Arguably the most important Polish composer of his generation, Karol Szymanowski (1882-1937) absorbed the musical influences of Richard Strauss, Alexander Scriabin and Claude Debussy, and then put them through his own creative refinery. Listening to Szymanowski can be a bit like submerging oneself too long in a hot bath – the same low blood-pressure, the increased heart rate, the wooziness. Though the harmonies and melodies suggest the familiar patterns of tonality, the traditional framework has been almost wholly eaten away by the hothouse atmosphere. The music is seductive and dangerous, and one risks being overcome by languor, even as one is overrun by fast-growing vegetation. It may be in poor taste to suggest that so much humidity was bad for the acute tuberculosis that eventually claimed him at the age 55.
Even so, happy birthday, Karol Szymanowski!
Symphony No. 2 (1910):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OMjbIdQBjc
Symphony No. 3 “Song of the Night” (1914):
PHOTO: Languid Szymanowski
