ABSTRACT
In 1914, Szymanowski undertook his most extensive expedition yet, travelling as far afield as Italy, Sicily, North Africa, Paris and London before deteriorating political conditions forced him to return to the Ukraine. Before leaving for the south, however, he spent some weeks in Zakopane, during which time he was unwittingly involved in the mysterious circumstances surrounding the suicide of Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz's fiancée, Jadwiga Janczewska. Although the accounts left by observers indicate that Szymanowski was in no way to blame, his relationship with Witkiewicz was sundered for several years, and even after they came to terms, continued to remain ambiguous and ill-defined. This distressing episode, and the fascinating history of Szymanowski's travels in general, can effectively be told, without further comment, through the surviving correspondence and accounts of friends and observers.
