View source for Karol Szymanowski

{{Short description|Polish composer (1882–1937)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox composer
| name             = Karol Szymanowski
| image            = Karol Szymanowski.jpg
| caption          = Szymanowski in 1922
| birth_name       = Karol Maciej Szymanowski
| birth_date       = {{Birth date|1882|10|3|df=yes}}
| birth_place      = [[Tymoszówka]], Russian Empire
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|1937|03|29|1882|10|6|df=y}}
| death_place      = [[Lausanne]], Switzerland
| works            = [[List of compositions by Karol Szymanowski|List of compositions]]
| signature        =
| signature_alt    =
}}

'''Karol Maciej Szymanowski''' ({{IPA|pl|ˈkarɔl ˈmat͡ɕɛj ʂɨmaˈnɔfskʲi}}; 3 October 1882{{spaced ndash}}29 March 1937){{efn|name=death|There is a debate among musicologists as to whether he died shortly before or shortly after midnight between 28 and 29 March.}}<ref name="Karol Szymanowski"/> was a Polish [[composer]], pianist and writer. He was a member of the [[modernism (music)|modernist]] [[Young Poland]] movement that flourished in the late 19th and early 20th century.

Szymanowski's early works show the influence of the late [[Romantic music|Romantic]] German school as well as the early works of [[Alexander Scriabin]], as exemplified by his Étude Op. 4 No. 3 and his first two symphonies. Later, he developed an [[impressionist music|impressionistic]] and partially [[atonal]] style, represented by such works as the [[Symphony No. 3 (Szymanowski)|Third Symphony]] and his [[Violin Concerto No. 1 (Szymanowski)|Violin Concerto No. 1]]. His third period was influenced by the [[folk music]] of the Polish [[Gorals|Górale]] people, including the ballet ''[[Harnasie]]'', the Fourth Symphony, and his sets of [[Mazurka]]s for piano. ''[[King Roger (opera)|King Roger]],'' composed between 1918 and 1924, remains Szymanowski's most popular [[opera]]. His other significant works include ''[[Hagith (opera)|Hagith]]'', [[Symphony No. 2 (Szymanowski)|Symphony No. 2]], ''[[The Love Songs of Hafiz]]'', and ''[[Stabat Mater (Szymanowski)|Stabat Mater]]''.

Szymanowski was awarded the highest national honors, including the Officer's Cross of the [[Order of Polonia Restituta]], the [[Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland]] and other distinctions, both Polish and foreign.<ref name="culture.pl-szymanowski" />

==Life and career==
===Early life===
Karol Szymanowski was born into the [[Korwin-Szymanowski family]] who were members of wealthy Polish [[szlachta|nobility]] from the [[Mazovia]] region, the capital of which is [[Warsaw]]. After the fall of [[Kościuszko Uprising]] (1794), his great-great grandfather Dominik was exiled from Poland to [[Dnieper Ukraine]]. Karol's grandfather Feliks later settled in the village of Tymoszówka, which was then in the [[Kiev Governorate]] of the [[Russian Empire]] and is now Tymoshivka in [[Cherkasy Oblast]] of [[Ukraine]]. His mother came from a [[Baltic Germans|Baltic German]] family that originated in [[Courland]]. He studied music privately with his father before enrolling at the Gustav Neuhaus [[Elisavetgrad]] School of Music in 1892. From 1901 until 1905, he attended the State Conservatory in Warsaw, of which he was later director from 1926 until retiring in 1930. During that time, he met a number of prominent Polish artists such as [[Arthur Rubinstein]], [[Grzegorz Fitelberg]], [[Stanisław Ignacy Witkiewicz]] and [[Stefan Żeromski]].<ref name="auto">{{Cite web|url=https://culture.pl/en/artist/karol-szymanowski|title=Karol Szymanowski|website=Culture.pl}}</ref> Since musical opportunities in [[Congress Poland]] were quite limited, he traveled throughout Europe and [[North Africa]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://historia.dorzeczy.pl/282502/cicha-woda-karol-szymanowski-zycie-kompozytora.html |language=pl |title=Cicha woda? Karol Szymanowski – życie kompozytora |website=historia.dorzeczy.pl |date=29 March 2022 |access-date=18 February 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://culture.pl/pl/dzielo/karol-szymanowski-symphonies-nos-3-4-stabat-mater |language=pl |title=Karol Szymanowski, "Symphonies Nos 3&4, Stabat Mater" |website=culture.pl |access-date=18 February 2023}}</ref>

