Godowsky - The Star Spangled Banner

[andhow04]

Godowsky first set part of the US national anthem in 'Requiem:1914-1918,' a short piece (he called a threnody) from Triakontameron, or Thirty Pieces in Triple Meter. He only set the last verse, coming as a surprise major-key coda to a minor-key funeral march: 'O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave...'
sometime later, not sure when, he made a complete concert version of the anthem. I'm not aware of any other composer who made such a terrific concert version of their country's, adopted or otherwise, national anthem. you can find versions of this by Rachmaninoff and Hofmann, but Godowsky by far is the most involved and personal. i love this and have played it more than three dozen times in concert - in my experience, professional pianists hate it and audiences love it. i don't care either way, because i love it!

[dogperson]

Thanks so much for posting-- I'm with you; I love this version

[furtwaengler]

I'm a pianist and I love it. Absolutely. In fact I've always thought of Godowsky as a pianist's pianist, so it's strange that pianists would dislike it. But again may a say this is a treasure. Godowsky is one of my favorite composers to study and it's great to discover this exists.

[themeandvariation]

I think your playing is wonderful, but i don't find much innovation in Godowsky's treatment - a few interesting chords, and the deep bass (not a big leap to 'figure in').
As far as anthems go (though, perhaps not exactly nat'l) i love the Horowitz' arrangement of 'stars and stripes' - (being his offering at the advent of his citizenship)

[mjames]

....do americans really stand up whenever they hear someone play the national anthem? lmao

Nice playing as usual buddy

[clouseau]

Very nice, big sound!

and Godowsky's harmonic tweaking is adorable! Though it is supposed to be a "serious" piece invoking patriotic feelings, i find Godowskys approach quite humorous at some points (especially the contrapuntal melodies)