The Godowsky Collection Vol. 1 [CF:ATF122]

Leopold Godowsky (1870-1938) was one of the most celebrated pianists from the great age of the piano virtuoso that stretched from the middle of the 19th Century to the deaths of Vladimir Horowitz and Sviatoslav Richter. His transcriptions and arrangements, often elaborate and ornamental, have survived the changing winds of fashion, but it is only recently that his own original music has begun to receive the attention it deserves. With the release of this volume, Carl Fischer launches the first collected edition of Leopold Godowsky's Piano works. Volume one concentrates on original material and features Godowsky's monumental hour-long, Sonata in E Minor (1911). This five-movement work is a virtual encyclopedia of piano technique and demonstrates the composer's compositional prowess and intimate familiarity with the music of Chopin, Brahms and MacDowell. Also included are three collections of shorter pieces, Walzermasken, 24 Character Pieces in Triple Meter (1912), Triakontameron, Thirty Moods and Scenes in Triple Meter (1919), Java Suite (1925) and the monumental Passacaglia (1928). As with each volume in the series, The Godowsky Collection, Vol. 1 has a critical/historical introduction by Dr. Milan Sachania.