===Career===
[[File:Kamienica przy ul. Nowy Świat 47 w Warszawie.jpg|thumb|''[[Nowy Świat|Nowy Świat 47]]'' street, [[Warsaw]], where Szymanowski lived and composed in 1924–29]]
In [[Berlin]], Szymanowski founded the Young Polish Composers’ Publishing Company (1905–12), whose primary aim was to publish new works by his countrymen. During his stay in [[Vienna]] (1911-1914), he wrote the opera ''[[Hagith (opera)|Hagith]]'' and two [[song cycles]], ''[[The Love Songs of Hafiz]]'', which represent a transition between his first and second stylistic periods. Being lame in one knee made Szymanowski unsuitable for military service in [[World War I]], and between 1914 and 1917, he composed many works and devoted himself to studying [[Islamic culture]], [[ancient Greek]] drama, and [[philosophy]]. His works from this period, such as ''Mity'' (1914; ''[[Myths (Szymanowski)|Myths]]''), ''Metopy'' (1915; ''[[Métopes]]''), and ''Maski'' (1916; ''[[Masques (Szymanowski)|Masques]]''), are characterized by great originality and diversity of style. The dynamic extremes in Szymanowski's music lessened, and the composer started to employ coloristic [[orchestration]] and use [[polytonal]] and [[atonal]] material while preserving the expressive melodic style of his previous works.<ref name="Karol Szymanowski">{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Karol-Szymanowski|title=Karol Szymanowski &#124; Polish Composer, Impressionist & Modernist &#124; Britannica|date=2 October 2023|website=www.britannica.com}}</ref>

In 1918, Szymanowski completed the manuscript of a two-volume novel, ''Efebos'', which took [[homosexuality]] as its subject.<ref name=downes>Stephen Downes, "Eros and Paneuropeanism", in Harry White and Michael Murphy, eds., ''Musical Constructions of Nationalism: Essays on the History and Ideology of European Musical Culture, 1800-1945'' (Cork University Press, 2001), 51-71, esp. 52, 66-7</ref><ref>The manuscript was lost in a fire in September 1939 during the [[Siege of Warsaw (1939)|siege of Warsaw]]. The only part that survives is the central chapter, "The Symposium", which Szymanowski translated into Russian and gave as a gift to [[Boris Kochno]], who became his love interest when they met in the spring of 1919. Szymanowski wrote that his novel depicts "the history of a gradual liberation from various types of traditional, inherited slavery by an increasingly clear mirage of true freedom of the soul".</ref> ("Efebos" or [[ephebos]] is the Greek term for a male adolescent.) His travels, especially those to the [[Mediterranean]] area, provided him with new experience, both personal and artistic. [[Arthur Rubinstein]] found Szymanowski different when they met in [[Paris]] in 1921: "Karol had changed; I had already begun to be aware of it before the war when a wealthy friend and admirer of his invited him twice to visit [[Sicily]]. After his return, he raved about Sicily, especially [[Taormina]]. 'There,' he said, 'I saw a few young men bathing who could be models for [[Antinous]]. I couldn't take my eyes off them.' Now he was a confirmed homosexual. He told me all this with burning eyes."<ref>Arthur Rubinstein, ''My Many Years'' (London, 1980), 103</ref>

Of his works created or first imagined, such as ''[[King Roger (opera)|Król Roger]]'' ([[King Roger (opera)|King Roger]]), during 1917-21, both musical and literary, one critic has written: "we have a body of work representing a dazzling personal synthesis of cultural references, crossing the boundaries of nation, race and gender to form an affirmative belief in an international society of the future based on the artistic freedom granted by [[Eros]]."<ref name=downes/> Szymanowski settled in [[Warsaw]] in 1919.

