Symphonic concert: Lenten concert | Karol Szymanowski | Stabat Mater

Symphony No. 4 in B major was composed in 1806, during a particularly intense period in the work of Ludwig van Beethoven. Placed between the monumental Symphonies III and V, it remained in their shadow for a long time, although its character is decidedly different. Instead of dramatic conflict and heroic gesture, Beethoven proposes music full of lightness, humor and subtle contrasts. The symphony opens with an extremely extended, slow introduction, the dark, ambiguous atmosphere of which for a moment seems to foreshadow a work with a serious, even sinister tone. However, the voltage is quickly discharged by the full

Allegro energy, based on short motifs and rhythmic vitality. In the following parts, Beethoven uses classical forms with great freedom, filling them with his characteristic motivational work. Adagio is distinguished by a regular, almost mechanically recurring rhythm, against the background of which a wide, singing melody develops. The third part, referred to as the Menuetto, has more energy in it than traditional court dance and foreshadows the way Beethoven would develop the scherzo in later symphonies. The finale, on the other hand, returns to lightness and humor, based on extremely moving figuration and abrupt changes

dynamics. Symphony No. 4 shows the artist from a different angle than his most dramatic works: instead of monumentality, we find precision, wit and extraordinary control over musical time. Its apparent lightness hides at the same time a very artistic construction, in which the smallest motifs become the material for an extensive musical process.

Stabat Mater, composed by Karol Szymanowski in the years 1925-1926, occupies a special place in his oeuvre. It was created during the period of stylistic breakthrough, when the composer turned more and more intensively to Polish folk tradition and ancient religious music. Szymanowski replaced the Latin text of the medieval sequence Stabat Mater dolorosa with an Old Polish translation by Józef Jankowski, thanks to which the work acquired a universal dimension, and at the same time deeply rooted in the native culture. Instead of a monumental oratory, the composer proposes a focused and intimate architecture, in which the economy of textural means builds a poignant mood. A particularly important role is played by the choir, whose sound recalls the simplicity of the old liturgical chant, while the solo parts appear as individual voices in the face of community expression. Szymanowski consciously uses modalities, archaic melodic phrases and rhythmics associated with the music of Podhale and Kurpia. However, traditional motifs do not perform the function of ordinary quotations here — they become an integral part of modern harmonic language. The six parts of the work create a coherent dramaturgy, leading from the contemplation of suffering through the successive stages of the text to the prayerful

silencing. At the same time, the combination of severity and lyricism is moving: next to fragments of high emotional intensity, extremely simple, even ascetic places appear. Stabat Mater is one of the most important examples of the search for new Polish religious music — rooted in tradition but speaking the language of the 20th century.