[en] Poland vanishes from European maps between 1795 and 1918, dismantled by the three powers that occupy its territory. Art assumes then a fundamental role in the preservation of national identity. Frederic Chopin is rapidly considered as the ideal of the artist, great and patriotic at the same time. Wishing to copy his exceptional impact, the next generation of composers nevertheless keeps from his work only the idea of folkloristic inspiration, rapidely established as a patriotic obligation. Some mediocre works are produced which hinder the real development of Polish music. At the cusp of the 19th and 20th centuries, it becomes necessary to free Polish music from this burden in order to re-establish a noble art. Among the composers who propose artistically interesting solutions is Karol Szymanowski. He analyzes the work of Chopin to conclude that what made him great was his modern language in range with that of his European contemporaries. The Polish inspiration alone is insufﬁcient to create a great art.One of Szymanowski's ideas is to summon European art in his works in order to put an end to the patriotic provincialism. The opera King Roger represents the principal artistic achievement in this area. The opera successfully combines elements of Sicilian history and architecture, Byzantine, oriental and archaic references in music, literary motifs from 19th and 20th centuries with a plot based on a Greek antic drama, The Bacchae of Euripides. This paper analyzes the scope of the material that Szymanowski borrows from Euripides in order to appreciate the important role of The Bacchae. But it's purpose is also to demonstrate that the Greek tragedy represents only one of the many sources that constitute the King Roger. The differences and deformation elements allow the integration of other elements, as importantly deformed, to obtain a modern work of great originality that is rich enough to improve Polish art's quality.

[fr] La disparition de l'État polonais entre 1795 et 1918 a eu pour conséquence de faire jouer à l'art un rôle fondamental dans la sauvegarde de l'identité nationale. De ce point de vue, Frédéric Chopin est une ﬁgure idéale. Cependant, la génération de compositeurs qui lui a succédé n'a retenu de son œuvre que sa composante strictement folklorique, devenue bientôt une obligation patriotique. Szymanowski est un des compositeurs qui s'efforce de trouver une issue musicale à cette situation. Étudiant l'œuvre de Chopin, il montre que sa force est dans sa nouveauté qui le place à l'égal des compositeurs européens. Des sources d'inspiration strictement polonaises sont insufﬁsantes pour créer un grand art.Une des idées de Szymanowski est de mobiliser l'art européen aﬁn de mettre un terme au " provincialisme patriotique ". Son opéra, le Roi Roger est sa principale réussite en ce domaine. L'opéra combine avec succès des éléments de l'histoire et de l'architecture de la Sicile, des références musicales byzantines, orientales, archaïques, des motifs littéraires des xixe et xxe siècles, et une intrigue s'inspirant d'une tragédie antique, les Bacchantes d'Euripide. L'article analyse la façon dont le compositeur s'est inspiré d'Euripide, tout en prenant des libertés par rapport à l'original. Cette façon de procéder permet l'intégration d'autres éléments, eux aussi déformés, ce qui produit une œuvre moderne originale qui contribue à l'afﬁrmation de l'art polonais.