===Later life and death===
[[Image:Muzeum Karola Szymanowskiego w willi Atma w Zakopanem, fot. K. Schubert MIK 2019 (49141306542).jpg|thumb|right|[[Villa Atma]], Szymanowski's house in [[Zakopane]], now the Karol Szymanowski Museum]]
In 1926, Szymanowski accepted the position of Director of the Warsaw Conservatory, though he had little administrative experience. He became seriously ill in 1928 and temporarily lost his post. He was diagnosed with an acute form of [[tuberculosis]], and in 1929 traveled to [[Davos]], Switzerland, for medical treatment. Szymanowski resumed his position at the Conservatory in 1930, but the school was closed two years later by a ministerial decision. He moved to [[Villa Atma]] in [[Zakopane]] where he composed fervently. In Zakopane, Szymanowski developed a keen interest in the Polish folk idiom and undertook to create a Polish national style, an endeavour not attempted since the times of [[Frédéric Chopin|Chopin]]. He immersed himself in the culture of the Polish Highlanders ([[Gorals]]) and embraced their tonal language, syncopated rhythms, and winding melodies in his music.<ref name="Karol Szymanowski"/> In 1936, Szymanowski received more treatment at a [[sanatorium]] in [[Grasse]], but it was no longer effective. He died at a sanatorium in [[Lausanne]] on 29 March 1937.{{efn|name=death}} His body was brought back to Poland by his sister Stanisława and laid to rest at [[Skałka]] in [[Kraków]], the "national [[Panthéon]]" for the most distinguished Poles.<ref name="culture.pl-szymanowski">{{cite web |author= |year=2007 |title=Karol Szymanowski |url=http://www.culture.pl/web/english/resources-music-full-page/-/eo_event_asset_publisher/eAN5/content/karol-szymanowski |access-date=10 February 2013 |work=Culture.pl |quote=}}</ref>

Szymanowski's long correspondence with the pianist [[Jan Smeterlin]], a significant champion of his piano works, was published in 1969.<ref>Boguslaw Maciejewski and Felix Aprahamian, eds., ''Karol Szymanowski and Jan Smeterlin: Correspondence and Essays''. Allegro Press, 1969</ref>

==Influences==
Szymanowski was influenced by the music of [[Richard Wagner]], [[Richard Strauss]], [[Max Reger]], [[Alexander Scriabin]] and the impressionism of [[Claude Debussy]], and [[Maurice Ravel]]. He was also significantly influenced by his countryman [[Frédéric Chopin]] and by [[Polish folk music]]. Like Chopin, he wrote a number of [[mazurka]]s for piano. He was specifically influenced by the folk music of the Polish Highlanders, which he discovered in [[Zakopane]] in the southern [[Tatra mountains|Tatra]] highlands. He wrote in his article "About Goral Music": "My discovery of the essential beauty of [[Gorals|Goral]] music, dance and architecture is a very personal one; much of this beauty I have absorbed into my innermost soul". According to Jim Samson, it is "played on two fiddles and a string bass" and "has uniquely 'exotic' characteristics, highly dissonant and with fascinating heterophonic effects".<ref>{{cite book |last=Samson |first=Jim |author-link= |date=1981 |title=The Music of Szymanowski |url= |location= |publisher=Taplinger |page=200 |isbn=}}</ref>

Aleksander Laskowski has said of Szymanowski's music and its changing style: "He invented a musical language [...] His works were true and ingenious creations. And his oeuvre shows an incredible development from the Straussian and Wagnerian, through an interesting and very romantic Oriental period, and finishing with a national period influenced by his time in the Tatras."<ref name="scotsman.com">{{cite news|url=http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/culture/music/exploring-the-music-of-karol-szymanowski-the-greatest-polish-composer-since-chopin-1-2464013 |title=Exploring the music of Karol Szymanowski, the greatest Polish composer since Chopin|access-date=18 April 2017}}</ref>

