Moritz Moszkowski | |
|---|---|
 Moritz Moszkowski, c. 1880 | |
| Background information | |
| Born | (1854-08-23)23 August 1854 |
| Died | 4 March 1925(1925-03-04) (aged 70) |
| Genres | Classical,Romantic era |
| Occupation(s) | Pianist,composer |
| Instrument | Piano |
Moritz Moszkowski (23 August 1854 – 4 March 1925) was a German-Polishcomposer,pianist, and teacher.[1][n 1][2] His brotherAlexander Moszkowski was a famous writer and satirist in Berlin.
Ignacy Paderewski said: "AfterChopin, Moszkowski best understands how to write for the piano, and his writing embraces the whole gamut of piano technique." Although less known today, Moszkowski was well respected and popular during the late nineteenth century.
He was born inBreslau,Kingdom of Prussia (now Wrocław,Poland), into a wealthy Polish-Jewish family whose parents had come to Breslau fromPilica, nearZawiercie, in 1854. He was an ardent Jew at a time when many Jews downplayed their Jewishness.[3] He showed early talent while very young, beginning his musical training at home until 1865, when his family moved toDresden. There he continued his piano studies at the conservatory. He moved toBerlin in 1869 to continue his studies first at theJulius Stern Conservatory, where he studied piano withEduard Franck and composition withFriedrich Kiel, and then atTheodor Kullak'sNeue Akademie der Tonkunst, where he studied composition withRichard Wüerst and orchestration withHeinrich Dorn. There he became close friends with the Scharwenka brothers,Xaver andPhilipp. In 1871 he accepted Kullak's offer to become a teacher in his academy; as he was also a more than competent violinist, he sometimes played first violin in the orchestra.[citation needed]
In 1873, Moszkowski made his first successful appearance as a pianist, and soon began touring the nearby cities in order to gain experience and establish his reputation. Two years later he was already playing his piano concerto on two pianos withFranz Liszt at a matinée before a selected audience invited by Liszt himself.[4][n 2]
Retaining his post as a teacher at theBerlin conservatory from 1875,[n 3] he had among his pupilsFrank Damrosch,Joaquín Nin,Ernest Schelling,Joaquín Turina,Carl Lachmund,Bernhard Pollack, Ernst Jonas, Wilhelm Sachs, Helene von Schack, Albert Ulrich and Johanna Wenzel. Moszkowski then travelled successfully throughout Europe with the reputation of being an exceptional concert pianist and brilliant composer, having also gained some recognition as a conductor. In 1884, Moszkowski married the younger sister of pianist and composerCécile Chaminade, Henriette Chaminade, with whom he had a son named Marcel and a daughter named Sylvia.[5] By the mid-1880s, Moszkowski began suffering from a neurological problem in his arm and gradually diminished his recital activity in favor of composing, teaching and conducting.[5]
In 1887, he was invited toLondon where he had the chance to introduce many of his orchestral pieces. There he was awarded honorary membership of theRoyal Philharmonic Society. Three years later his wife left him for the poetLudwig Fulda and a divorce was issued two years later.[5]
In 1897, famous and wealthy, Moszkowski moved toParis,[6] where he lived on rue Nouvelle with his son and daughter.[7] In 1906, he lost his 17-year-old daughter Sylvia while his son was engaged in the French army. In Paris, he was frequently sought after as a teacher, and was always generous in investing his time on aspiring musicians. Among his Parisian students wereVlado Perlemuter,Thomas Beecham (who took private lessons in orchestration with him on the advice ofAndré Messager in 1904),Josef Hofmann (of whom he claimed once that there was nothing anyone could teach him),Wanda Landowska, and, informally,Gaby Casadesus. In the summer he rented a villa nearMontigny-sur-Loing owned by the French novelist and poetHenri Murger.[3]
In 1899, theBerlin Academy elected him a member. He was many times invited by piano manufacturers to appear in theUnited States to show off their pianos, but despite being offered massive fees, he always refused.[3]
In 1908, by the age of 54, Moszkowski had already become a recluse as he began to suffer from poor health. His popularity began to fade and his career slowly went into decline. He stopped taking composition pupils because "they wanted to write like artistic madmen such asScriabin,Schoenberg,Debussy,Satie ...".[5]
