Godowsky piano works

pseudonym58

Here's a link to some piano works by Leopold Godowsky, with which I was previously unfamiliar. Some of them remind me a bit of Rachmaninov, some Scriabin, etc, and are effectively performed on this recording. Sorry if I'm the "last one to the party", so to speak, but perhaps there are other people who have never heard this music?

BartK

Godowsky is most well known for his impossibly difficult arrangements of the Chopin etudes (because the original ones are way too easy of course 😁).

kanadajin

BartK Pianist Marc-André Hamelin made an exemplary recording of these complete Etudes re-written by Godowski. I do admire deeply the technique that one must possess to tackle these, quite a major feat! This being said, I am not a big fan of the reworked version as it leaves me a little cold and detached, although certainly admirable from a dexterity perspective.

pseudonym58

Yes, to judge by that first arrangement, it sounds a bit prolix, or needlessly ornate.

Jane

He also wrote some charming “simple” pieces, such as this
https://ks15.imslp.org/files/imglnks/usimg/3/3d/IMSLP168874-SIBLEY1802.17953.3eff-39087008681415score.pdf