 In the Russian imperial capital, she composed for the court, gave concerts, taught music, and ran an influential salon.Her compositions—largely piano pieces, songs, and other small chamber works, as well as the first piano concert etudes and nocturnes in Poland—typify the "" of the era preceding Frédéric Chopin.She was the mother of Celina Szymanowska, who married the Polish Romantic poet Adam Mickiewicz.