The Music in Exile series is a fantastic initiative by Canadian group ARC Ensemble (Artists of the Royal Conservatory). A spotlight on composers of suppressed music during the rise of Nazism, the most recent in the series looks at the chamber works of Paris-based Polish composer, Szymon Laks. Musically, Laks was something of a more cosmopolitan Bartók, with notes of Hindemith, Poulenc and even Prokofiev peppering his language. His works are infused with tuneful confidence, and many, particularly the Piano Quintet, draw on Polish folk tradition.

The performances on this disc are all crystal clear, capturing the fine lines of Laks’ calculated counterpoint. Much of the music is light, and upbeat in character, with the works including winds having particular bounce. This is music in stark contrast to the darkness of the war, during which Laks was imprisoned at Auschwitz.

In the midst of the terror of the Nazi regime, music might have been a light of hope, especially for those at Auschwitz. The camp had a few ensembles, and at one point Laks was appointed conductor of the men’s orchestra. Laks’ testimony, however, was that music provided little in the way of comfort: “In no case,” he said, “did I ever meet a prisoner who found courage in our music, whose life our music helped save.” One work on the disc, the Passacaille of 1945, is something of a musical expression of this melancholy, that would stay with Laks for the rest of his life.