Tag: Horowitz

The Vladimir Horowitz Archives – Wikipedia – Facebook

Kiew, September 18, 1903 – New-York, November 5, 1989)

Vladimir Horowitz was born in Kiev, Russian Empire (now the capital of Ukraine). There are unsubstantiated claims that Horowitz was born in Berdychiv (a city near Zhytomyr in Ukraine), but his birth certificate unequivocally states Kiev as his birthplace.

Horowitz was the youngest of four children of Samuil Horowitz and Sophia Bodik, who were assimilated Jews. Samuil was a well-to-do electrical engineer and a distributor of electric motors for German manufacturers. Horowitz was born in 1903, but in order to make him appear too young for military service so as not to risk damaging his hands, his father took a year off his son’s age by claiming he was born in 1904. The 1904 date appeared in many reference works during the pianist’s lifetime.

Horowitz’s uncle Alexander was a pupil and close friend of Alexander Scriabin. When Horowitz was 10, it was arranged for him to play for Scriabin, who told his parents that he was extremely talented.

Horowitz received piano instruction from an early age, initially from his mother, who was herself a pianist. In 1912 he entered the Kiev Conservatory, where he was taught by Vladimir Puchalsky, Sergei Tarnowsky, and Felix Blumenfeld. His first solo recital was in Kharkiv in 1920.

Rachmaninoff - Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Minor

Rachmaninoff – Concerto No. 3 in D Minor – Horowitz, Piano

Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor was written in Dresden and completed on September 23, 1909. The concerto was first performed on Sunday afternoon, November 28, 1909, by Sergei Rachmaninoff himself.

Horowitz plays Rachmaninov's Prelude Op. 32 No 12 in G sol minor

Piano / Prelude / ROMANTIC MUSIC

Rachmaninoff – Prelude No. 12 in G-Sharp Minor – Horowitz, Piano

Thirteen Preludes Op. 32, is a set of thirteen preludes for solo piano, composed by Sergei Rachmaninoff in 1910. The prelude No 12 in G-sharp minor is one of the most famous, especially under Horowitz fingers.

ROMANTIC MUSIC / Piano / Transcription

Saint-Saëns/Liszt/Horowitz – Danse Macabre – Wang, Piano

Danse Macabre, Op. 40, is a tone poem for orchestra, written in 1874 by the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns. It is in the key of G minor. It started out in 1872 as an art song for voice and piano with a French text by the poet Henri Cazalis, which is based on an old French superstition.

Vladimir Horowitz plays Franz Liszt's Consolation No. 3 in D-Flat Major

ROMANTIC MUSIC / Piano

Liszt – Consolation No. 3 – Horowitz, Piano

Liszt’s Third Consolation in D-Flat Major is the most popular of the six Consolations and also a favorite encore piece. Its style is similar to the Chopin Nocturnes, in particular, it seems to have been inspired by Chopin’s Nocturne Op. 27 No. 2.

Vladimir Horowitz plays Alexander Scriabin's Etude No 12 in D-sharp minor

Piano / ROMANTIC MUSIC

Scriabin – Etude Op. 8 No. 12 – Horowitz, Piano

Etude Op. 8 No. 12 in D-Sharp Minor, was composed by Alexander Scriabin in 1894. It features many technical challenges, including treacherous stretches with intervals up to an eleventh, numerous jumps in the left hand, repetitive chord strikes, and abundant octaves.

Vladimir Horowitz performs Träumerei, the 7th piece from Robert Schumann's Kinderszenen

Piano / ROMANTIC MUSIC

Schumann – Träumerei (Dreaming) – Vladimir Horowitz, Piano

Träumerei (Dreaming) is the 7th piece from Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood), Op. 15, by Robert Schumann, a set of thirteen pieces of music for piano written in 1838.

Vladimir Horowitz plays Mozart's Sonata No. 13 in B-flat major for piano

CLASSICAL MUSIC / Sonata

Mozart – Piano Sonata No. 13 – Vladimir Horowitz

Mozart’s Piano Sonata No 13 in B-flat major was composed in Linz at the end of 1783. There is no doubt that this sonata was first published on 21 April 1784 in Vienna by Christoph Torricella (along with K. 284 and K. 454, as op. 7).

Vladimir Horowitz performs Bach's Chorale 959 in the arrangement for piano made by Ferrucio Busoni

BAROQUE MUSIQUE / Piano / Transcription

Bach-Busoni – Chorale Prelude in G Minor – Horowitz, Piano

The Great Eighteen Chorale Preludes, BWV 651–668, are a set of chorale preludes for organ prepared by Johann Sebastian Bach in Leipzig in his final decade (1740–1750), from earlier works composed in Weimar, where he was court organist.

Brahms - Concerto No. 2 - Horowitz, Piano

ROMANTIC MUSIC / Concerto / Piano

Brahms – Piano Concerto No. 2 – Horowitz, Piano

The Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-Flat Major, Op. 83, by Johannes Brahms is separated by a gap of 22 years from his first piano concerto. Brahms began work on the piece in 1878 and completed it in 1881 while in Pressbaum near Vienna.

The pianist Vladimir Horowitz performs Chopin's Waltz No. 9 in A-flat major

Waltz / Piano / ROMANTIC MUSIC

Chopin – Waltz No. 9 – Vladimir Horowitz, Piano

Chopin’s Waltz No 9 in A-flat major, Op. 69, No. 1, is called The Farewell Waltz or Valse de l’adieu. The waltz was originally written as a farewell piece to Maria Wodzińska, to whom Frédéric Chopin was once engaged.