Cristian Măcelaru
Oslo Philharmonic Choir Karol Szymanowski
Sergei Prokofiev

Karol Szymanowski (1882–1937) traveled extensively and created an original tonal language, inspired by, among other things, Greek history, music from the Middle East, and travels in North Africa. In 1919, he settled in Warsaw and found new sources of inspiration in Polish folk music and older Polish church music.

After the death of his niece in 1925, Szymanowski spent a lot of time with his grieving sister. The lyrics in Stabat Mater describes Mary’s grief at Jesus’ cross, and based on a Polish version of the text, Szymanowski created one of the 20th century’s most distinctive choral works. The music expresses a rich spectrum of grief’s emotions, from despairing anger in the second movement to heartbreaking longing in the fourth movement, where the choir and soloists sing completely subdued without an orchestra.

A tribute to the greatness of the human spirit

After many years abroad, Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) moved back to the Soviet Union in the 1930s. Prokofiev wrote his Symphony No. 5 during the summer of 1944, and the premiere in Moscow in January 1945 coincided with a turning point in the Soviet war efforts. He himself describes the symphony as “a tribute to the greatness of the human spirit, in honor of the free and happy man”.

The music in Symphony No. 5 can sometimes be reminiscent of Prokofiev’s ballet music for Romeo and Juliet, but the symphony’s dimensions are even larger and more powerful, not least in the triumphant ending of the first movement. The symphony was a great success, and after the end of the war it triumphed in the West, where it marked the height of Prokofiev’s fame.