His last years he spent in poverty for he had sold all his copyrights and invested the whole lot in German, Polish and Russian bonds and securities, which were rendered worthless on the outbreak of the war. Two of his former pupils, Josef Hofmann and Bernhard Pollack, came to his aid. Through the intervention of Pollack, who sent new piano arrangements of Moszkowski's operaBoabdil toPeters Publishing House inLeipzig, he collected an extra 10,000francs camouflaged as royalties besides a gift of 10,000marks and personal donations of 10,000 marks from Hofmann and 5,000 marks from himself.[5] On 21 December 1921, when he was ill and heavily in debt, his friends and admirers arranged a grand testimonial concert on his behalf atCarnegie Hall, involving 15 grand pianos on stage.Ossip Gabrilowitsch,Percy Grainger,Josef Lhévinne,Elly Ney,Wilhelm Backhaus andHarold Bauer were among the performers, andFrank Damrosch conducted (Paderewski telegrammed his apologies).[n 4] The concert nettedUS$13,275 (the equivalent of US$187,793.67 in May 2017), with one part transferred to the Paris branch of theNational City Bank of New York in order to provide immediate relief from his financial problems, and an annuity purchased at theMetropolitan Life Insurance Company, whereby he would receive US$1,250 annually for the rest of his life.[5][n 5]
However, Moszkowski's illness lingered and he died from stomach cancer on 4 March 1925, before the supply of funds could reach him. The money raised went instead to pay his funeral expenses and to his wife and son.[citation needed]
Despite the balance and bright limpidity of his playing and his wonderful technique, which aroused the enthusiasm of admirers throughout Europe, his music has also been described as "devoid of the masculine and the feminine".[3] He was a master in his pianistic repertoire, but it was in his own compositions that he was more admired.[n 6] His music rapidly became a sensation, but he also had legitimate success in major works for the stage and the concert hall.
Moszkowski was quite prolific, composing over two hundred small-scale piano pieces, which brought him much popularity – notably his set ofSpanish DancesOp. 12, for piano duet (later arranged for solo piano, and for orchestra byPhilipp Scharwenka).[n 7]
His earlySerenade, Op. 15, was world-famous and appeared in many guises, including the songLiebe, kleine Nachtigall. Today he is probably best known for his fifteenÉtudes de Virtuosité, Op. 72, which have been performed by virtuoso pianists such asVladimir Horowitz andMarc-André Hamelin.Ilana Vered made the first complete recording in 1970. Many of his small but brilliant piano pieces, such asÉtincelles (Sparks), are used as encore performances at the end of classical concerts.
He also wrote larger scale works including two piano concertos (one in B minor, Op. 3, in 1874, only rediscovered in 2011 and published in 2013, and the much better knownConcerto in E major, Op. 59, from 1898), aViolin Concerto in C major, Op. 30, three orchestralsuites (Opp. 39, 47, 79), and a symphonic poemJeanne d'Arc, Op. 19. His operaBoabdil der letzte Maurenkönig, Op. 49, on the historical theme of the capture of Granada, premiered at theBerlin Court Opera on 21 April 1892,[8] and appeared in Prague and New York City the following year. It did not stay in the repertoire, but its ballet music was very popular for a number of years. He wrote the three-act balletLaurin, which premiered in Berlin in 1896.[9]
Ilana Vered made the first complete recording of Moszkowski'sÉtudes de Virtuosité, Op. 72, in 1970.
Seta Tanyel recorded three volumes of Moszkowski's solo piano works from 1993 to 1998, issued concurrently on Hyperion/Helios records and Collins Classics.
Ian Hobson released the first volume of a projected complete traversal of Moskowski's solo piano music, on Toccata Classics. Vol. 1 was released in 2021. Concurrently, Toccata Classics has released recordings of Moskowski's orchestral works and piano concerti.
The Piano Concerto in E major was first recorded byMichael Ponti, and more recently byPiers Lane andJoseph Moog. The Suite in G minor for 2 violins and piano, Op. 71, has been recorded by such duos asItzhak Perlman andPinchas Zukerman.
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