2. Karol Szymanowski - Biography
Karol Szymanowski was born on 6 October 1882 in Tymoszówka in Ukraine. He came from a moderately well-off, aristocratic Polish family. The environment in which he grew up was very conducive to his musical development. Everybody in his family was very musical. He had four siblings; one of his sisters was a singer and his brother a pianist. That is why music sounded in their house almost all the time. Due to a leg disease he contracted as a child, Szymanowski could not participate in many activities and games with his siblings. Therefore, he concentrated exclusively on music. Already as a young boy he became acquainted with the music of Bach, Mozart and Beethoven. He started learning music at the age of 7. First under the direction of his father, then attending the music school in Elisavetgrad (now Kirovograd), where in addition to piano lessons Szymanowski also learned some basics in music theory.1 In 1901 Szymanowski came to Warsaw to study with Zygmunt Noskowski.2 In his youthful music one could hear the influence of Chopin and Scriabin.3 This period of Szymanowski’s compositional style (1900- 1914) is often referred to as the 1st period. (example 1)
During his studies he met his future faithful friends: the outstanding violinist Paweł Kochański, the violinist and conductor Grzegorz Fitelberg and the pianist Artur Rubinstein.4 In 1905 Różycki Szeluta and Fitelberg together with Szymanowski founded the Publishing Company of Young Polish Composers.5
In 1906, the first concert of the members of the Publishing Company took place at the Warsaw Philharmonic, presenting the achievements of young composers. According to Muchenberg: “The public unanimously put Karol Szymanowski first, discovering in him an extraordinary talent.”6
One of the music critics said “I did not doubt for a moment that I was faced with an extraordinary composer, perhaps a genius.”7 Muchenberg writes further that: “The interest was so great that the concert had to be repeated. The trip of all four composers to Berlin marked the beginning of a new period of exploration and experimentation in the work of Karol Szymanowski.”8
Between the years 1909 - 1914 Szymanowski travelled to London, Vienna, Paris and several times to Italy. The trip to Sicily, Italy and the North part of Africa in 1914 seemed to be a turning point in the development of Szymanowski’s artistic personality.9 During those trips he got inspired with exotic oriental music and French Impressionism. (example 2)
These years 1914-1923 are called the second compositional period of Szymanowski’s compositional style.
During the 1st World War the composer spent time in his family home in Tymoszówka, where he composed a lot of remarkable pieces such as “Metopes”, “Masks” and “Myths". 10(example 3)
During the October Revolution Tymoszówka was almost completely destroyed. Therefore, the whole of the Szymanowski family moved to Elisavetgrad. This period was not the easiest for Karol as a composer. He lost faith in his own capabilities. ‘Can you imagine’, he wrote, ‘I cannot compose now (...)’.11
From 1920 the third compositional period of Szymanowski starts.
Szymanowski became a frequent visitor of Zakopane.12 At that time his compositional career turned around again. He got more and more interested in Polish folk music and nationalism. An important moment for Szymanowski’s career was his meeting with musicologist Adolf Chybiński (1880-1952) who was deeply interested in folk music, and especially in music from Podhale.13 As the editor of Chybiński’s book - Ludwik Bielawski writes:
“Chybiński was the first to draw the attention of Szymanowski to the distinct archaic beauty of Goral music.”14
As a mature composer and master of the most modern means of compositional technique used in the 20th century, that was the moment when Szymanowski could, without any doubt or danger of losing his own style, continue Chopin's work: the creation of new Polish national music.15
In the 1920s Szymanowski had the idea of writing a ballet on a Goral theme, which he called “Harnasie”, a work he finally finished after 10 years from his original sketches. The biggest inspiration for it was Podhale and the culture of the Gorals. Because of Szymanowski’s childhood knee injury, instead of climbing the mountains, he would often sit and enjoy the music and culture of Highlanders. Therefore, he had lots of time to fit in and adapt to the culture of the Gorals.
Together with Harnasie other remarkable pieces from this nationalistic period include the song cycle Słopiewnie, the Violin concerto no.2, the String quartet no.2 and 20 mazurkas op.50.16
In 1927 Szymanowski got a position as a headmaster of Warsaw Music Conservatory.
The years between 1933-1936 were full of concerts, compositional work and numerous trips abroad, mainly for health reasons. His last works are 2 mazurkas op.62, composed in 1934. Szymanowski's output thus closes, like Chopin's, with a Mazurka.
Karol Szymanowski died of tuberculosis on 29th of March 1937 in a sanatorium in Lausanne- Switzerland.17
