Szymanowski wrote the first version of his cantata Demeter Op. 37 bis, known also as Persephone, in August 1917. It was intended for voice and piano, but after 1920 he set out to add a choir part and orchestrate the piano part. He completed the final version in Dukszty near Wilno in August 1924, and the first performance of the work took place at the Warsaw Philharmonic on 17th April 1931 with Maria Karnicka in the solo part and Grzegorz Fitelberg conducting.
An extended song as far as the form is concerned, this short and charming work belongs to the current of Szymanowski's music which was delineated by Love Songs of Hafiz Op. 26 and Symphony No. 3 'Song of the Night' Op. 27. Setting a mythological poem by Szymanowski's sister Zofia, Demeter's four short stanzas express the feelings of the eponymous goddess of agriculture and harvest, wandering the earth, looking for her daughter Persephone whom Hades, enamoured with her, has abducted and taken to the underworld. Szymanowski conveys the feelings of the mother bewailing the loss of her child with music which is restrained and lyrical, mostly piano and slow in tempo. What comes to the fore is colour, observable predominantly in the diverse and shimmering orchestra part with its references to Impressionism and its light and volatile texture. The choir, too, has a clearly "painting" role, its part including bits sung without words, with pursed lips or making the a sound.
Although not one of the best known Szymanowski works, the cantata Demeter has been rather popular with musicians, and some brilliant performances have been recorded. One ought to mention the ones by Halina Łukomska and the Cracow Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra under Andrzej Markowski; Krystyna Szostek-Radkowa and the Great Symphony Orchestra of the Polish Radio and Television under Stanisław Wisłocki (released first as an LP, then as a CD by Polskie Nagrania); Jadwiga Gadulanka and the same orchestra under Antoni Wit (two releases by EMI); Anna Malewicz-Madey and the Silesian Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra under Karol Stryja (Marco Polo); and Jadwiga Rappé and the Choir and National Orchestra of the Polish Radio under Antoni Wit (DUX).
Author: Anna Iwanicka-Nijakowska, September 2007.