Symphony No. 1 (Szymanowski) Explained

Polish composer Karol Szymanowski worked on his Symphony No. 1 in F minor Op. 15 between 1906 and 1907.

Szymanowski struggled with the composition. He wrote in a letter from 1906 that it was going to "turn out to be some sort of contrapuntal-harmonic-orchestral monster"^[1] and going so far as to say "I don't like it".^[2] He only completed the first movement and the finale and these two movements had a single performance at the Warsaw Philharmonia, conducted by Grzegorz Fitelberg on 26 March 1909, before Szymanowski withdrew the score.

The symphony is scored for 3 flutes, 3 oboes, 4 clarinets, 3 bassoons, 6 horns, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, tuba, percussion (4 players), 2 harps and strings.

The two movements are:

1. Allegro moderato
2. Allegretto con moto grazioso

The playing time is approximately 20 minutes.

Recordings

• Chandos - BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Edward Gardner
• LSO Live - London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Valery Gergiev
• Naxos - Polish State Philharmonic Orchestra (Katowice), conducted by Karol Stryja
• Naxos - Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Antoni Wit

Notes and References

1. Web site: Symphony No. 1 in F minor op. 15. karolszymanowski.pl. 14 April 2019.
2. Web site: LSO Szymanowski: Symphony no.1. onpolishmusic.com. Thomas. Adrian. 14 April 2019.