Studies on the Etudes by F. Chopin (Godowsky)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Godowsky (1915)

The studies on the etudes by F. Chopin are piano pieces by Leopold Godowski. They prove Jeremy Nicholas ' insight that Godowsky was a “pianist for pianists”. The studies of the etudes by Frédéric Chopin are adaptations of Chopin's etudes by Leopold Godowsky (1870–1938), which serve primarily to explore and expand the possibilities of piano technology. The one-sided emphasis on the technical in Godowsky is, however, a reversal of Chopin's intentions, who in the etudes does not treat the technical element as an end in itself, but always puts it at the service of the musical statement. Godowsky's methods include interchanging the left and right hand parts (for example in the etude of thirds). Due to the new, unfamiliar tasks, this places a high level of demands on the gaming machine, especially the left hand, which often leads to the limit of resilience. Another method is to merge two etudes (e.g. Opus 10 No. 5 with Opus 25 No. 9) to form a new piece. In addition to the technical problems, this leads to new sound results that no longer have anything to do with Chopin's intentions and degenerate into pure artistry. The technical difficulties are great and represent an increase compared to those of Chopin's etudes.

purpose

Additional studies for op. 10.1

Godowsky writes in his (German) introduction to the five-volume edition of Robert Lienau Musikverlag :

“The 53 studies, which are based on 26 Chopin Etudes, have a threefold purpose: to enrich the mechanical, technical and musical possibilities of piano playing, to further develop the peculiar nature of the instrument, which is accessible to polyphonic, polyrhythmic and polydynamic work, and the To increase the possibilities of tonal coloring. The extraordinary mental and physical demands that the work places on the player will necessarily lead him to a higher level of perfection in mastering the instrument; On the other hand, the piano composer will also find all sorts of suggestions for technical and musical forms of expression for the piano in general. It should not go unmentioned that with the numerous contrapuntal new ideas, which often take up the entire keyboard, the fingering and pedal designations sometimes assume the semblance of subversity, especially in the 22 studies for the left hand alone.
The preliminary exercises, which are included in several studies, are very conducive to a mechanical mastery of the piano. They can be used as preparatory studies for the adaptations as well as for the original studies. The 53 Chopin Studies are suitable for concert use as well as for private study. "

- Leopold Godowsky

To op.10

No. 1 in C major

op.10.1
  1. C major, diatonic, dedicated to Theodor Leschetizky
  2. D flat major, for the left hand alone

No. 2, A minor

  1. A minor, for the left hand alone
  2. A minor, Ignis fatuus , dedicated to Moritz Rosenthal

No. 3 in E major

op.10.3
  1. D flat major, for the left hand alone

No. 4, C sharp minor

  1. c sharp minor, left hand

No. 5, G flat major

  1. G flat major, black keys, dedicated to Albert Friedenthal
  2. C major, white keys, dedicated to Willy Rehberg
  3. A minor, Tarantella , white keys, dedicated to Ernesto Consolo
  4. A major, capriccio , white and black keys
  5. G flat major, inversion, left hand, black keys
  6. G flat major, inversion, right hand, black keys
  7. G flat major, left hand

No. 6, E flat minor

op.10.6
  1. E flat minor, left hand

No. 7 in C major

  1. Dedicated to C major, Toccata , Franz Kullak
  2. G flat major, Nocturne , dedicated to Arthur Friedheim
  3. E flat major, left hand, dedicated to Hans von Schiller ; "Relatively uncomplicated transfer"

No. 8 in F major

  1. F major, dedicated to Teresa Carreño
  2. G flat major, left hand, dedicated to William L. Hubbard

No. 9 in F minor

  1. c sharp minor
  2. F minor, at the same time imitation of op. 25.2, "wonderful, completely unusual piece"
  3. F sharp minor, left hand

No. 10, A flat major

  1. D major
  2. A flat major, left hand

No. 11 in E flat major

  1. A major, left hand, dedicated to Maurice Aronson ; "Diabolically difficult voice guidance"

No. 12, C minor

  1. c sharp minor, left hand, dedicated to Paul Wittgenstein

To op.25

No. 1, A flat major

Godowsky's “four-handed” arrangement of op. 25,1
  1. A flat major, left hand, dedicated to William Mason
  2. A flat major, like four hands
  3. A flat major

