Mieczysław Karłowicz - Episode at a Masquerade, Op. 14 (1908/13)

Epizod na maskaradzie (Episode at a Masquerade), Op. 14 (1908, unfinished; completed by Grzegorz Fitelberg in 1913) The last symphonic poem by Polish composer Mieczysław Karłowicz (1876-1909). The content of the programme is uncertain. According to certain sources, the tone poem depicts an encounter between former lovers at a boisterous, hectic masked ball; others have suggested that the work is based on Ivan Turgenev’s short story “Three Meetings“, in which the narrator meets a woman who is very disturbed by the sight of a former lover at a ball. Grzegorz Fitelberg (1879-1953), the composer and conductor who completed the piece which was left unfinished at Karłowicz’s death, believed that the key to the programme of the symphonic poem lies in a fragment of text found in Karłowicz’s sketch: “SHE (aloud): I do not know you ... (undertone) Go! ... What is passed will not return ... Do you hear? Go - Forget! ...“ Conductor: Gi