Bortkiewicz, "Nocturne", Op. 58, No. 5 from the Yugoslav Suite

[rachfan]

Born in Kharkov, Ukraine in 1877, Sergei Bortkiewicz studied with Liadov and Arek at the Imperial Conservatory in St. Petersburg and in Leipzig with Reisenauer. He toured Europe as a performing artist and also taught at the Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory in Berlin.  He gave many master classes and also composed primarily for piano solo as well as composing four piano concertos. Bortkiewicz’s musical style is late romantic with stylistic links to Chopin, Liszt, Tchaikovsky and Wagner.

World War II brought severe hardships to Bortkiewicz and his wife then residing in Vienna.  Much of his sheet music was destroyed by the Allied bombings in Germany, thereby cutting off his income. His friend Hugo van Dalen, a Dutch touring artist, helped Bortkiewicz financially, and was an exponent of the composer’s music. Bortkiewicz also taught at the Vienna City Conservatory at that time. After the war Bortkiewicz tried to rebuild his status as a composer and pianist, but after his death in 1952, he and his music were all but forgotten. There is now a renaissance of his music.  

Very recently the Yugoslav Suite, Op. 58 composed in 1940--but lost for decades--was discovered in the Rahter publishing archive. From the suite I’ve drawn No. 5, “Nocturne”, and have made the first recording of this “new music”.  The piece is largely in E minor, however, the key of the coda becomes E major casting brilliant sunshine replacing an earlier dark mood.  

Comments welcome.

Piano: Baldwin Model L Artist Grand (6’3”) with lid fully open
Recorder: Roland R-44
Mics: Matched pair of Earthworks TC-20 small diaphragm, omni-directional condenser mics in A-B configuration

[outin]

Very beautiful, thank you!

[rachfan]

Hi outin,

Thank you for listening and commenting!

David

[elconquistador]

Wonderful! Love it!

[rachfan]

Hi elconquistador,

Thanks for pausing to listen to this piece.  It had been locked in a vault for 74 years, and saw daylight just a couple of weeks ago.  I felt honored to be able to make the first recording.  Glad you enjoyed hearing it!

David

[cabbynum]

What an honor!
Congrats! I have recently become a big fan of his music. It's always a bit trickier than you would expect! You are a very talented pianist, well done! I hope you get more recognition for this on here. I'll be sending the link to a friend of mine who loves Bortkiewicz!

Congrats again! And well done! I'll go listen to your other recordings now too!

[rachfan]

Hi cabbynum,

Thank you for your kind words, I really appreciate that!

Back around 2007 Bortkiewicz was all but forgotten and his music was obscure because so very little of it was still in print in standard-size scores.  So we had to print off his compositions at the IMSLP site in 8 1/2 x 12" format (and thank goodness they had most of them), and then squinted at the notes at the piano. At that time there were three pianists I know of who tried hard to raise awareness of this wonderful composer--Cyprien Katsaris, Koji Attwood and me (the amateur).  To me raising awareness felt like rolling huge boulders up a mountainous slope! Well, year by year pianists started to take notice, more recordings were made, the music gained more adherents over time, some of his scores were reprinted and circulated, and now more musicians and listeners are familiar with Bortkiewicz's name and music.  It was well worth the effort.  

Since then I also became an exponent of the music of the forgotten Russian composer Georgy Catoire whose music is also astonishingly beautiful.  Now more musicians are looking into and performing his music too.

You can find all of my recordings here at the Index to Audition Room which lists the composers in alphabetic order followed by the recordings of their music.  Mine are under rachfan.

I hope your friend will enjoy hearing this piece.

Thanks again for stopping by!

David    

[ted]

Your musical strength, one of them anyway, it seems to me, lies in a particular type of plaintive lyricism, embedded in an almost painful romantic nostalgia. Nobody ever seems to talk about a pianist's musical strengths, assuming that technical command somehow implies mastery of all modes of expression and emotion. It is not so; thousands of players with extreme physical ability have next to no idea of anything at the psychic level. I think it is largely formed from life experience, going back to childhood, and cannot be absorbed through ratiocination. So many pianists play notes, whereas you make music; that probably sums it up.