No. 2, F minor

"Terrible unwieldiness"
1. F minor, dedicated to Vladimir von Pachmann
2. Dedicated to F minor, Valse , Józef Hofmann
3. F minor, two versions, dedicated to Hugo Kaun
a) right hand
b) Octave triplets on the right, enchanting voice leading in eighths on the left
4th F sharp minor, left hand (1914)

No. 3 in F major

  1. F major, dedicated to Louis Breitner
  2. F major, left hand

No. 4, A minor

  1. A minor, left hand, dedicated to Eduard Risler
  2. F minor, polonaise

No. 5, E minor

  1. E minor, dedicated to Ernst Lochbrunner
  2. C sharp minor, Mazurka , dedicated to Ernst Eduard Taubert
  3. B minor, left hand

No. 6, G sharp minor

  1. G sharp minor, study of thirds, Camille Saint-Saëns , perhaps also dedicated to Vladimir von Pachmann

No. 7, C sharp minor

no editing

No. 8, D flat major

  1. D flat major, study of the sixths, dedicated to Ignacy Jan Paderewski

No. 9, G flat major

  1. E flat major
  2. G flat major, left hand

No. 10, B minor

  1. B minor, left hand

No. 11, A minor

  1. A minor, dedicated to Stefan Thomán

No. 12, C minor

  1. c sharp minor, left hand

To the Trois Nouvelles Études

  • F minor
  1. F minor, left hand
  • A flat major
  1. E major, "a true miracle"
  2. G flat major, left hand
  • D flat major
  1. G major, menuetto

Associations

  • op.10.5 and op.25.9 , G flat major, Badinage , dedicated to Mr. and Mrs. Landeker
  • op.10.11 and op.25.3, F major

Recordings

As recently as the late 1970s, few of the studies had ever started. The first sound recording is the C sharp minor version of the “Revolutionary Etude” for the left hand with Wladimir von Pachmann (1912). The next were ten studies with David Saperton , Godowsky's son-in-law (1940). The metal plate was used for cartridge cases and destroyed by the Radio Corporation of America . Twelve years later, Saperton resumed the same program (with an eleventh study). One of Godowsky's and Saperton's students, Jorge Bolet , began his contract with the Decca label L'Oiseau-Lyre in 1977 with an all-Chopin-Godowsky LP containing seven etudes, along with Godowsky transcriptions of Chopin waltzes. Bolet also played some of the etudes in concert. The British pianist Ian Hobson made 18 etudes with a CD in 1985. The first complete recording is due to the Australian Geoffrey Douglas Madge (1989). This was followed by Carlo Grante (1993-1998) and Marc-André Hamelin (1999). Francesco Libetta publicly performed all studies in Milan in 1993 and 1994.

See also

literature

  • Steve Donald Jones: Essay on Leopold Godowsky's 53 Studies on Chopin's Etudes. Phil. Diss., University of Iowa, 1978.
  • Jeremy Nicholas : Godowsky - a pianist for pianists. A biography of Leopold Godowsky , with a foreword by Jorge Bolet , translated from English by Ludwig Madlener. STACCATO-Verlag, Düsseldorf 2012. ISBN 978-3-932976-50-6 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Steve Donald Jones: Essay on Leopold Godowsky's 53 Studies on Chopin's Etudes. Phil. Dissertation, University of Iowa, 1978.
  2. ↑ Marc-André Hamelin (YouTube)
  3. ↑ a b c d e Marc-André Hamelin in the booklet accompanying the Hamelin CD (2000)
  4. ↑ Ivan Ilić (YouTube)
  5. ↑ Aronson was to Godowsky what Julian Fontana was to Chopin (Jeremy Nicholas)
  6. ↑ Recorded by Wladimir von Pachmann in 1912.
  7. ↑ Ivan Ilić (YouTube)
  8. ↑ Ivan Ilić (YouTube)
  9. ↑ David Saperton (YouTube)
  10. ↑ István Thomán (English WP)
  11. ↑ Ivan Ilić
  12. ↑ Marc-André Hamelin (YouTube)
  13. ↑ Jeremy Nicholas in the booklet accompanying the Hamelin CD (2000)