Karol Szymanowski: Songs (Polish and German)

So Lit Song Lit

Karol Szymanowski was a notable Polish composer, with a vast repertoire of song literature in many languages. His musical styles span from late German Romanticism to impressionistic and atonal, and can be a great introduction to singing atonal music!

With many thanks to Mark Trawka at the Pittsburgh Opera for his help with Polish Diction!

To clarify one point in the podcast, the Hafisliebeslieder, Op. 24, were originally poems by the 14th century Persian poet Hafiz of Shiraz. Szymanowski set the paraphrased German translation created by Hans Bethge, so German is the appropriate language for this set.

For purchase information, click on each individual song.

Recordings featured in this episode, performed by Toni Marie Palmertree, soprano, Zachary Dean Smith, tenor, and Ellen Rissinger, pianist:

• Op 7 No 1 Łabędź (The Swan)
• Op 20 No 1 Na księżycu czarnym (To the Dark Moon)
• Op 24 No 3 Die Brennenden Tulpen
• Op 24 No 6 Trauriger Frühling
• Op 48 Berceuse No. 3
• Vocalise (note: this is from a complete edition of works. It may be preferable to look for this piece through Inter-Library Loan)

Recorded at Morningstar Studios in Norristown, PA.

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So Lit Song Lit is a production of Cincinnati Song Initiative. You can learn more about their network of podcasts at cincinnatisonginitiative.org/podcasts.

You can follow Ellen and The Diction Police on Facebook and at www.dictionpolice.com.

You can follow Toni Marie on Facebook at Toni Marie Palmertree, soprano and Instagram @ToniMariePalmertree

You can find out more about Zach on his website, https://www.zacharydeansmith.com/

This episode is sponsored by Carnegie Mellon University. Learn more about CMU and apply today.