Szymanowski: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 4

Although Szymanowski later dubbed his First Symphony a “contrapuntal-harmonic-orchestral monster” and disavowed the influence of Wagner, Reger and Richard Strauss (also evident in the opulent Concert Overture), it is an astonishingly powerful work by a composer only in his mid-20s and still enthralls a century after its première. He described his Fourth Symphony as “nearly a concerto” owing to the piano’s prominent rôle, its highly-charged Neo-baroque character inviting comparison with Stravinsky. The Naxos recordings of 8570724, Szymanowski’s Stabat Mater, is nominated in the Choral catagory of the BBC Music Awards 2009.