Pan Szymanowski On Universal Art And Universal Culture

"Let all streams springing from universal art mingle freely with ours; may they impregnate, differentiate and transform it in accordance with its particular attributes. We ought not to lose organic connection with universal culture, because it is only on such a plane that a truly great, living art, including nationalistic music, can flourish."

Karol Szymanowski, ‘On Contemporary Musical Opinion in Poland’ (1920), in Alistair Wightman (trans. and ed.), Szymanowski on Music (London: Toccata Press, 1999), p. 93.









The Tabula Rogeriana, an ancient world map drawn by Muhammad al-Idrisi for Roger II of Sicily in 1154 C.E.

[Click on map for enlargement.]

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Roger II died at Palermo on 26 February 1154, and was buried in the Cathedral of Palermo. Roger II's elaborate coronation cloak, later used by the Holy Roman Emperors, is now in the Imperial Treasury (Schatzkammer) in Vienna. Roger is the subject of King Roger, a 1926 opera by the Polish composer Karol Szymanowski.

Image credit: Bibliotheque nationale de France (MSO Arabe 2221) via Wikipedia. With thanks.