Szymanowski: Symphony No. 4, Mazurkas – Szymon Nehring

Karol Szymanowski is considered to be Poland’s greatest composer after Chopin. A contemporary of Bartók, Stravinsky, Scriabin and Ravel, his earlier works are of the late romantic style – Strauss, Reger and Rimsky Korsakov. Later he developed an impressionistic, oriental and partially atonal style which he later fused with folk music of his native land. The 4th and last of his symphonies is a 20th century take on the Sinfonia with a prominent piano part. His third ‘Song of the Night’ and fourth symphonies are masterpieces of the symphonic repertoire. Like Chopin, Szymanowski composed many mazurkas. His are based on the folk music of the Polish Highlanders, from the Tatra Mountain region.

Considered to be one of the most gifted and promising pianist of his generation in Poland, Szymon Nehring is the only Polish pianist to have won first prize at the Arthur Rubinstein International Piano Competition in Tel Aviv (2017). He was also a finalist at the Chopin Competition in Warsaw aged only 19.