Karłowicz's music is of a late
Romantic character. He was a great admirer of
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky whose
Symphony No. 6 he praised. Tchaikovsky's influence can be heard in Karłowicz's earlier works, most notably the E minor symphony and the Violin Concerto. Like most of the late Romantics he also fell under the considerable influence of
Richard Wagner, especially with Tristan und Isolde. Nevertheless, he managed to develop an original musical language expressed in harmony and orchestration, the latter of which he mastered like few other composers and wrote some of the most colourful orchestral music ever found. [according to whom?]
Among his works are a
Symphony in E minor (Rebirth, Op. 7), a Violin Concerto in A major (Op. 8), incidental music to a play The White Dove, and six
tone poems, which include The Returning Waves, Eternal Songs, Lithuanian Rhapsody, Stanisław i Anna Oświecimowie, Smutna opowieść, and Epizod na maskaradzie. The Violin Concerto was written for and dedicated to his former teacher
Stanisław Barcewicz, who premiered the work under Karłowicz's baton in Berlin on 21 March 1903 with the
Berlin Philharmonic.[2]
He also wrote a number of songs for voice and piano, setting words by
Kazimierz Przerwa-Tetmajer,
Adam Asnyk, and others. Much of the rest of his small output was lost during
World War II. Karłowicz spent much of his later life in
Zakopane in southern Poland, often enjoying one of his favorite hobbies,
photography, in the nearby mountain scenery. Karłowicz died at the age of 32 in an
avalanche while
skiing on an excursion in the
Tatra Mountains in 1909.[3] He was buried at
Warsaw's
Powązki Cemetery.
The
Szczecin Philharmonic bears the name of Mieczysław Karłowicz as a recognition of the composer's musical legacy.
Henryk Anders, Mieczysław Karłowicz. Życie i dokonania, Poznań, ABOS, 1998.
Wightman, Alistair. Karłowicz, Young Poland and the Musical Fin-de-siècle, Aldershot, Ashgate, 1996; Polish translation by Ewa Gabryś, Karłowicz. Młoda Polska i muzyczny fin de siècle, Kraków, PWM, 1996 (Monografie Popularne).
Violin Concerto and Serenade,
Ilya Kaler, Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Antoni Wit - (CD) Naxos8.572274
Violin Concerto,
Nigel Kennedy, Polish Chamber Orchestra, Jacek Kaspszyk - (cd) EMI Records
Violin Concerto and Serenade for Strings (Kaja Danczowska, Polish Radio and TV Orchestra of Krakow, Antoni Wit) - (CD)
Le Chant du Monde CDM LDC 278 1088
Symphony "Rebirth", Serenade for Strings, and Prologue from Music for The White Dove - BBC Philharmonic,
Gianandrea Noseda - (CD) Chandos Records CHAN 10171
Młodzieńcze utwory instrumentalne [Early instrumental compositions] (2CDs) Katowice: Państwowa Szkoła Muzyczna im. M. Karłowicza w Katowicach, 2006 (PSM CD001, PSM CD002)
Violin Concerto in A major Op.8 - Piotr Plawner (violin), Zielona Gora Philharmonic Orchestra / Czeslaw Grabovski conductor (CD) DUX Records, DUX0540, recorded December 2005, released 2006