==Works==
[[File:Karol Szymanowski Autograf partytury Stabat Mater z dedykacją 1926.jpg|thumb|Autograph of the ''[[Stabat Mater (Szymanowski)|Stabat Mater]]'' score commissioned by [[:pl:Bronisław Krystall|Bronisław Krystall]], 1926]]
{{Main|List of compositions by Karol Szymanowski}}
Among Szymanowski's better-known orchestral works are four [[symphony|symphonies]] (including [[Symphony No. 3 (Szymanowski)|No. 3, ''Song of the Night'']], with choir and vocal soloists, and [[Symphony No. 4 (Szymanowski)|No. 4, ''Symphonie Concertante'']], with piano concertante) and two [[violin concerto]]s. His stage works include the [[ballet (music)|ballets]] ''[[Harnasie]]'' and ''[[Mandragora (ballet)|Mandragora]]'' and the [[opera]]s ''[[Hagith (opera)|Hagith]]'' and ''[[King Roger (opera)|King Roger]]''. He wrote much piano music, including the four ''[[Étude]]s'', Op. 4 (of which No. 3 was once his most popular piece), many mazurkas and ''[[Métopes]]''. Other works include the ''[[Myths (Szymanowski)|Three Myths]]'' for violin and piano, ''[[Nocturne and Tarantella (Szymanowski)|Nocturne and Tarantella]]'', two string quartets, a sonata for violin and piano, a number of orchestral songs (some to texts by [[Hafiz Shirazi|Hafiz]] and [[James Joyce]]) and his ''[[Stabat Mater (Szymanowski)|Stabat Mater]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://polishmusic.usc.edu/research/publications/essays/karol-szymanowski/#:~:text=Szymanowski%E2%80%99s%20Compositions%201%20Stage%20Works%201908-9%20The%20Lottery,%5Bsoldiers%E2%80%99%20songs%29%201900-02%20Six%20Songs%20%28K.%20Tetmajer%29%20 |title=Karol Szymanowski |website=polishmusic.usc.edu |author=Neil Galanter |access-date=18 February 2023}}</ref>

According to Samson, "Szymanowski adopted no thorough-going alternatives to tonal organization [...] the harmonic tensions and relaxations and the melodic phraseology have clear origins in tonal procedure, but [...] an underpinning tonal framework has been almost or completely dissolved away."<ref>{{cite book |last=Samson |first=Jim |author-link= |date=1981 |title=The Music of Szymanowski |url= |location= |publisher=Taplinger |page=131 |isbn=}}</ref>

==Recognition==
Szymanowski's music has received international recognition. In the 1920s and the 1930s, his music proved immensely popular. His works were performed throughout the world by soloists such as [[Arthur Rubinstein]], [[Harry Neuhaus]], [[Robert Casadesus]], [[Paweł Kochański]], [[Bronisław Huberman]], [[Joseph Szigeti]], and [[Jacques Thibaud]], and by orchestras led by conductors including [[Emil Młynarski]], [[Albert Coates (musician)|Albert Coates]], [[Pierre Monteux]], [[Philippe Gaubert]], [[Leopold Stokowski]], and [[Willem Mengelberg]]. European and American performances of his ''[[Stabat Mater (Szymanowski)|Stabat Mater]]'' were world-scale events, progressing successfully in [[Naples]], [[Paris]], [[Liège]], [[New York City|New York]], [[Chicago]] and [[Worcester, England|Worcester]]. A performance of ''King Roger'' in [[Prague]] on 21 October 1932 directed by [[Josef_Franti%C5%A1ek_Munclinger|Josef Munclingr]] closely reflected Szymanowski's own idea of the piece, and was a huge success, as was the stage production of ''[[Harnasie]]''. A Polish recording of his Symphony No. 4 in 1932 was followed by a series of performances abroad, mostly with Szymanowski at the piano and conducted by [[Grzegorz Fitelberg]]. In 1933, the symphony was performed in [[London]], [[Bologna]], [[Cleveland]]; [[Moscow]], [[Zagreb]], [[Bucharest]]; in 1934 in [[Paris]], [[Sofia]], [[London]]; in 1935 in [[Stockholm]], [[Oslo]], [[Bergen]], [[Berlin]], [[Rome]], [[Liège]] and [[Maastricht]]; and in 1937 in [[The Hague]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.karolszymanowski.pl/life/final-years/ |title=Szymanowski 1929 - 1937 Final years |access-date=18 April 2017}}</ref>

