FELIX BLUMENFELD Complete Preludes & Impromptus Philip Thomson, Pianist Twenty-Four Preludes, Opus 17 (1892) 49:00 1 I. C Major (Andante religioso) 1:51 2 II. A minor (Allegro agitato) 1:51 3 III. G minor (Allegretto) 0:38 4 IV. E minor (Andante) 3:13 5 V. D Major (Allegretto) 2:06 6 VI. B minor (Allegro molto) 1:19 7 VII. A Major (Allegro vivo) 2:05 8 VIII. F sharp minor (Allegro vivo) 1:16 9 IX. E Major (Maestoso) 1:40 10 X. C sharp minor (Andante) 3:02 11 XI. B Major (Andante con moto) 2:41 12 XII. G sharp minor (Presto) 1:39 13 XIII. F sharp Major (Andantino) 2:27 14 XIV. E flat minor (Andante maestoso e lugubre) 3:02 15 XV. D flat Major (Allegro non tanto) 2:56 16 XVI. B flat minor (Adagio) 3:12 17 XVII. A flat Major ( Allegro) 1:38 18 XVIII. F minor (“Memento mori”) (Andante) 2:35 19 XIX. E flat Major (Andante) 2:39 20 XX. C minor (Allegro furioso) 1:03 – 2 – 21 XXI. B flat Major (Andante tranquillo) 2:13 22 XXII. G minor (Allegro) 1:38 23 XXIII. F Major (Allegro) 1:06 24 XXIV. D minor (Presto) 1:10 Two Impromptus, Opus 13 (1890) 7:09 25 I. A flat Major (Allegro) 5:10 26 II. G flat Major (Andante, molto espressivo e legato) 1:59 Impromptu in B Major, Opus 28 (1898) 27 Allegro non tanto 2:46 Four Preludes, Opus 12 (1890) 5:41 28 I. G Major (Allegro) 1:12 29 II. E Major (Andantino) 1:48 30 III. C sharp Major (Allegretto) 1:26 31 IV. D Major (Moderato) 1:15 Two Impromptus, Opus 45 (1912) 6:48 32 I. F sharp minor (Allegretto) 3:37 33 II. A flat Major (Allegro) 3:11 Valse-Impromptu in A flat Major, Opus 16 (1891) 34 Vivo - