3b) Harnasie - General information and its connection to the transcription for violin and piano 

The best known work written by Szymanowski in his last period was a ballet entitled Harnasie op.55 for tenor choir and orchestra. It consists of two tableaux (Na hali - In the mountain pasture, and W karczmie- In the tavern/inn ) built from a number of scenes.1 The characters of the ballet are well known, they do not have their own names and are simply called the “Girl” and the “Robber”. There is also another character, “as if symbolic of an old highland player playing old "tunes", so as if the embodiment of nostalgia for old times. He appears in every scene as Bartuś Obrochta always did(..)”2

In sum, the ballet Harnasie is the story of a Highland girl who falls in love with a Harnaś (Robber) on the high pastures. In the village she is supposed to marry a rich gazda.* Robbers kidnap her during the wedding and the piece ends with the happy lovers reunited.

The main characters are accompanied by their distinctive melodies: the girl's soaring violin motif, while the brigands' dance pulses with an aggressive rhythm.3

The first idea for composing this kind of work goes back to before Szymanowski’s Nationalistic period. He was inspired by other ballets of the time such as Firebird ,Rite of Spring and Petrushka by Stravinsky. After being in contact with the famous Russian Ballet of Sergei Diaghilev he began to write. In 1922 in Zakopane he was already collecting all the materials for his ballet. During his stay, together with writer Jerzy Mieczysław Rytard (1899-1970) and writer Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (1894- 1980), he discussed the script for Harnasie, which was later subjected to various changes due to the excessive difficulties of stage production. Szymanowski wanted to create something unusual, to have not only dance scenes, but also sung scenes in which he wanted to express his sentiment for Podhale.4

“In 1923 the wedding of Helena Gąsienica-Roj, a highlander friend of Szymanowski's, to Jerzy Mieczysław Rytard took place. Szymanowski was best-man and fulfilled all the duties connected with that function (...). At the Rytards' wedding the idea of a ballet finally crystallised. The Rytards took charge of the script, working out the composer's detailed plan.”5 In the end, the actual work on Harnasie lasted 8 years, and was finished in 1931. 

As the poet Jan Lechoń wrote of Harnasie “It is a masterpiece, strong and noble of its Polish qualities, drawing upon folklore without vulgarity, raising folklore to the rank of great art, just as Chopin did.”6

Szymanowski used folk material in Harnasie in three ways, by quoting the Highlander melodies in detail and basing parts or even whole ballet scenes on this material, by developing or transforming these quotations and lastly by drawing inspiration from folklore to create an entirely personal compositional language.7 

Firstly, let’s focus on quotations of whole melodies. This happens relatively often. Mostly, these musical citations appear in vocal parts both in the choir and solo singing. 

• In the beginning of the 3rd scene (which is Marsz Zbójnicki - Robbers March) the solo of tenor sings an old folk melody with the original text Hej idem w las, piórko mi sie migoce! The last “Hej” in this fragment is a long note with a grace note, again in my opinion reminiscent of the traditional shout that happens in the beginning or end of highland songs. The whole third scene is based on this traditional folk song. However, its use can be also seen in scene four (number 30, 31 and 34 in the score). Firstly played by viola, then together with violins and later by a trumpet and in scene eight.  (click for the examples)

• The opening of scene number 7 (Taniec góralski - Highlander dance), again by tenor solo, presents an original highlanders melody (example 3). I couldn’t find any original folk recording of it, but to compare, I present a melody from the book as recorded by Stanisław Mierczyński Muzyka Podhala. (click for the example)

• In the last scene- number 9, the famous tenor solo (which will be an important section for the violin -piano transcription of the piece) there is a citation of the song Powiydzze mi, powiydz do uska prawego (examples below)

• The second part of the same solo starting in bar number 635 is the same melody as found in Mierczyński's book Muzyka Podhala pp. 75 (examples below)

•  In scene 6c Pieśń siuhajów- Drinking song there is a citation of the folk song Jo za wodom, ty za wodom which has the same lyrics and the melody as the original (examples below)

• The choir part in the middle of scene 8 Napad Harnasiów. Taniec - Raid of the Harnasie. Dance. The dance is a melody to the lyrics of Spotkołek cię w lesie, widziołek cię w polu.8 (example on the right)

• The main melody of the choir from scene 6a - is a highlander folk melody which was noted in Szymanowski’s notebook as “Ela nuta” (Ela’s tune) which according to musicologist Adolf Chybiński means that it was a tune sung by Hela - Helena Rytardowa.9 (examples below)

The development or transformation of the quoted folk songs can be noticed already at the very beginning of Harnasie. The melody played by oboe is a Sabała tune, the one we already have seen in other pieces mentioned in previous chapters. This Sabała tune is actually very similar to the original melody, however its sophistication and beauty, which manifests itself in the harmony and rhythm, reigns over the original melody. Interestingly enough, at the end of the first tableaux, the last solo is played by the violin and is once again a Sabała tune.  