==Recordings==
In 1994, [[Charles Dutoit]] recorded both of Szymanowski's violin concertos with the [[Montreal Symphony Orchestra]].<ref name="auto"/> [[England|English]] [[conductor (music)|conductor]] Sir [[Simon Rattle]] has called Szymanowski "one of the greatest composers of this [20th] century” and produced a series of recordings with the [[Birmingham Symphony Orchestra]]. In 2004, [[Scottish people|Scottish]] [[violinist]] [[Nicola Benedetti]] won the [[BBC Young Musician of the Year]] with a performance of Szymanowski’s [[Violin Concerto No. 1 (Szymanowski)|Violin Concerto No. 1]]. In 2008, ''King Roger'' was performed at [[Edinburgh International Festival]] under the baton of [[Valery Gergiev]] and the [[Mariinsky Theatre|Mariinsky]] opera company. In 2012, Gergiev led the [[London Symphony Orchestra]]'s performance of all four of Szymanowski's symphonies at the Edinburgh International Festival.<ref name="scotsman.com"/> In 2015, ''King Roger'' was staged in [[London]]'s [[Royal Opera House]], produced by [[Kasper Holten]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.roh.org.uk/news/krol-roger-available-to-pre-order-on-dvdblu-ray |title=Król Roger available on DVD/Blu-Ray |access-date=18 April 2017}}</ref> In the past two decades, Szymanowski's music has enjoyed a revival and been performed around the world. It has been recorded by conductors and musicians such as [[Pierre Boulez]], [[Edward Gardner (conductor)|Edward Gardner]], [[Vladimir Jurowski]], [[Mark Elder]] and [[Krystian Zimerman]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.gramophone.co.uk/features/focus/celebrating-szymanowski-1882-1937-75-years-on |title=Celebrating Szymanowski (1882-1937): 75 years on |access-date=18 April 2017}}</ref>

==Remembrance==
[[File:Popiersie Karol Szymanowski ssj 20071009.jpg|thumb|Bust of Szymanowski in [[Kielce]]]]
Szymanowski received numerous awards, including the Officer Cross of the [[Order of Polonia Restituta]]; the Officer of the [[Order of the Crown of Italy]]; the Commander of the [[Order of the Crown of Italy]]; the Knight of [[Legion d'Honneur]]; an honorary plaque at the [[Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia]]; the Commander Cross of the [[Order of Polonia Restituta]]; and the Academic Golden Laurel of the [[Polish Academy of Literature]], [[Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland]]. He was also a [[Doctor Honoris Causa]] of the [[Jagiellonian University]], [[Kraków]] and an honorary member of the Czech Academy of Learning, the [[Jāzeps Vītols Latvian Academy of Music|Latvian Conservatory of Music]] in [[Riga]], the St Cecilia Royal Academy in [[Rome]], the [[Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts|Royal Academy of Music]] in [[Belgrade]], and the [[International Society for Contemporary Music]].<ref name="auto"/>

On 16 November 2006, the [[Polish Parliament]] passed a resolution to name 2007 "The Year of Karol Szymanowski" to honour the 125th anniversary of his birth and the 70th anniversary of his death. On 3 October 2007, the [[National Bank of Poland]] issued special commemorative coins depicting Szymanowski in the following denominations: [[Polish zloty|zl]]&nbsp;200, zl&nbsp;10 zloty and zl&nbsp;2. The [[Karol Szymanowski Academy of Music]] in [[Katowice]] and the [[Kraków Philharmonic]] are both named for him.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nbp.pl/home.aspx?f=/banknoty_i_monety/monety_okolicznosciowe/2007.html#08 |title=125. rocznica urodzin Karola Szymanowskiego (1882-1937) |access-date=18 April 2017}}</ref> On 11 November 2018, to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the regaining of Polish independence, President [[Andrzej Duda]] posthumously awarded Szymanowski and 24 other distinguished Poles Poland's highest decoration, the [[Order of the White Eagle (Poland)|Order of the White Eagle]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.prezydent.pl/aktualnosci/ordery-i-odznaczenia/art,328,ordery-orla-bialego-przyznane-posmiertnie-25-wybitnym-polakom.html |title=Ordery Orła Białego przyznane pośmiertnie 25 wybitnym Polakom |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181111195847/http://www.prezydent.pl/aktualnosci/ordery-i-odznaczenia/art,328,ordery-orla-bialego-przyznane-posmiertnie-25-wybitnym-polakom.html |access-date=31 May 2019|archive-date=11 November 2018 }}</ref> Szymanowski inspired the character of composer Edgar Szyller in [[Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz]]'s novel ''Fame and Glory'' (Polish: ''Sława i chwała'').<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.se.pl/wiadomosci/polska/szalone-miosci-szymanowskiego-aa-Zo5N-Y9dN-tGRw.html |language = pl |title=Szalone miłości Szymanowskiego | access-date = 16 July 2021}}</ref>

