SZYMANOWSKI, Karol
b Tymoszowka, Ukraine, 6 October 1882
d Lausanne, 29 March 1937, aged fifty-four

He was the son of wealthy landowners. Both his parents played piano, and he himself studied privately from an early age, entering the Warsaw Conservatory in 1901. He was much influenced by Beethoven, Wagner, Chopin, R. Strauss and later Stravinsky, and he achieved early fame as a composer. After World War I, the Russian revolution brought financial hardship from which he never recovered. In 1926 he accepted the directorship of the Warsaw Conservatory for two years. In his last years he was seriously affected by tuberculosis.

1905 (22)

Concert Overture

1907 (24)

Symphony No 1 in F minor

1909 (26)

Symphony No 2 in Bb major

1912-13 (29-30)

Hagith, opera

1915-16 (32-3)

Symphony No 3, Song of the Night, with tenor and chorus

1917 (34)

Violin Concerto No 1

String Quartet in C major

1920-4 (37-41)

King Roger, opera

1924 (41)

Prince Potemkin, incidental music

1926 (43)

Harnasie, ballet

Stabat Mater

1931-2 (48-9)

Symphonie Concertante for piano 1

932-3 (49-50)

Violin Concerto No 2

Szymanowski also composed symphonic poems, piano music, choral music and songs.