Karol Szymanowski composed his "Romantic Waltz" for piano to mark the 25th anniversary of Universal Edition, a Vienna publishing house which had published almost every single work of his from 1912.
Karol Szymanowski composed his Romantic Waltz for piano in 1925, to mark the 25th anniversary of Universal Edition, a Vienna publishing house which had published almost every single work of his from 1912. Although dedicated to Emil Hertzka, the director of Universal Edition, Romantic Waltz was never published nor included in Szymanowski's opus works. Indeed, it was not until 1967 that Teresa Chylińska found the manuscript, which for many years had been believed lost. Later that year the work was published by the Polskie Wydawnictwo Muzyczne and was first performed, by Regina Smendzianka, in Warsaw on 6th November. Since then it has been included in the repertoires of, among others, Andrzej Stefański, Jerzy Godziszewski and Gabriela Szendzielorz.
Romantic Waltz employs, in a unique way, a range of musical ideas and themes, both lyrical, characteristic of the mazurkas as well as grotesque, playful, dramatic and passionate to produce a variety of moods. Particularly outstanding is the harmony with sharp and often dissonant chords.
Author: Anna Iwanicka-Nijakowska, September 2007.