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75th Anniversary of Karol Szymanowski's Death
2012-03-29
Today, 29 March 2012, we celebrate the 75th anniversary of Karol Szymanowski’s death – one of the most accomplished Polish composers of European and worldwide significance and a representative of the Young Poland movement in music. His invaluable contribution to musical culture includes symphonic works, vocal-instrumental, solo and chamber works. Karol Szymanowski was born on 3 October 1882 in Tymoszówka, Ukraine, and died on 29 March 1937 in Lausanne. He began his musical education under his father, and then continued in Elizawetgrad with G. Neuhaus. In 1901 he moved to Warsaw, where in 1904 M. Zawirski gave him private lessons in harmony and Z. Noskowski taught him counterpoint and composition. In Berlin in 1905 he founded the "Printing Cooperative of Young Polish Composers". Its purpose was to promote new Polish music through publication and performance. The first composers’ concerts of its members were held in the years 1906-1908 in Warsaw and Berlin. In 1912 Szymanowski signed a contract with Universal Edition in Vienna, where he visited several times. He undertook a number of trips to Italy and Sicily, visited Arab North Africa. The ancient and Eastern cultural monuments made a deep impression on the composer, and influenced the development of his artistic individuality.During World War I, Szymanowski was in his home village Tymoszówka and in
1919 he came to independent Poland. At the turn of the year 1920/21 he made his first trip to America with Paweł Kochański and Artur Rubinstein. As a composer he achieved considerable success in the U.S., and his music became known in the country.
The years 1922 to 1926 brought many international performances of Szymanowski’s works: in Paris, London, Vienna, Trieste, Venice, Salzburg, Prague, Berlin, New York, Philadelphia, Chicago. In 1927-29 Szymanowski was director of the Warsaw Conservatory, and later rector of the Warsaw Music Academy. Later, having no regular income, he performed as a pianist in concerts throughout Europe with his Fourth Symphony. The composer's other prominent works include the Symphony III Song of the Night, the opera Hagith, the ballet Harnasie and many others.
We are pleased to announce that this year Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne will reprint an edition of Karol Szymanowski’s Symphony II, and will prepare new versions of the performance materials for the Symphonies I and II.
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