Maria Szymanowska owed her career – unusual for that time – to hard personal work in order to develop her own talents and to iron willpower for the attainment of her goal: a life which would fulfil her desires and creative ambitions.
Since she was very young, she had received the necessary encouragement and support from her close friends and relatives: her parents who held an artistic salon in Warsaw; her brothers and sisters who helped her to organise and carry out her concert tours, by relieving her of some of her maternal duties; numerous friends and eminent people who showed her respect and provided effective backing.
When Maria Szymanowska had herself acquired some fame, she started in her turn to promote and support several artists that she knew and esteemed, notably by giving them letters of recommendation. She performed their works, set their poems to music, allowed portraits to be done.
One cannot help imagining a sort of “network” that she may have set up, which helped to overcome obstacles. She doubtless dreamed – like Beethoven - of new music and a greater unity among men. She was a practical woman, obliged – by her personal and professional situation - to ‘negotiate’ well and channel her vital energy.
A closer analysis of the characters and ideas in her environment will certainly allow a better understanding of who she was and what we really owe to her...