He became established as one of the leading Polish composers, and as a conductor he was instrumental in the re-establishment of the Warsaw Philharmonic orchestra after World War II.

In 1957, he was appointed chief conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, a post he relinquished after two years to devote all his time to composition.

By this time, Panufnik was too old to take the piano entrance examination for the Warsaw Conservatory, but succeeded in gaining admission as a percussion student.

After graduating with distinction in 1936, his plans to travel to Vienna to study conducting for a year under Felix Weingartner were delayed by his being called up for National Service.

Panufnik returned to Poland before the end of his planned year-long stay, leaving shortly after the Anschluss when the political situation caused Weingartner to be removed from the Academy.

He met Weingartner again in London, and the older conductor urged him to stay in England to avoid the consequences of the worsening international situation.

This was the only way in which Poles could legitimately hear live music, as arranging concerts was impossible because the occupying forces had banned organised gatherings.

Panufnik also composed some illegal Songs of Underground Resistance, especially "Warsaw Children" which became popular among the defiant Polish community.

When Panufnik returned to the ruins of the city in the spring of 1945, to bury his brother's body and recover his own manuscripts, he discovered that despite having survived the widespread destruction, all of his scores had been discarded onto a bonfire by a stranger who had taken over his rooms.

His Lullaby for string orchestra and two harps was inspired by the combination of the River Thames and the night sky, when he saw "dark clouds drifting across a brilliant full moon", as viewed from Waterloo Bridge, while he was visiting London.

Panufnik became Vice-President of the newly constituted Union of Polish Composers [pl] (ZKP—Związek Kompozytorów Polskich), accepting the post after being urged to do so by his colleagues.

Panufnik later mused on the nebulous nature of Soviet Realism, quoting a Polish joke of the time that it was "like a mosquito: everyone knew it had a prick, but no-one had seen it".

[3] His Nocturne was singled out for criticism, and later General Włodzimierz Sokorski, Secretary of Culture, announced that Panufnik's Sinfonia Rustica had "ceased to exist".

This was seized upon, and on returning to Poland he was granted a stay in quiet surroundings so that he could finish the piece (Panufnik interpreted this as an order to complete it).

In 1952 Panufnik composed a Heroic Overture, based on an idea he had conceived in 1939 inspired by the struggle of Poland against Nazi oppression.

After returning to Warsaw he was asked to write a letter that the government could send to western musicians, ostensibly from Panufnik, to sound them out as to their sympathies with the Polish "Peace Movement".

Thus in 1954 Panufnik no longer felt able to reconcile his patriotic desire to remain a Polish composer in Poland with his contempt for the musical and political demands of the government.

"Scarlett", whose father lived in Britain, easily obtained permission to travel to London, and while she was there she covertly asked Polish émigré friends to help.

The Polish government branded him a traitor, immediately suppressing his music and any record of his conducting achievements, publicising numerous calumnies against him.

Having left Poland without any money or possessions, income from occasional conducting engagements made it hard for Panufnik to make ends meet.

He received financial support from fellow composers including Ralph Vaughan Williams and Arthur Benjamin; Panufnik was as heartened by the gesture of professional solidarity as by the money.

In the wake of McCarthyism, the staff at the American Embassy in London were unhelpful, and treated him with suspicion: Panufnik was surprised to have to supply fingerprints, and he was pointedly asked more than once whether he had ever been a member of the Polish United Workers' Party.

Just after he completed this task, he heard that the Polish State Publishers had finally confirmed that they had no further interest in their catalogue of Panufnik's music.

For two years from 1957 to 1959 Panufnik's financial situation eased slightly when he was appointed Principal Conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra.

In 1963, Panufnik entered his newly completed Sinfonia Sacra for a prestigious international competition in Monaco for the best orchestral work: it won first prize.

Following his death Sir Georg Solti wrote that "he was an important composer and first-class conductor, the finest protagonist of the European tradition of music making.

A special concert on 24 September, his birthday, by the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra included performances of the Piano Concerto and Sinfonia Elegiaca.

[10] Also in 2014, the German record label Classic Produktion Osnabruck completed the publication of an eight-volume cycle of Panufnik's symphonic works, conducted by Łukasz Borowicz.