ATMA - THE KAROL SZYMANOWSKI MUSEUM

Since 1976, the villa on Kasprus St. in Zakopane is the location of the Karol Szymanowski Museum. Built toward the end of the 19th Century by Jozef Karpus Stoch as a boarding house, it began as a one floor structure. In 1926 it has a second storey was added resulting in a seven room, two apartment building. The name of the building dates from the 1920s and derives from Sanskrit (alma = soul). Until 1930 it was leased as a boarding house. In the years 1930-1936, Atma was rented by Karol Szymanowski who composed here the third act of his Harnasie ballet, the Fourth Symphony, and the Second Violin Concerto. After WWII it was used a residence by its owners and renters. In 1972, on the initiative of Warsaw journalists Zdzislaw Sierpinski and Jerzy Waldorff it was purchased via a public collection. In 1974 it donated to the National Museum in Krakow which created on this location the Karol Szymanowski Museum.

Interior of Atma, fot. P.MurzynThe museum, which opened on March 6th, 1976, is a biographical museum. The concept of creating such a museum was proposed in 19937 by Michal Kondracki who had been a student of Szymanowski.

Atma - interior, fot. P.MurzynThe Museum is located on the first floor of the villa. Mounted textual and photographic materials inform about the life of the composer and his contacts with Zakopane and the folklore of Poland. Also exhibited are personal effects and a his reconstructed atelier.

Szymanowski' death mask, fot. P.MurzynIn addition to providing information, the Museum also seeks to popularize Szymanowski's compositons by staging concerts, musical auditions, sale of recordings, printed music and publication on musical and Zakopane topics. The Museum had contributed significantly to Zakopane's renewed musical life in, initiating the creation of the Szymanowski Musical Association, starting a cycle of monthly cameral concert "Evenings at the Atma" and participating in the oraganization of the annual Szymanowski Music Days.

Maciej Pinkwart the founding curator of the Musem, continues in that position.

This is an English language version of a Polish language webpage posted by maciej@pinkwart.pl