Paul Pabst (1854-1897): Chopin/Pabst - Waltz in Db op.64 no.1 "Minute"

[gerardbedecarter]

Thanks for posting this fascinating [and fun] historical recording. btw Paul Pabst was the one who edited Tchaikowsky's first piano concerto to make it more playable [after Nikolai Rubinstein's celebrated outburst]!

[robshelrobshel]

A real treasure from the past. Thank you for posting!!! I have that Marston CD set - marvelous!!!

[camaysar222]

His playing reminds me a lot of Pachmann's performance (for example, the ending). Great sound for 1895. These posts are a very good advertisement for the cd's (attention Ward Marston). I will definitely get them. But "Marston" should be one of the tags!!

[Noshirm]

I've never heard a "Minute" Waltz quite like this. He is doing something different with the music. Could a pianist explain exactly what Pabst is doing to create the effects he does here? (O--O)

[KawhackitaRag]

I'm no expert... but it sounds like from 0:55 to 1:19 he's doing his paraphrase, which apparently consists of playing both the first theme and the third theme AT THE SAME TIME ! ! !

HOW does he DO that???

[Noshirm]

I am UNFORTUNATELY NOT a pianist, but just a really avid listener and lover of this music. BUT...I can copy this message to a friend who IS a pianist and ask about this. It is an intriguing question. Pabst really was a genius, wasn't he? It's just such a tragedy that he and so many others of the Russian school died so YOUNG. Leschetizky and Reinecke lived far longer, and were able to influence so many more pianists, I feel. All of your responses show genuine love and respect for Pabst's genius!

[KawhackitaRag]

OK, after listening to this several times in a row, I gotta quit, this guy is freaking me out too much; he sounds like two pianists! And his dynamics, touch, etc. are really marvelous, at least to my ear.

I'm goin' back to the woodshed for a while!

[Noshirm]

Stay out of the woodshed! We need your type here, listening and commenting intelligently on the music!!! (:-D) Have sent the question on let's see if I get the answer you seek!!! Best - N.

[pianopera]

Hello Noshir,

Yes he's playing the rapid first theme and the second one with the right hand, it can be done (using a lot the fifth finger to play the second theme and very clever pedaling), but it sounds quite complicated, maybe the left hand can help a little bit when it is not playing accompanying chords...it is a nice trick, but I don't think Chopin would be amused...

[d60944]

Also done in the Godowsky and Michalowski paraphrases of this same work incidentslly. I wonder who did it first though.

[Noshirm]

Could it have been Michalowski? He was some 19 years Godowsky's senior...I have been looking for the date of this composition, but have had no luck so far!

[KawhackitaRag]

The Michalowski paraphrase was apparently first published in 1924 by B. Rudzki in Warsaw. (at least that's what it says on the sheet music) and is different than this (although based on the same tune). I found this score on the website "Scribd".

Pabst's recording dates from 1895, for reference.

[Noshirm]

I really appreciate your dedication to this matter, and thanks for going to this trouble of locating the date for us all here! So Pabst's transcription may be the earliest - what about Godowsky's version? "New York: Carl Fischer: 1923." So Godowsky's version predates Michalowski's? Michalowski's technique was something else, too! He played with authority into old age. With teachers like Moscheles, Reinecke, and Mikuli, it is no surprise that Michalowski was so brilliantly equipped as a pianist!

[d60944]

MIchalowski may have only published the paraphrase in 1924, but he recorded it as early as 1905. There is no way of knowing when he actually came up with it!

[d60944]

In fact, I recently came across Rosenthal's etude based on this waltz as well. He too combines the themes in a similar way. His version was published in 1884 (precocous!)

[Noshirm]

Many, many thanks, Sir E. (:-D) I think this will answer KawhackitaRag's question perfectly!

[KawhackitaRag]

Thanks for the proposal as to how he did it. It is actually a very nice trick because he plays it so brilliantly that it does not hamper his dynamics or interpretation of the tune in the least.

I have no idea what Chopin would have thought; Liszt was a good friend of his, and Pabst was taught by Liszt himself. It's too bad there are no recordings of Chopin, but at the same time great that not everyone plays his music the exact same way!

[Noshirm]

Pabst was first taught by his father, August Pabst, an organist, violinist, pianist, and conductor in Dresden, and then by Anton Door - a Czerny pupil - at the Academy of Music and Lyric Arts in Vienna. He also spent some time with Liszt in Weimar. I agree with your take on the freshness of new interpretations of each piece...yet also wonder how the sublime aristocrat and purist in Chopin would have responded to such tweakings of his music! (;-D) His technique was incomparable - but never showy.

[Noshirm]

Check out pianopera's answer to your question. Also see d60944's comment. N.

[bourbakis]

Played with a strong sense of style. Haven't heard anything pre-1900 with this much clarity.

Thanks!

[artvirtue]

Thanks for sharing this precious legacy.