The symphonic poem STANISLAW AND ANNA OSWIECIMOWIE was inspired by a painting by Stanisław Bergman, a student of the classic of Polish art of painting Jan Matejko (the canvas is currently housed in Krakow). The composer saw the painting when he was barely 16-years-old and it left an overwhelming impression on him. Stanisław Oświecim held an important office at the royal court. Because of his attachment to his sister Anna, he was accused of having undertaken a trip to the Rome to obtain permission from the Vatican to marry her. Permission was denied and Anna died of grief. The story of Stanisław and Anna Oświecimowie may be fictional, but in the late nineteenth century the Poles based on it the tragic romantic legend about the “Polish Romeo and Juliet”. The theme of tragic love is reproduced in other music works by Mieczysław Karłowicz. Apart from the romantic pathos of the times, the work is embedded in the composer’s personal experiences, his depressive temper and his loneliness. As a young man, he was extremely fond of his cousin Ludwika Śniadecka, and it is likely that this youthful passion had also played a significant part in Karłowicz’s desire to evoke the romantic theme of love as a state of misery. Beautiful and moving, the music of the symphonic poem recreating the dramatic narrative is a kind of message embodying the timelessness of great love.