This recording of orchestral works by Karol Szymanowski form\npart of the Polish Music series on Chandos, and is performed by the\nBBC Symphony Orchestra and Edward Gardner. These performers have\nimpressed in their Lutosławski survey, which is part of the same\nseries; in a review of volume 1, Gramophone described them as a\nveritable ‘dream team’.

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Symphony No. 2 by Szymanowski is a work of great power and\ningenuity, with many passionate and varied contrasts in its use of\nsolo instruments. Composed in 1909 – 10, it is widely considered\nthe greatest orchestral work of the composer’s early period, not to\nmention one of the most important Polish symphonic compositions to\ndate. Szymanowski himself thought very highly of it, and in August\n1911 wrote in a letter to his fellow Polish composer Zdzisław\nJachimecki: ‘How happy I am that this Symphony impressed you as I\nhad wanted. I will frankly admit that I feel somewhat proud about\nits value. In some miraculous way I have managed during my work on\nit to resist all those garish phantoms which seduce “young and\ninexperienced” artists and to produce pure and uncompromising\nbeauty in the way I personally understand it.’

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The internationally acclaimed pianist Louis Lortie joins the\norchestra and conductor in Symphony No. 4 of 1932, which the\ncomposer subtitled ‘Symphonie concertante’ in recognition of the\nnear-soloistic role played by the pianist. Whereas Szymanowski’s\nearly and middle works clearly reflect Wagner, Strauss, and\nScriabin, this work is strongly influenced by Prokofiev,\nparticularly in the finale, an agitated and daring movement\nreminiscent of the Russian composer’s Piano Concerto No. 3,\ncomposed about a decade earlier.

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Written in 1904 – 05 in a style recalling Wagner and Strauss,\nthe Concert Overture is characterised by enormous expressiveness\nand gusto in the way it handles the expanding themes. Szymanowski\ninscribed the original score with part of the poem Witeź Włast by\nhis friend Tadeusz Miciński: ‘I will not play you sad songs, O\nShades! but will give you a triumph proud and fierce…’. This vivid\nimagery is perfectly in keeping with the music’s exuberant and\nvivacious character.

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