Leopold Godowsky (Leopold Godowski) (February 13, 1870–November 21, 1938), was a famed Polish-American pianist, composer, and teacher. Events 1258 - Baghdad falls to the Mongols, and the Abbasid Caliphate is destroyed Year 1870 ( MDCCCLXX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 164 BC - Judas Maccabaeus, son of Mattathias of the Hasmonean family restores the Temple in Jerusalem. Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland The United States of America —commonly referred to as the He has sometimes been described as the "Pianist of Pianists".
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Life
Godowsky was born to Jewish parents in Sozły, near Vilna, in what was then Russian territory but is now part of Lithuania. PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ The Russian Empire ( Pre-reform Russian: Pоссійская Имперія Modern Russian: Российская Империя translit: Rossiyskaya Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania (Lietuvos Respublika is a Country in Eastern often referred to as Northern Europe or in the He considered himself of Polish heritage. He became a naturalised American. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the He is therefore now considered to be "Polish-American. "
As a child, he received some lessons in basic piano playing and music theory; at age fourteen, he entered the Königliche Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, where he studied under Ernst Rudorff, but left after three months. Ernst Friedrich Karl Rudorff ( January 18, 1840 – December 31, 1916) was a German Composer and music teacher Otherwise, he was self-taught.
His career as a concert pianist, which eventually took him to every inhabited continent except Australia, began at age ten. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. In 1886, after a tour of North America, he returned to Europe, intending to study with Franz Liszt in Weimar. Year 1886 ( MDCCCLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Weimar (ˈvaɪmaʁ is a City in Germany. It is located in the Bundesland of Thuringia (Thüringen north of the Thüringer Wald, Upon learning of Liszt's death shortly after his return, he traveled instead to Paris, where he was befriended by the composer and pianist Camille Saint-Saëns, who enabled him to make the acquaintance of many leading French musicians. Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (/ʃaʁl kamij sɛ̃sɑ̃s/ (9 October 1835 &ndash 16 December 1921 was a French Composer, Organist, conductor, and Saint-Saëns even proposed to adopt Godowsky if he would take his surname, an offer which Godowsky declined, much to the older man's displeasure.
Godowsky's pedagogical activity began in 1890 at the New York College of Music. Year 1890 ( MDCCCXC) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common While in New York, he married Frieda Saxe and the next day became an American citizen. The City of New York In 1894 he moved to the Broad Street Conservatory in Philadelphia, and again in 1895 to the Chicago Conservatory, where he headed the piano department. Year 1894 ( MDCCCXCIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Philadelphia (ˌfɪləˈdɛlfiə Year 1895 ( MDCCCXCV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Jan Smeterlin, Issay Dobrowen and Heinrich Neuhaus are among Godowsky's prominent students. Jan Smeterlin ( 7 February, 1892 in Bielsko, Austro-Hungarian Empire – 18 January, 1967 in London) was a Polish WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Issay Alexandrovich Dobrowen (Исай Александрович Добровейн Heinrich Gustavovich Neuhaus (Генрих Густавович Нейгауз Genrikh Gustavovič Nejgauz; &ndash Moscow, October 10, 1964
A successful European concert tour in 1900 landed him once again in Berlin, where he divided his time between performing and teaching. Year 1900 ( MCM) was an exceptional Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar From 1909 to 1914 he taught master classes at the Vienna Academy of Music (Konservatorium Wien). Year 1909 ( MCMIX) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Year 1914 ( MCMXIV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year The Konservatorium Wien is a music conservatory in Vienna, Austria. The outbreak of World War I drove him back to New York, where his home was frequented by many distinguished performers and celebrities of that day. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Sergei Rachmaninoff, a particular friend, dedicated his Polka de W. WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section --> Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff (Сергей Васильевич Рахманинов R. to him.
Godowsky also recorded a large number of Ampico piano rolls.
Godowsky was also a close friend of Albert Einstein. Albert Einstein ( German: ˈalbɐt ˈaɪ̯nʃtaɪ̯n; English: ˈælbɝt ˈaɪnstaɪn (14 March 1879 – 18 April 1955 was a German -born theoretical Some anecdotes about this as well as humorous anecdotes on his life can be found at [1]. In 1902, he was initiated as an honorary member of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the national fraternity for men in music, at the Combs College of Music in Philadelphia. Phi Mu Alpha (ΦΜΑ Sinfonia is a collegiate social fraternity for men with an interest in music
After the war, Godowsky resumed touring, but a stroke he suffered June 17, 1930, during a recording session in London, put an end to his public performances, and made it impossible for him to recoup the considerable financial loss he had suffered in the Stock Market Crash of 1929. Events 1462 - Vlad III the Impaler attempts to assassinate Mehmed II ( The Night Attack) forcing him to retreat Year 1930 ( MCMXXX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display 1930 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as the ’29 Crash, the Crash of 1929, the Great Crash of 1929, the Great Crash of October 1929 The only surviving recording from that historic session, unfortunately in very poor sound, is a rendition of the Scherzo No. 4, Op. 54 by Chopin, which can be found in a 3-CD set devoted to Godowsky issued by Marston Records.
