At the end of his life, just before a recital by Artur Rubinstein, Szymanowski told the pianist that he wanted a seat where he could be invisible. In a sense he has been sitting there ever since, though there have been signs in recent years that his uniqueness as a composer is increasingly recognized. The poverty of indigenous Polish traditions did indeed force him to look outside his homeland, and in some respects his development can be viewed as a series of responses—some muted, some not so muted—to German, French and Eastern European styles respectively. Yet the best of his music transcends these influences, forging a highly personal sound world characterised by an intensely expressive mystical fervour—rich, opulent and exotic.