# Moritz Mozkowski



## Vox Gabrieli

Ignacy Paderewski said: "After Chopin, 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.

Pulles from Wikipedia

A brilliant piano composer, one of the first concertos i ever listened to was his in E flat major, and I was completely blown away! Such prose and beauty, requires intense focus and passion to perform.






Another great concerto for violin:






I'd like to keep exploring this lesser known composer. Like for instance, what is with that mustache!


----------



## DeepR

I've posted this a few times on the forum but it deserves mention again: his long lost Piano Concerto (no. 1), Op. 3 is great as well and there's a recording available.


----------



## Pugg

Learning each day something new on this site, thank you for posting this thread.


----------



## Vox Gabrieli

DeepR said:


> I've posted this a few times on the forum but it deserves mention again: his long lost Piano Concerto (no. 1), Op. 3 is great as well and there's a recording available.






*
If anybody could source the performer and director for this recording, I would be very grateful! Thanks to DeepR for mentioning it.*

Found some more repertoire.

Today, Moszkowski is best remembered for a few delightful piano pieces -- the Etudes, Opu, 72, Etineelles (Sparks), Opus 36, No. 6, popularised by Hofmann and Horowitz, and his Spanish Dances, Opus 12, for piano duet. Yet he composed operas, ballets, orchestral suites, songs, concertos, and chamber music, almost all of which remain forgotten. No proper re-assessment of Moszkowski's compositions has taken place nor has anyone written a biography of this once influential teacher, pianist and composer. Most writers on music, indeed, continue to repeat the pejorative term "salon composer" when commenting on his work, an unfortunate state of affairs. Much of Moszkowski's music is written for the piano. These works are generally miniatures, always well-crafted and always very pianistic. His early song cycles show an affinity for the voice and are written in a powerful style that suggests the language of Brahms. The orchestral suites show him to be a brilliant orchestrator, with a strong grasp of polyphony. The operas and ballets show a keen understanding of theatrical music and have been performed allover the world, while the piano and violin concertos are brilliant showpieces, full of delightful melodies. Yet, despite all this musical evidence, Moszkowski is not accorded much attention and is often considered little more than a footnote in musical history.

*^^^^^ Pulled from youtube*

Here's a decent recording of Kalaeidoscope:






*Additionally, if someone could link me to where I can purchase Op. 74, I would be very grateful. I'd like to upload it to youtube since there isn't one already.*


----------



## Pugg

Richard Macduff said:


> *
> If anybody could source the performer and director for this recording, I would be very grateful! Thanks to DeepR for mentioning it.*
> 
> Found some more repertoire.
> 
> Today, Moszkowski is best remembered for a few delightful piano pieces -- the Etudes, Opu, 72, Etineelles (Sparks), Opus 36, No. 6, popularised by Hofmann and Horowitz, and his Spanish Dances, Opus 12, for piano duet. Yet he composed operas, ballets, orchestral suites, songs, concertos, and chamber music, almost all of which remain forgotten. No proper re-assessment of Moszkowski's compositions has taken place nor has anyone written a biography of this once influential teacher, pianist and composer. Most writers on music, indeed, continue to repeat the pejorative term "salon composer" when commenting on his work, an unfortunate state of affairs. Much of Moszkowski's music is written for the piano. These works are generally miniatures, always well-crafted and always very pianistic. His early song cycles show an affinity for the voice and are written in a powerful style that suggests the language of Brahms. The orchestral suites show him to be a brilliant orchestrator, with a strong grasp of polyphony. The operas and ballets show a keen understanding of theatrical music and have been performed allover the world, while the piano and violin concertos are brilliant showpieces, full of delightful melodies. Yet, despite all this musical evidence, Moszkowski is not accorded much attention and is often considered little more than a footnote in musical history.
> 
> *^^^^^ Pulled from youtube*
> 
> Here's a decent recording of Kalaeidoscope:
> 
> *Additionally, if someone could link me to where I can purchase Op. 74, I would be very grateful. I'd like to upload it to youtube since there isn't one already.*


Look at this:

http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/ad...ski&work=74&performer=&medium=all&label=&cat=


----------



## Vox Gabrieli

Pugg said:


> Look at this:
> 
> http://www.prestoclassical.co.uk/ad...ski&work=74&performer=&medium=all&label=&cat=


Much obliged! :tiphat:


----------



## DeepR

Richard Macduff said:


> *If anybody could source the performer and director for this recording, I would be very grateful!*


http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA68109


----------



## DeepR

Very, very beautiful romantic moment in the adagio from Op. 3, at 18:45 - 20:18


----------



## Pugg

DeepR said:


> http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/dc.asp?dc=D_CDA68109


No opus 74 though.
Nice anyway.


----------



## silentio

Moritz Mozkowski's transcription for Isolde's Liebestod is IMO ways better than the more frequently performed Liszt'version.


----------



## Vox Gabrieli

More Mozkowski:


----------



## Portamento

I love his piano concerto:


----------



## Roger Knox

What country do we consider to be the nationality of Moritz Moskowski, who I had always assumed to be Polish? His parents were Polish and Jewish. He was born in 1854 in Breslau, then in Prussia, which soon became part of the unified Germany. (Breslau is now Wroclaw, Poland.) His career developed in Germany. Later he move his home base to Paris, France. I notice that the fairly recent premiere of his long-lost Piano Concerto No. 1 was in Poland. I have seen claims for him to considered German.

The reason I'm asking is to determine whether to include him on the thread "Neglected Garman and Austrian Orchestral Composers of the Late Romantic Era."


----------



## DeepR

silentio said:


> Moritz Mozkowski's transcription for Isolde's Liebestod is IMO ways better than the more frequently performed Liszt'version.


Thanks. I like it, but I can't say which is better. It has some nice touches compared to the one by Liszt, but it also has a few fast runs that seem a little out of place and make it unecessary flashy.


----------



## Larkenfield

I’ve heard both versions of the Liebestod, and Liszt’s transcription has more body and sounds much more faithful to the score. Moszkowski’s has embellishments and additions which make it much different and more in the pianistic idiom as perhaps closer to a showpiece but not in any sense disrespectful. Both are terrific transcriptions with Moszkowski’s sounding lighter and less thick in texture.


----------