Family and final years
The suicide of his younger son in 1932 and the death of his wife in 1933, combined with his despair over the deteriorating political situation in Europe (his plans for a "World Synod of Music and Musicians" and an "International Master Institute of Music" came to nothing), cast an even deeper shadow over his last years, and he stopped composing. Year 1932 ( MCMXXXII) was a Leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. Year 1933 ( MCMXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. He died of stomach cancer in New York on November 21, 1938. Events 164 BC - Judas Maccabaeus, son of Mattathias of the Hasmonean family restores the Temple in Jerusalem. Year 1938 ( MCMXXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.
He was survived by his son Leopold Godowsky, Jr., the co-inventor (with Leopold Mannes) of color photography, as well as a violinist. Leopold Godowsky Jr ( May 27 1900 - February 18 1983) was an American violinist and chemist who together with Leopold Mannes Leopold Damrosch Mannes ( December 26, 1899 – August 11, 1964) was an American musician born in New York City, who together Leopold Jr. married George Gershwin's younger sister, Frances, thus continuing the musical line. George Gershwin (September 26 1898 &ndash July 11 1937 was an American Composer. Frances "Frankie" Gershwin ( December 26, 1906, Manhattan New York - January 18, 1999) was the younger sister of George
He was also survived by his daughter, the actress Dagmar Godowsky (1896-1975), who during the 1920s appeared as a co-lead in various Hollywood silent movies, including with Rudolph Valentino. Dagmar Godowsky ( November 24, 1897 - February 13, 1975) was an American Silent film actress born to Polish parents Year 1896 ( MDCCCXCVI) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar (or a Leap year Year 1975 ( MCMLXXV) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The 1920s is sometimes referred to as the " Jazz Age " or the " Roaring Twenties " when speaking about the United States and Canada Rudolph Valentino ( May 6, 1895 &ndash August 23, 1926) was an Italian Actor, Sex symbol, and early She was a notorious vamp, a popular socialite, and wrote a humorous autobiography First Person Plural (New York 1958).
Compositions
As a composer, Godowsky has been best known for his paraphrases of piano pieces by other composers, which he enhanced with ingenious contrapuntal devices and rich chromatic harmonies. His most famous work in this genre are the 53 Studies on Chopin's Etudes, in which he varies the already challenging originals by: introducing countermelodies; transferring the technically difficult passages from the right hand to the left; transcribing the entire etude for left hand solo; or interweaving two etudes, with the left hand playing one and the right hand the other (as impossible as this seems). The Studies on Chopin's Etudes, by Leopold Godowsky, is a set of 53 arrangements of Chopin's Études, (there are actually 54 with the opus 25 no An étude (a French word meaning study) is an instrumental Musical composition, most commonly of considerable difficulty usually designed to provide practice These are so taxing, even for virtuosi, that only three pianists have ventured to record the entire set: Geoffrey Douglas Madge, Carlo Grante and Marc-André Hamelin. Geoffrey Douglas Madge (born 3 October, 1941) is an Australian classical Pianist. Marc-André Hamelin, OC, CQ, (born September 5, 1961) is a French-Canadian Pianist and Composer. Italian pianist Francesco Libetta has performed the complete études in concert and is to make a video recording of the set.
Godowsky also transcribed for the piano two sonatas and one partita for solo violin, and three suites for solo cello by Johann Sebastian Bach, while highly embellishing them by the addition of complementary voices in contrapuntal manner. The violin is a bowed String instrument with four strings usually tuned in Perfect fifths It is the smallest and highest-pitched member The violoncello (abbreviated to cello, or 'cello, plural cellos or celli —the c is tʃ WikipediaWikiProject Composers#Lead section.2 This article is written in British English including maximised use of "-ise" These have been recorded by Carlo Grante and Konstantin Scherbakov. Konstantin Scherbakov (* 1963 in Barnaul, Siberia) is a Russian Pianist.
The Piano Sonata in E minor, the Passacaglia, and Triakontameron are amongst other works of Godowsky that have become more well-known of recent times. The Passacaglia is based on a theme from Franz Schubert's Unfinished Symphony and has acquired a reputation for extreme difficulty. A passacaglia is a short usually slow and often grave musical work in any metre Franz Schubert 's Symphony No 8 in B minor, commonly known as the Unfinished (Unvollendete was started in 1822 but left with only (Vladimir Horowitz famously gave up on it, stating that it would require not 2 but 6 hands to perform. Vladimir Samoylovich Horowitz (ולדימיר הורוביץ Владимир Самойлович Горовиц Vladimir Samojlovič Gorovits; Володимир Самійлович However, Horowitz was not a fan of Godowsky's work in general, and the reality is that there are more technically challenging works in the concert repertoire. ) The Passacaglia has been recorded by Carlo Grante, Marc-André Hamelin (twice), Rian de Waal, Ian Hobson, Antti Siirala, David Stanhope and Konstantin Scherbakov, among others. Marc-André Hamelin, OC, CQ, (born September 5, 1961) is a French-Canadian Pianist and Composer. Konstantin Scherbakov (* 1963 in Barnaul, Siberia) is a Russian Pianist.
External links
- Godowsky, site created by Erica Schulman Kane
- Leopold Godowsky, site created by Jonathan Edward Mann
- Leopold Godowsky Collection - Manuscripts at the Eastman School of Music
- Leopold Godowski was listed in the International Music Score Library Project
Recordings
- Kunst der Fuge: Leopold Godowsky - MIDI files
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