In
1894 I saw in manuscript some remarkable versions of the Chopin
Studies by Leopold Godowsky. The study in G sharp minor was the
first one published and played in public by this young pianist
Unlike the Brahms derangements, they are musical but immensely
difficult. Topsy-turvied as are the figures, a Chopin, even if
lop-sided, hovers about, sometimes with eye-brows uplifted,
sometimes with angry, knitted forehead and not seldom amused to
the point of smiling. You see his narrow shoulders, shrugged in
the Polish fashion as he examines the study in double-thirds
transposed to the left hand! Curiously enough this transcription,
difficult as it is, does not tax the fingers as much as a
bedevilment of the A minor, op. 25, No. 4, which is extremely
difficult, demanding color discrimination and individuality of
finger.
More breath-catching, and a piece at which one must cry out:
"Hats off, gentlemen! A tornado!" is the caprice called
"Badinage." But if it is meant to badinage, it is no sport for
the pianist of everyday technical attainments.
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