On 3 October 2023, Szymanowski was celebrated with a [[Google Doodle]] for his 141st birthday.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/people/karol-szmanowski-who-google-doodle-celebrating-polish-composter-141st-birthday-today-2658563 |title=Who was Karol Szymanowski? Why a Google Doodle is celebrating the Polish composer's 141st birthday today |website=inews.com |author=Alex Finnis |date=3 October 2023 |access-date=3 October 2023}}</ref>

==Awards and decorations==
* [[File:POL Order Orła Białego BAR.svg|60px]] [[Order of the White Eagle (Poland)|Order of the White Eagle]] (posthumously, 2018)<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.prezydent.pl/aktualnosci/ordery-i-odznaczenia/art,328,ordery-orla-bialego-przyznane-posmiertnie-25-wybitnym-polakom.html|title=Ordery Orła Białego przyznane pośmiertnie 25 wybitnym Polakom|publisher=prezydent.pl|date=11 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181111195847/http://www.prezydent.pl/aktualnosci/ordery-i-odznaczenia/art,328,ordery-orla-bialego-przyznane-posmiertnie-25-wybitnym-polakom.html |archive-date=2018-11-11}}</ref>
* [[File:POL Polonia Restituta Wielki BAR.svg|60px]] Grand Cross of the [[Order of Polonia Restituta]] (posthumously, 2 April 1937)<ref>{{Cite magazine|title=Pośmiertna dekoracja śp. Karola Szymanowskiego wielką wstęgą orderu "Polonia Restituta"|url=http://jbc.bj.uj.edu.pl/dlibra/plain-content?id=40563|magazine= Gazeta Lwowska|page=3|date= 7 April 1937}}</ref>
* [[File:POL Polonia Restituta Komandorski BAR.svg|60px]] Commander's Cross of the [[Order of Polonia Restituta]] (11 November 1934)<ref>{{Monitor Polski|1934|259|337}} "For his achievements in the field of composition".</ref>
* [[File:POL Polonia Restituta Oficerski BAR.svg|60px]] Officer's Cross of the [[Order of Polonia Restituta]] (30 April 1925)<ref>[https://monitorpolski.gov.pl/M1925102043501.pdf M.P. z 1925 r. nr 102, poz. 435] "For outstanding musical creativity".</ref>
* [[File:POL Krzyż Zasługi (1923) BAR.svg|60px]] Gold [[Cross of Merit (Poland)|Cross of Merit]] (5 May 1931)<ref>{{Monitor Polski|1931|107|156}} "For his compositional work".</ref>
* [[File:POL Wawrzyn Akademicki BAR.svg|60px]] Gold [[Academic Laurel]] (5 November 1935)<ref>{{Monitor Polski|1935|257|305}} "For outstanding services to Polish art in general".</ref>
* [[File:SRB-SHS-YUG Orden Svetog Save Komandir BAR.svg|60px]] Commander of the [[Order of St. Sava]] (Yugoslavia)
* [[File:Commendatore OCI Kingdom BAR.svg|60px]] Commander of the [[Order of the Crown of Italy]] (Italy)
* [[File:Ufficiale OCI Kingdom BAR.svg|60px]] Officer of the [[Order of the Crown of Italy]] (Italy)
* [[File:Legion Honneur Chevalier ribbon.svg|60px]] Chevalier of the [[Legion of Honour]] (France)
* [[File:ROU Cultural Merit Order 2003 Cat-B Knight BAR.svg|60px]] Order of Cultural Merit (Romania)

==See also==
{{Portal|Classical music|Opera}}
* [[List of Polish composers]]
* [[List of Polish people]]
* [[Music of Poland]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Additional sources==
;In English
* Jim Samson, ''Music in Transition: A Study of Tonal Expansion and Atonality, 1900–1920'', New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1977, {{ISBN|0-393-02193-9}}
* Jim Samson, ''The Music of Szymanowski'', London: Kahn & Averill, 1980, {{ISBN|0-900707-58-5}}
* Alistair Wightman, ''Karol Szymanowski. His Life and Work'', Alderhost, Ashgate Publishing Company, 1999
* Christopher Palmer, ''Szymanowski''. BBC Music Guides, 1983 (An introduction to Szymanowski's music in English)
* Paul Cadrin & Stephen Downes, ed. The Szymanowski companion, Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate, 2015 {{ISBN|978-1-4724-5557-4}}

