Karol Szymanowski
Late Romantic · 1882–1937
Karol Szymanowski came from a cultivated Polish landowning family in Tymoszówka, in what is now Ukraine, and the estate's destruction in the Russian Revolution cut him off from that world for good. Travels to Sicily and North Africa before the First World War left a permanent mark: his middle-period music shimmers with Mediterranean light and perfumed color. Later he turned to the folk music of the Polish highlands, spending long stretches in the mountain town of Zakopane.
He directed the Warsaw Conservatory in the 1920s, fought tuberculosis for much of his life, and died in a Swiss sanatorium in 1937.
Start with the Violin Concerto no. 1, a single half-hour span of glittering, dreamlike sound, then the Symphony no. 3, The Song of the Night, which sets a poem by the Persian mystic Rumi for tenor, chorus, and orchestra.
53 works in the catalog, across 5 genres. Log what you listen to with Opus, the classical music journal for iPhone.
Chamber
- 3 Caprices of Paganini, op. 40
- 3 Myths, for violin and piano, op. 30
- Lullaby, for violin and piano, op. 52, M58, "La berceuse d'Aïtacho Enia"
- Nocturne et Tarentelle, for violin and piano, op. 28
- Piesn Kurpiowska, for violin and piano
- Polnische Weise, for violin
- Romance in D major, for violin and piano, op. 23
- String Quartet no. 1 in C major, op. 37, M41
- String Quartet no. 2, op. 56, M64
- Violin Sonata in D minor, op. 9
Keyboard
- 2 Mazurkas, op. 62, M73
- 3 Masques, op. 34, M35
- 4 Etudes, op. 4, M3
- 4 Polish Dances, M60
- 9 Preludes, op. 1, M1
- 12 Etudes, op. 33, M34
- 20 Mazurkas, op. 50, M56
- Fantasy in C major, op. 14, M13
- Metopes Op.29, M31
- Piano Sonata no. 1 in C major, op. 8, M8
- Piano Sonata no. 2 in A major, op. 21, M25
- Piano Sonata no. 3, op. 36, M38
- Prelude and Fugue in C sharp minor, M19
- Prelude in C sharp minor
- Romantic Waltz, M59a
- Variations in B flat minor, op. 3, M5
- Variations on a Polish Folk Theme in B minor, op. 10, M10
Orchestral
- Symphony no. 2 in B flat major, op. 19, M24
- Symphony no. 3, for soprano, tenor, chorus, and orchestra, op. 27, M36, "The Song of the Night"
- Symphony no. 4, for piano and orchestra, op. 60, M70, "Symphonie Concertante"
- Violin Concerto no. 1, op. 35, M37
- Violin Concerto no. 2, op. 61, M71
- Concert Overture in E major, op. 12, M12
- Symphony no. 1 in F minor, op. 15, M15
Stage
- Król Roger, op. 46 Opera
- Harnasie
- Mandragora, op. 43, M45
- Prince Potemkin, op. 51, M57
Vocal
- Stabat Mater, for soprano, alto, baritone, chorus, and orchestra, op. 53, M60
- 4 Songs for voice and piano, op. 41
- 6 Kurpie Songs, for chorus, M66
- 6 Songs for voice and piano, op. 2, M2
- 6 Songs of a Fairy-Tale Princess, voice and piano, op. 31, M32
- 6 Songs of an Infatuated Muezzin, op. 42, M44
- 7 Songs for voice and piano, op. 54, M63
- 8 Love Songs of Hafiz, for tenor and orchestra, op. 26, M28
- 12 Kurpie Songs for voice and piano, op. 58, M69
- Demeter, for alto, women's chorus, and orchestra, op. 37bis, M39
- Idom se siuhaje dolu, spiewajecy, song for voice and piano
- Penthesilea, op. 18, M18
- Slopiwenie, 5 songs for voice and piano, op. 46bis, M51
- The Swan, song for voice and piano, op. 7, M7
- Veni Creator, for soprano, chorus, orchestra, and organ, op. 57, M67
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