Karol Szymanowski was one of the few composers who showed openness to other cultures and saw music as a universal language. His way of thinking can be seen in the works he composed all his life. We were interested in where his inspiration came from and which international influences have appeared in his piano works. Szymanowski’s idea of connecting European cultures caused a lot of criticism and rejection. We initially found the reason for this in Poland’s history, as the country had fought for its existence for a long time before the First World War and had been trying to form its own musical identity. However, the final realization of these goals eventually had the opposite effect. People held tightly to tradition and were not yet ready for any changes. The combination of different factors has made Szymanowski avoid Polish folk music and its standards for quite some time. With the help of Gustav Neuhaus, he first came into contact with German art in general. Through following travels and visits to concerts, he became even more drawn to German music, which allowed him to discover new and diverse compositional techniques. In this master's thesis, we have analyzed all of his piano works and concluded that, despite international influences, he developed his own compositional style and created pieces of emotional interpretation and technical complexity. In his later works, he also turned to folk music, which began to shine in a totally new light, bringing back nostalgia for traditional forms.
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