;In French
* Patrick Szersnovicz, Olivier Bellamy, Piotr Anderszewski, "Karol Szymanowski: le génie méconnu" (Karol Szymanowski: unknown genius) in ''[[Le Monde de la musique]]'', No 299, June 2005, {{p.|46-59}}
* Didier Van Moere, ''Karol Szymanowski'', [[Fayard]], Paris 2008.
* Anetta Floirat, ''Karol Szymanowski à la rencontre des arts'', Sampzon, Delatour France, 2019, 338 p.
;In German
* Roger Scruton and Petra Weber-Borckholdt, eds., ''Szymanowski in seiner Zeit'' (Szymanowski in his time), Munich, Wilhelm Fink Verlag, 1984
* Danuta Gwizdalanka: ''Der Verführer. Karol Szymanowski und seine Musik'', Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden 2017, {{ISBN|978-3-447-10888-1}}
;In Italian
* Alessandro Martinisi, ''Il sogno sognato di Karol Szymanowski. Re Ruggero tra luce ed ombra''., Quintessenza Editrice, Gallarate 2009, {{ISBN|978-88-901794-2-6}}
* Aldo Dotto, ''Le Maschere di Karol Szymanowski'', (prefazione di Joanna Domanska) Edizioni ETS, 2014, {{ISBN|9788846740861}}
;In Polish
* Stefania Łobaczewska, Karol Szymanowski. Zycie i twórczość (Karol Szymanowski. Life and work) Cracow, PWM, 1950
* Zygmunt Sierpiński, O Karolu Szymanowskim (About Karol Szymanowski), Warsaw, Interpress, 1983
* Tadeusz Zieliński, Szymanowski : Liryka i ekstaza (Szymanowski: Lyric and ecstasy), Cracow, Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne, 1997
* Teresa Chylińska, Karol Szymanowski i jego epoka (Karol Szymanowski and his time), Cracow, Musica Iagellonica, 2006, 3 volumes
* Mortkowicz-Olczakowa, Hanna (1961). ''Bunt wspomnień.'' Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy
* Jerzy Maria Smoter (collective) ''Karol Szymanowski we wspomnieniach'' (Karol Szymanowski in our memory), Cracow, PWM, 1974, 394 p.
* Łozińska Hempel, Maria (1986). ''Z łańcucha wspomnień.'' Wydawnictwo Literackie.

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{Commons category|Karol Szymanowski}}
* [https://polishmusic.usc.edu/research/composers/karol-szymanowski/ Szymanowski page] at USC's Polish Music Center
* {{IMSLP|id=Szymanowski%2C_Karol|cname=Karol Szymanowski}}
* [https://polona.pl/search/?query=Karol_Szymanowski&filters=creator:%22Szymanowski,_Karol_(1882--1937)%22,creator:%22Szymanowski,_Karol_(1882--1937)._Kompozytor%22,creator:%22Szymanowski,_Karol_(1882--1937)_Autor%22,category:scores,category:manuscripts,public:1,hasTextContent:0 Scores by Karol Szymanowski] in digital library [[Polona]]
* [https://soundsofpoland.com/ Szymanowski's piano music commented] by [[Peter Jablonski]]

{{Karol Szymanowski}}
{{Modernism (music)}}
{{Young Poland (music)}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Szymanowski, Karol}}
[[Category:1882 births]]
[[Category:1937 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Polish male musicians]]
[[Category:20th-century Polish classical composers]]
[[Category:20th-century deaths from tuberculosis]]
[[Category:20th-century Polish male musicians]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the Chopin University of Music]]
[[Category:Ballet composers]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of Polonia Restituta]]
[[Category:Composers for piano]]
[[Category:Golden Laurel of the Polish Academy of Literature]]
[[Category:Grand Crosses of the Order of Polonia Restituta]]
[[Category:Impressionist composers]]
[[Category:LGBTQ classical composers]]
[[Category:Polish male classical pianists]]
[[Category:Members of the International Composers' Guild]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of Polonia Restituta]]
[[Category:People from Cherkasy Oblast]]
[[Category:Polish classical pianists]]
[[Category:Polish LGBTQ composers]]
[[Category:Polish male classical composers]]
[[Category:Polish opera composers]]
[[Category:Polish Romantic composers]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Gold Cross of Merit (Poland)]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of St. Sava]]
[[Category:Tuberculosis deaths in Switzerland]]
[[Category:Musicians from Bydgoszcz]]
[[Category:20th-century Polish LGBTQ people]]