Blumenfeld - Etude Op. 3 No. 1

Etude in D-flat major Op. 3 No. 1

Felix Blumenfeld (1863-1931) was a highly respected Russian conductor, piano virtuoso, and modest composer of a decidedly Romantic inclination. He studied composition with Rimsky-Korsakov at St. Petersburg, teaching piano there until the turmoil of the October Revolution forced him to leave the city in 1918. He stayed briefly in Kiev and then moved to Moscow where he taught piano until his death. Blumenfeld is barely mentioned except in relation to Vladimir Horowitz, who was his greatest pupil. However, Blumenfeld was also an important conductor, bringing about first Russian performances of Wagner's Tristan and even Scriabin's Poem of Ecstasy.

Except for the more famous Etude for the left hand Op. 36, Blumenfeld's piano compositions are never played. In his early period, he began as a disciple of The Five and assimilated Chopin and Liszt. But in the early 20th-century, he continued to evolve and branched off into his own virtuosic and lyrical style, one that is best comparable to Rachmaninov and early Scriabin.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• felix
• blumenfeld
• rachmaninov
• chopin
• liszt

[MagicDonDino]

Beautiful!! very lovely!

THANKS!

[GaryPansey]

Thank you, Hexameron, we greatly appreciate your hard work making these important videos.

[newFranzFerencLiszt]

pianist D. Blumenthal

[BalletBabyBoy]

How I love romantic piano music. So many wonderful pieces that lie neglected! 

[cedricrlongreen]

This would be fun to play. It's like playing the last part of Ravel's "Jeux d'eau" but the whole time. Really nice sound

[mkeysou812]

Reminds me a lot of Thalberg

[123coolmik]

@fhood try IMSLP

[telsarowe]

A truly marvelous piece. Kudos to YouTube for offering a medium for musical exploration like this. What a find. My life could have otherwise went by without me discovering Blumenfeld.

To the person below that said they played this at a recital do you have any tips for how to play this? An I am assuming you played it solo correct?

[addeex1]

@paopaomanalansan Hopefully it stays that way...

[PublicLibraryx]

@ch252525 Hes not really that well known but he is well known for his etude for the left hand piece apparently.

[paopaomanalansan]

Wow, no dislikes for this vid!

[krimi69]

just glorious..