There are a number of composers whose styles have changed significantly during the course of their lives, Beethoven or Stravinsky, for instance; Szymanowski is another.
Moving from a late Romantic vocabulary, through Debussy, Scriabin – a dalliance with lush im/ex/pressionism and ending with a fascination with Polish folk music.
Two works from that opulent middle period, his Stabat Mater and First Violin Concerto:
Szymanowski: Stabat Mater, Op. 53
1. Stała Matka bolejąca
(Stabat mater dolorosa): 0:00
2. I któż widział tak cierpiącą
(Quis est homo qui non fleret): 7:49
3. O Matko Źródło Wszechmiłości
(O, Eia, Mater, fons amoris): 10:54
4. Spraw niech płaczę z Tobą razem
(Fac me tecum pie flere): 15:49
5. Panno słodka racz mozołem
(Virgo virginum praeclara): 19:38
6. Chrystus niech mi będzie grodem
(Christe, cum sit hinc exire): 22:53
English translation:
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Szymanowski: Violin Concerto No. 1, Op. 35
All the birds pay tribute to me
for today I wed a goddess.
And now we stand by the lake in crimson blossom
in flowing tears of joy, with rapture and fear,
burning in amorous conflagration.
Tadeusz Micinski (1873-1918): May Night
This is the poem which, it’s said, inspired the work – it certainly explains the wonderful twittering with which the piece begins. The concerto is in one movement.
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Pantygwydr!
The Art of Listening 