Karol Szymanowski - Symphony No. 3, Op. 27, "Song of the Night"

Karol Szymanowski (1882 - 1937) - Symphony No. 3, Op. 27, "Pieśń o nocy" (Song of the Night) (1914 - 1916)

Moderato assai [0:00]
Vivace scherzando [8:07]
Largo [16:15]

Ryszard Minkiewicz, tenor
Warsaw Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra, Antoni Wit (2007)

Karol Szymanowski's Symphony No. 3 was composed in 1914 to 1916 after a period spent traveling in Eastern Europe. The symphony sets a poem by 13th-century Persian mystic Jalal ad-Din Rumi, translated to Polish by Tadeusz Miciński. The work is in three sections and typically lasts around 25 minutes.

"Melody plays an important part in this work, and Szymanowski exhibits great inventiveness in this area – above all in the widely stretched violin phrases in high registers, flowing imaginatively and filled with strong emotion, their interval structure (similar to Songs of Hafiz) possibly bringing associations with some original ephemeral scales which do not stabilise; of greater importance, however, are certain distinctive and recurring motifs. These melodies – exceptionally beautiful, each one different, lyrically songful and new in structure – are contrasted with others – simpler, compact and forceful phrases made up of a few notes; through habit we perceive them tonally and attempt to refer mentally to a particular tonality which, however, does not reveal itself; what is heard instead is the repetition of certain recurrent, sparse-sounding motifs, which creates an individual expressive effect.

The novelty of the style of Symphony No. 3, apart from the level of expression, manifests itself above all in the timbral layer. Szymanowski turns out here to be the master of extraordinarily subtle and sophisticated orchestral colouring, which in its daring often goes beyond the ideas of Ravel and Stravinsky; some 'fantastic' timbral effects (such as accumulations of glissandi) constituted at that time a new idea.

The form of the work is original and far from traditional conventions. It is not a typical symphony, made up of separate movements, but a free, vocal-orchestral poem. In it, one can distinguish three different parts, although they are not indicated as such in the score; in each case they are only separated by a prolonged pause. These three individually structured fragments fulfill different functions in relation to the literary subject, imposed by Rumi’s text.

Part I, which uses the first seven verses of the poem (to the words 'The hero this night is Your Spirit') is the introduction, preparing for and encouraging participation in the mysterium. The second part, without a text (apart from the orchestra the choir sings without words), functions as lively and expressively contrasting intermezzos. The finale, beginning with the words 'Oh how silently the others sleep' (and thus making use of the majority of the full text), is the act of the mysterium itself, and brings the musical and expressive climax of the work.

Symphony No. 3 'Song of the Night' is original not only in representing Szymanowski’s new style. It is an exceptional work without any counterparts in its unique concept, shape and character, its particular expression and timbral aura, and the nature and the quality of the experience enclosed in music. It is, one might say, a composition which cannot be repeated, a 'one off', in the same way as – in spite of their totally different style and spirit – Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring or Schönberg’s Pierrot lunaire."

Here is the text:
"Pieśń o nocy"
O, nie śpij, druhu, nocy tej!
Tyś jest Duch, a myśmy chorzy nocy tej!
Odpęź z oczu Twoich sen!
Tajemnica się rozwidni nocy tej!
Tyś jest Jowisz na niebiosach,
wśród gwiazd krążysz firmament, nocy tej!
And otchłanie orła pędź!
Bohaterem jest Twój Duch nocy tej!

Jak cicho, inni śpią…
Ja i Bóg jesteśmy sami nocy tej!
Jaki szum! Wschodzi szczęście,
prawda skrzydłem opromienia nocy tej!
Nie śpij, druhu!
Gdybym przespał aż do ranka,
jużbym nigdy nie odzyskał nocy tej!
Targowiska już ucichły,
patrz na rynek gwiezdnych dróg nocy tej!
Lew i Orion,
Andromeda i Merkury krwawo lśsni nocy tej.
Wpływ złowieszczy miota Saturn,
Wenus płynie w złotym dżdżu nocy tej!
Zamilknięciem wiąże język,
lecz ja mówię bez języka nocy tej!

"Song of the Night"
Do not sleep, O friend, through this night!
You, a soul, while we suffer through this night!
Ban slumber from your eyes!
Revealed is the great secret in this night!
You are God in the high heaven,
Round the starry vault of heaven you go round in this night!
Like an eagle soar above!
Now is your soul tonight a hero!

So quiet, others sleep…
I and God together, alone in this night!
What sound! Joy rises,
Truth with shining wing shines in this night!
Roads on earth are silent,
There see the starry paths of this night!
Leo, Orion,
Andromeda and Mercury gleam blood-red through this night.
Saturn binds with fated powers,
Venus swims in golden rain through this night!
Silence chains my tongue,
But I speak, though without a tongue, in this night!

(source: karolszymanowski.pl, Chandos)

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