Assembled in 1946 from texts and melodies that had been collected during the nineteenth century, Twenty Polish Carols is one of Lutosławski’s most substantial and most attractive vocal collections. The carols comprise a musical sequence as substantial as it is varied. Highlights include the lightly tripping rhythm of Just after midnight, typical of Lutosławski’s folk-inspired music of the period, the undulating motion of In a manger, one of the most charming of all the carols, and the discreetly sensuous mood of Jesus lovely flower, the most extended carol of the cycle. By way of contrast, the Five Songs of 1957, exhibit aspects of the more experimental idiom Lutos1awski had begun to evolve during the cultural ‘thaw’ that spread across Eastern Europe in the wake of Stalin’s death in 1953.