Magical Joy of Piano Fourhands Preview | Walter Gieseking at the Piano
Hello and welcome back to our email preview series! As a way to prepare for the upcoming concert, Magical Joy of Piano Fourhands, we are diving into the world of piano music across the composers that will be represented in the concerts in November! While you’re here, don’t forget to RSVP– we sold out our last concerts 😜
Walter Gieseking was a famous Franco-German pianist and composer of the early 20th century. He was most well known for his intuitive and effortless playing of demanding, nuanced repertoire like Ravel and Beethoven. In addition to being a master interpreter of works in the classical canon, he was also an advocate for new music, often playing and premiering works by his contemporaries like Schoenberg, Hindemith, Szymanowski, and Busch.
During World War II, Gieseking was isolated in Germany which put a halt to his touring activities. It wasn’t until his name was officially cleared by an Allied court in Germany in 1949 that he was able to return to his career.
Gieseking’s recordings of Debussy, Ravel, and Beethoven’s piano works have been broadly regarded as benchmark standards for generations. Because the emphasis of his career laid so heavily on his performance, today’s guided listenings will mostly discuss Gieseking’s interpretations of other composers and why he was so well revered.
Guided Listening | Ravel Sonatine
In this recording of Ravel’s Sonatine, listen for the clear quality of the fast, high notes. This magical and delicate quality is a feat to sustain and create dynamics within without over complicating the music or gesture.
Especially in Ravel’s music, the textures often evoke other instruments like the harp or woodwinds. During your listening, try to imagine what instruments would play certain patterns if this had been written for orchestra.
The second movement, Mouvement de Menuet, is a dance in the form of a minuet. Again, Gieseking approaches the writing in a very clear toned manner– however despite the delicacy of the treatment, I find that the playing is at no point frail or precarious.
The final movement, Animé, is surrounded by movement and flurries in both hands, however it is easier to find the larger shapes and gestures in this movement as they unfurl much more obviously than the other movements. Again, the ability to convincingly portray these musical ideas relies on the virtuosity and interpretation of the player.
Further Listening | Gieseking's last recording
For further listening, we invite you to enjoy the last recording Gieseking made just a few days before his passing in 1956 at 60 years old. His delicate finesse previously shown in the Ravel is on full display here in the virtuous sweeps of agile 16th notes.
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