Karol Szymanowski Polish Composer Born: October 6, 1882, Timoshovka, Ukraine Died: March 29 1937, Lausanne, Switzerland
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Karol Szymanowski Polish composer Born: October 6, 1882, Timoshovka, Ukraine Died: March 29 1937, Lausanne, Switzerland Concert Overture in E major These are the first performances of this work on the Classics series; duration 13 minutes Karol Szymanowski was the foremost Polish composer of the early years of the 20th century. His experience with music began with piano lessons at an early age with his father, followed by advanced study in composition in Warsaw with the composer Zygmunt Noskowski. From 1911 through the beginning of World War I, Szymanowski made a personal pilgrimage of a kind, seeking to define his own musical identity, and hopefully one which would lead to the signature style for a new Polish national school. He invested about two years in Vienna and Berlin, and followed with a long itinerary through the Mediterranean, with stops in North Africa, Italy, Sicily and Greece. In several ways, the journey served to solidify the reverence he already had for Wagner and Richard Strauss, the new Russian school represented by Stravinsky and Scriabin, and in particular, the Impressionist styles of Debussy and Ravel. Beyond his personal effort, like all of the Polish composers of the era (Winiawski, Paderewski, Karlowicz, among others), Szymanowski felt deeply obliged to find a truly unique national voice, as Frederic Chopin had achieved more than half a century earlier. In sum, Szymanowski dedicated his life to define a genuine Polish school of composition in the 20th century. He welcomed the role as emissary to the musical world, bringing the wealth of national traditions to the fore whenever possible. With this he enjoyed support from some very high places: among his supporters was Artur Rubinstein, the great pianist who added Szymanowski's piano works to many of his recitals around the world. Even as his health began to fail, Szymanowski later served as the director of the Warsaw Conservatory of Music. Szymanowski's full catalog includes four symphonies, tone poems, many songs, and a small wealth of chamber music, including many settings for piano. The youthful Concert Overture was completed in 1905, a work which displays the composer's virtuosity as an orchestrator. While the adventurous themes and harmonies are clearly original, the style of the Overture resonates with symphonic effects in the manner of German romanticism, with a direct tip of the hat to Richard Strauss. The score is graphic, even pictorial in the manner and mode of a grand tone poem. Yet Szymanowski left no clue as to a storyline, drama or image behind his pen. As a dashing concert prelude, the music opens the curtain straight-away with high-flown exuberance at the very downbeat. With emotive force on the wing, the music soars with E-major flares from the orchestra en masse - wailing horns, lofty strings and filigree of every kind. In a few moments, the tempo subsides as a lush and poetic love scene worthy of Hollywood offers an idyllic intermezzo. In measured turns, the dramatic energy swings first brightly, then darkly, as if tone painting an opera or ballet scene. Again, the composer took care not to say, but surely a story is at hand, presumably with a triumphant ending. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Frederic Chopin Polish-French composer and pianist Born: March 1 1810, near Warsaw Died: October 17, 1849, Paris Piano Concerto No.2 in F minor, Op.21 Maestoso Larghetto Allegro vivace First Classics performance: March 5, 1946, conducted by William Steinberg, with pianist Artur Rubinstein; most recent performance: November 13, 1999, conducted duration 30 minutes Born near Warsaw of a Polish mother and a French father, Chopin's exceptional gifts were spotted very early on. However, his family and teachers decided that the young genius would not be exploited in the manner of the child Mozart, to whom he was often compared. Yet all of Warsaw understood that its enfant cherie would one day have no choice but to leave for the exciting milieus of the artistic capitols of Europe. For his part, Frederic also knew it would not be enough to reach out as a keyboard virtuoso - he would also be expected to present new music by his own hand, like Mozart and Beethoven before him. In relatively short order, he scored and premiered two piano concertos during 1829-30, his final year at home. And at the age of nineteen they would be the only concertos to energe from his lyrical pen. (A curious detail, as in the case of Beethoven's first two piano concertos: the numbering of the concertos was inverted because they were published in reverse order.) But with regard to the real purpose behind the new concertos, cherchez la femme: Chopin had fallen hopelessly in love with a beautiful and gifted young soprano, Constantia Gladowska, a fellow student at