Godowsky - Passacaglia on Schubert's "Unfinished" Symphony (Part 2/2)

Passacaglia, 44 variations, cadenza and fugue on the opening theme of Schubert's 'Unfinished' Symphony (1927)

Marc-Andre Hamelin writes:

"Although Godowsky's extraordinary Passacaglia has had a number of performances in the last couple of decades, it will be some time before it is recognized for what it is. Some of its daunting reputation stems from an unfortunate and rather silly remark that Vladimir Horowitz once made. A look at the score reveals that, although admittedly greatly demanding, the work is certainly not out of reach pianistically, and more pianists should be encouraged to discover this noble and majestic creation. The range of invention displayed throughout this weighty and reverential tribute is enormous. Godowsky employs a good variety of textures and harmonic activity, as well as some very imaginative counterpoints The composer Kaikhosru Sorabji thought enough of the Passacaglia to write that it deserved a place alongside a work such as Regers Bach Variations, Op 81, even stating that Godowskys opus 'far surpasses [Regers] in sustained pianistic interest and variety of treatment.'"

According to Jeremy Nicholas:

"Schuberts theme remains intact save for the addition of an anacrustic F sharp which facilitates elision between the variations. During the course of these, Godowsky takes the opportunity to pay tribute to several other composers. There is an acknowledgement of Bachs great Passacaglia in C minor in Godowskys choice of this ancient form, and another to Brahms and the passacaglia in his Fourth Symphony. The writing has stylistic references to Brahms himself (variations 31-35, 38, 39), Chopin (9, 27), Rachmaninov (19, 20, 24) and others—Scarlatti, Ravel, Richard Strauss—including a reference to Schuberts Erlkönig in variation 37. The music is dominated by a mood of dark, anguished brooding, reflecting Godowskys pessimistic state of mind at the time. In [a letter] written a few weeks after the Passacaglia's completion he confided:

'I am constantly in a state of depression. I really think there is no purpose that we, mortals, can find in our being here and having all those terrifying puzzling things around us and about us. Why? Wherefore? What do even the sublimest efforts of mortal geniuses amount to in the scheme of Cosmic phenomena?' "

Category:

Music

Tags:

• godowsky
• schubert
• unfinished
• symphony
• busoni
• reger
• brahms
• rachmaninov

[EIDOSeidos]

Anyone notice the allusion to 'Erlkonig' around minute 1:40?  Just curious.

[eethove]

I love a good passacaglia : )

If anyone is good at composition, I have always wanted to hear exactly such a passacaglia on the opening theme of Clara Schumann's piano concerto. That particular one is harsh and heavy, but leaves so much beauty to the imagination...

[hgw0601]

Wer den Erlkönig nicht erkannt hat in der Passacaglia, muss taub sein oder Schubert für nen DJ aus Australien halten :)

[FlyingBlackAndWhite]

really intense. didn't like the cadenza though.

[playpianolikewoah]

That's funny.  at 4:15 it says "cadenza"... The whole thing is one giant cadenza.

[Alexjr1543]

Seriously, I think the allusion to Erlkonig made this twice as awesome.

[Geisterschiff]

The allusion on the Erlkonig made me jump on my seat!!! Godowsky was such a master that he could play with with everything with perfect nonchalance and mastery...Amazing, no words to describe one of the most (if not the greatest) Passacaglias ever written!

[forgottenbooks]

* I mean the multiple overlapping melodies, the relatively calm tones, and the transposing of the ostinato to a major key.

[forgottenbooks]

I think the fugue in essence is very much like the fugue in Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor BWV 582. Any opinions?

[forgottenbooks]

Look at all the voices... O.O

[Gibson29]

@AndrewFinch1 I agree with some of the things you say here in regards to Hamelin recording Busoni. Obviously Busoni made more contributions to composing than Cziffra did, but they were all masters of their arts and deserve to be shown respect for what they accomplished, in my opinion.

[AndrewFinch1]

@Gibson29 What an awful thing to do, to compare Busoni as a composer to Godowsky and Cziffra. There is more music in Busoni's 2nd piano sonatina than there is in the entire corpus of Godowsky's work. But Hamelin won't record any more Busoni because other more interesting pianists have already made many such recordings, and he can't distinguish himself technically from those players. And his Busoni Piano Concerto was grey, boring, and flabby.