ABSTRACT
Changes in Szymanowski’s style and aesthetic attitude are distinctly reflected in his rich legacy of beautifully crafted vocal works, embracing songs with piano or orchestral accompaniment and written as single compositions or cycles. Starting within the tradition of the Romantic Lied, Szymanowski went on to shape his individual idiom with songs inspired by the exoticism of the Orient in his middle period and – towards the end of his life – performed a spectacular about-turn leading to a stylisation of authentic folklore. Impulses stimulating his creative imagination came from various sources, as Szymanowski continued to work under the influence of general philosophical ideas and particular literary works. Poetry frequently became a means of communication that supplemented his musical expression, with poetical texts forming the basis of musical works and the aesthetic tastes of the composer, his system of values and his artistic motivations. An examination of the poetic motifs of the songs thus discloses numerous filiations between the musical style and cultural backdrop of the period in which Szymanowski’s creative personality took shape.