[rachfan]

Hi Ted,

That's a huge complement you give me here!  I have to admit that when it comes to Late Romantic music, I have a certain way of thinking about it.  In fact, I once put it on paper and was able to fish it out of my documents just now. I don't mind sharing it here, as it might explain my method and help others. Here it is:

My model or way of performing looks something like this:

Discovering composer's mindset -> characterization of the music -> forming an interpretation -> recognizing emotional content -> conjuring the image and emotion from life experiences or imagination -> formulating musical intent to convey the image and emotion -> execution of same through artistic playing.  

There must be a synergy between the objective and subjective aspects to effectively put the music across to the listener.  For me, sharing the image and its emotion through expressiveness is the sine qua non for playing the piano.  It means playing ultra-romantic music from the inside out, never from the outside in.

There it is!  Thanks again for your kind praise.

David

[carl_h]

Hi,

Very nice playing, as expected from you
I also very much like the music, I had heard the name before but never really listened to any of his compositions, you convinced me otherwise! So, thanks for that and I will also look in to this Catoire fellow. (They just could be right up my ally together with Rachmaninoff, Scriabin, Medtner and Lyadov)

In the summer I will make some recordings myself and I would like your feedback.

Grts,
Carl

[rachfan]

Hi carl_h,

I'm glad you liked this nocturne.  It's not easy to play, but worth the time preparing it.  In the Index here there are a lot of Bortkiewicz recordings.  Also, although I'm not gung-ho on doing sets, for Catoire I recorded three complete sets!  I really hold his music in very high regard.  Both are wonderful late romantic composers.  Bortkiewicz was in the late romantic mainstream, but Catoire was also more daring and sometimes could work with two or three different styles at the same time, such as mixing impressionism and expressionism simultaneously with a breathtaking effect.  You'll see what I mean when you hear his music.

I'd be glad to comment on your recordings.

Thanks for listening and for the nice kudos.

David

[awesom_o]

Beautiful, honest playing!

Thanks for posting. Bortkiewicz deserves more attention.

[rachfan]

Hi awesom_o

Thanks for that nice compliment on my rendition.  I appreciate it!  Yes, Bortkiewicz was a wonderful composer.  Over the years I've posted many recordings of his music.  I felt especially honored to be able to make this premier recording of the nocturne. Thanks for listening!

David

[gvans]

Hi David,

Thanks for introducing me to this composer. Wonderful piece, nicely played. It seems many of these late Romantics utilized that flowing left hand establishing harmony with the melody coming through via the right hand. Good job on the grace notes in that right hand and in setting up the Piccardy third at the end.

Glenn 

[rachfan]

Hi Glenn,

Yes, you're right.  The last three pieces I've played by Dohnanyi and Bortkiewicz have all had  busy left hand parts--moving passage work.  The essential requirements have been to properly balance the hands such that the volume of the melody in the right hand soars over a quieter left hand with its figuration forming the accompaniment.  The other requirement has been to ensure that polyrhythms be properly aligned between the hands.  Bottom line, the right hand has to sing like an operatic aria, but if there are fleeting moments when the beautiful polyphony of the left hand should be heard, then allowances have to be made.  At speed those grace notes you mention were sometimes a challenge to fit them in!  Yes, that sunny Picardie third, a favorite device of Bach, made the coda all the more luminous.  Of course this nocturne is a trifle, but also a gem.

Thanks for pausing here to listen to this music.

David 

[goldentone]

Hi David,

I enjoyed the background history you gave.

Being the first to bring this Bortkiewicz piece to light is something you'll carry with you.  You render it with sweet, beautiful expression.  That Picardy third is a master touch of Bortkiewicz that caps the piece, bringing the unrest to a soothing close.

[rachfan]

Hi goldentone,

Thanks for stopping by, listening and commenting on the piece.  I appreciate your kind words on my playing too.  Thanks again!

David