotland, emphasising the importance of international joint musical activities and mutual cultural enrichment. In April 2025, AMI, RSNO, and Linn Records released an album of works by three outstanding Polish composers: Grażyna Bacewicz, Witold Lutosławski, and Karol Szymanowski. This release continues the performances of these composers’ works from the 2023/24 season. The collaboration also includes the “Polska Scotland” project, a series of concerts during the RSNO’s 2020/21 season. The two institutions are collaborating once again on the occasion of UK/Poland Season 2025.

Andrzej Panufnik and “Sinfonia Sacra” – A Musical Bridge between Poland and the UK

The “Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony” concerts are held in cooperation with the RSNO as part of the UK/Poland Season 2025 cultural programme, which includes dozens of events across a number of Polish and British cities. Both evenings will open with Sinfonia Sacra by Andrzej Panufnik, an outstanding Polish composer. After the artist left Poland, his work was banned by the communist authorities. His history is closely linked to the RSNO on the occasion of “Sinfonia Sacra”: it was this orchestra that performed the Polish premiere in Warsaw in 1978, fourteen years after the world premiere in Monte Carlo.

Olga Brzezińska, Deputy Director of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, emphasises:

“Andrzej Panufnik was an artist whose life and work provided a genuine bridge between Poland and the United Kingdom. Hearing his work performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra is not only a tribute to an outstanding composer, but also a celebration of the dialogue and mutual understanding that define UK/Poland Season 2025. Through music, we continue to build lasting ties between our nations, celebrating shared values and inspiring new generations on both sides.”

UK/Poland Season 2025 – A New Chapter in the Cultural Dialogue between Poland and Great Britain

UK/Poland Season 2025 is a cultural programme of unprecedented scale, comprising dozens of events across Polish and British cities. The season opens a new chapter of cooperation between the two countries, reinvigorating cultural dialogue and strengthening existing relations. For audiences, this is a unique opportunity to discover the most interesting developments on the art scenes of both countries, spanning film, theatre, visual arts, design, and music. In Poland, the events are organised by the British Council, while in the UK – by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, the Polish Cultural Institute, and the British Council. The organisation of the Season in Great Britain and Northern Ireland has been supported by Poland’s Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

UK/Poland Season 2025 comprises a series of prestigious events highlighting the strong artistic and cultural ties between Poland and the UK. Music – a medium that builds bridges between nations – is one of the programme’s central pillars. During the 78th Edinburgh International Festival, one of the UK’s most renowned and long-standing festivals, the Focus on Poland section presented a series of events dedicated to Polish music. In September, the concert “My Life – Preisner’s Music” explored the multi-layered soundtracks accompanying many Polish films. The LOT Polish Jazz Festival in London 2025 showcased innovative sounds, bringing together outstanding artists from Poland and the UK on one stage. This autumn will also feature a concert by Marcin Masecki in Oxford, inspired by the discoveries of Gdańsk astronomer Jan Hevelius, as well as performances by Polish artists at the EFG London Jazz Festival and the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival. Up-to-date information about upcoming events can be found at https://iam.pl/en.

“Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony” Concerts

• Concert in Edinburgh

  • Date: 24 October 2025, 7:30 p.m.

  • Venue: Usher Hall (Lothian Road, Edinburgh, UK)

  • Pre-concert lecture: Screening of the film “Connecting Scotland and Poland: Through Music and Stories” at 6:45 p.m. in the Auditorium

• Concert in Glasgow

  • Date: 25 October 2025, 7:30 p.m.

  • Venue: Glasgow Royal Concert Hall (2 Killermont Street, Glasgow, UK)

  • Pre-concert lecture: Screening of the film “Connecting Scotland and Poland: Through Music and Stories” at 6:45 p.m. in the Clyde Foyer

• Performers: Royal Scottish National Orchestra

• Conductor: David Niemann

• Soloists: Paul Philbert – timpani

• More information and tickets are available at: www.rsno.org.uk 

• The event is part of the UK/Poland Cultural Season 2025, organised by the British Council, the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, and the Polish Cultural Institute, and funded by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland.

• The “Tamboo-Bamboo” timpani concerto was created with the support of the Marchus Trust.