Some other examples of a transformed Sabała tune appear throughout the ballet, for instance in the last movement Epilogue - 3 and 5 bars after rehearsal number 99 and 3 bars after rehearsal number 100. In the final of the first tableaux Taniec zbójnicki - Robbers Dance the first played melody is a developed and slightly transformed version of W murowanej piwnicy (examples). 

Something that can be pointed out after a deeper analysis of Harnasie is the fact that in the vocal parts (choir or solo voice) Szymanowski uses different kinds of Podhale songs each time they appear in the ballet. Whereas in the instrumental parts he uses all kinds of Podhale "tunes" (traditionally played by bands). 

The closest approximation to folk music can be found in the scene Taniec góralski (Highlanders dance). In it, Szymanowski makes direct reference to the style of a highlander band (kapela). The orchestra was used to bring out the sound of just such a band. The diversity of the large orchestra makes it possible to develop certain features of the highland dance, such as its soloistic and lively character.10

Dance from Harnasie for violin and piano is a transcription of fragments of scenes No. 9 and 8 of the ballet. It was made by the composer together with Paweł Kochański. Szymanowski wrote about making the transcription in Zuoz in a letter to J. Iwaszkiewicz on 10 August 1931: "I even worked a little with Paweł and we made two excellent transcriptions"11 (one of them is Harnasie).

According to musicologist Paul Cadrin and Stephen Downes: “The techniques used in the transcription are in their origin, however their implementation is unique as well as colour- oriented and highly idiomatic.”12 It is interesting that the use of different registers, especially on the E string, was meant to create a singing, dreamy and soaring effect, that was closely connected with the performence style of Kochański.13 In the transcription of Harnasie, the violin part uses various techniques that give great effect to the music such as octaves with continuous trills, left hand pizzicatos, glissandos, left-hand tremolos in double stops and harmonics.14 Probably the reason for the composer to enrich the transcription and add these effects was to make it as similar as possible to the original version. Surely, it is no small task to transform a piece for a large symphony orchestra and choir into violin and piano work.

When one looks at the score for violin and piano, the first thing one notices is that the order of the movements is swapped compared to the ballet. The transcription starts with the tenor solo from the last scene : Epilogue  Powiydzze mi, powiydz do uska prawego, and after this comes the fast part, which is scene 8 in the original ballet score. 

Why would Szymanowski and Kochański change the order of the movements? Why leave out this beautiful and peaceful ending in favour of a brilliant, virtuoso part? Musically, it makes sense both ways. However, if one knows the original libretto of the ballet, then, it is strange that scene 9 is followed by scene 8, where Harnasie kidnap the bride. There is general anger and confusion in the inn. 

Scene number 9, on the other hand, is so serene. It is a combination of the singing of the Harnaś in love and a fiddle player heard in the distance. 

Therefore, the link between the ballet and the transcription with regard to dramaturgy is broken by this order.

However, if we consider the music without the plot, the chosen order of the transcription emphasises violinistic virtuosity. The work begins with a lyrical cantilena, which works beautifully on the violin, and is followed by a display and demonstration of technical virtuosity which when played well can draw a great deal of audience admiration.

With regard to the choices made in the transcription, the general recurring pattern is that the violin part in the transcription is taken almost entirely from the violin part, the choir or the vocal soloist in the ballet score. In the piano part, however, one can see a manifestation of wind instruments, piano or low string instruments, such as cello and double bass. The piano only sometimes imitates the upper strings, mostly when the violin is already playing the vocal part. Once again we see a clear relationship between the violin and the voice. A link between these two 'instruments' appears in almost every violin piece. It is my view that this is crucial for better understanding the role of the violin in Szymanowski’s compositions. This concept will be further developed in the subsequent chapter called the 3d)Approaching Harnasie and other violin pieces by Szymanowski.