the Warsaw Conservatory. In letters to his friends the composer later admitted that the concertos were scored as secret valentines for his desiderata - as he had yet to find the courage to present himself to her in person. He wrote: "Perhaps to my own misfortune I have already found my ideal, whom I worship faithfully and sincerely. Six months have elapsed, and I haven't yet exchanged a syllable with her of whom I dream every night - she who was doubly in mind when I composed the second movement Larghetto." Most historians infer that Chopin never returned to the concerto form because he found his preferred style in works for solo piano - the Nocturnes, Ballades, Mazurkas, Waltzes, etc. But given the composer's Byronic disposition, this is far from likely. In the very least we must acknowledge the possibility that Chopin never returned to the concerto form just as he never returned to his beloved Poland - just as he could never return to his beloved Constantia. The pair eventually became friends, although - with her feet on the ground - the young woman married a Warsaw businessman not long after. But until his untimely death Frederic kept her letters hidden among his personal effects. Bundled in a small packet, they were found neatly tied with a ribbon, in his own hand titled - 'My Sorrow.' But as for the music of Op.21 one finds nothing sorrowful in the least. The orchestra raises the curtain with a fully symphonic introduction, beautifully scored with lush resonance in the strings and eloquent lyrics in the woodwinds. With a striking peal the soloist enters proudly, like a Cavalier with a lofty mission - to ride the winds of rhapsody and desire. And of course, Chopin's poetic turn of phrase sparkles through every bar, poised over the orchestral mist. The second movement Larghetto offers a sublime balance, standing in as the slow interlude of a classical concerto. But listeners often sense this reverie in A-flat major is really a kind of prelude to Chopin's later Nocturnes - tender and soulful - midnight jasmine in the concert air. Music more lovely has never been scored. Stand by for the bright-hearted third movement - the Allegro vivace hits the ground in a mazurka- like scamper. Carefree in breezy F major, the movement dances with joyful folk-like turns, complete with a pastoral horn fanfare later on. In addition to all the fun, the pianist gets a virtuoso workout to the max, with lightning cascades and ornaments unlimited. Simply wonderful. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Mieczyslaw Karlowicz Polish composer and conductor Born: December 11, 1876, Wiszniewo, Lithuania Died: February 8, 1909, Tatra Mountains Symphonic Poem "A Sad Tale" These are the first performances of this work on the Classics series; duration 18 minutes Born in Lithuania, Mieczyslaw Karlowicz began his musical life with violin lessons at age seven. His formative education initiated in Germany, and concluded at the Gorki School in Warsaw. Karlowicz then returned to Germany where he pursued advanced instruction at the University of Berlin, studying violin with Florian Zajic and composition with Heinrich Urban. During that time, Karlowicz found a deep affinity to the fables and legends in the operas of Richard Wagner, and to the symbolic tone poems of Tchaikovsky and Richard Strauss. Consistent with the spirit of his own place and time, Karlowicz likewise scored a series of six tone poems, including the current work A Sad Tale, which he completed just a few weeks before his passing in a mountain climbing accident. His catalog also includes a collection of about twenty songs, the Renaissance Symphony of 1901, and a violin concerto in 1902. About the nature and style of Karlowicz's settings, a brief digression is worthy: The artistic heritage of Eastern Europe has two distinct and very opposite sides - one marked by sheer joy and exalted beauty, the other replete with regret and sorrow, even remorse. The dichotomy can be found everywhere - in legends, painting, literature, ballet and music. On the lighter side, there are many national legends, folk songs and dances that are full of zest and bright energy. But sometimes the darker side gets prime time. For example, Liszt described the inscrutable Zal of the Polish spirit, where even the happiest and most lovely moments are tempered by a sense of 'the inevitable.' Likewise, the heart-strong scores of Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff contain many such references, i.e. the former's Pathétique symphony, and the many 'Day of Wrath' fragments by Rachmaninoff. Other poignant examples include a few deep shadows from Chopin, as well as a gallery of soul-searching expressions from Vienna, e.g. Mahler, Schönberg and Webern. (Yet, for their part, the Viennese try to keep perspective with a droll quip: "The situation is hopeless - but not serious.") In sum, from the inertia of time and tradition, Karlowicz's A Sad Tale finds a deserved place in the genre.