CCMusic.com

I love the piano and those who love the piano. The piano as a medium for expression is a whole world by itself. No other instrument can fill or replace it's own say in the world of emotion, sentiment, poetry, imagery and fancy.' These words, written in 1931 by Leopold Godowsky (1870-1938) could stand as the virtuoso pianist and composer's artistic credo. Some basic lessons, and a mere three months of study in Berlin aside, he was largely self-taught, yet made his first public appearance aged nine and began touring as a piano wunderkind. As a concert pianist, he would perform in every continent except Antarctica and Australia. Liszt's death in 1886 scotched Godowsky's plan to study with the legendary virtuoso, who in his own youth had been inspired by Paganini. He traveled instead to Paris, where he befriended Camille Saint-Saëns. The French composer and pianist introduced him to many leading French musicians, and even proposed to adopt Godowsky if he would take his surname, though Godowsky declined the offer. In 1890 Godowsky began teaching at the New York College of Music. While there, he married Frieda Saxe and became an American citizen. In 1894 he moved to the Broad Street Conservatory in Philadelphia, and in 1895 to the Chicago Conservatory, where he headed the piano department. A successful European concert tour in 1900 landed him once again in Berlin, where he divided his time between performing and teaching. From 1909 to 1914 he taught master classes at the Vienna Academy of Music. When World War I broke out, he returned to New York, maintaining friendships with many distinguished performers and celebrities; Sergei Rachmaninov dedicated his Polka de W.R. to him. Godowsky was also a close friend of Albert Einstein. Godowsky resumed touring after the Great War, but suffered a stroke while making a recording in London on 17 June 1930. His latter years were marked by family tragedy and his death in 1938, of stomach cancer, was mourned as 'A calamitous loss'. Despite his formidable reputation, Godowsky remained modest, writing that 'A few know the begin to live.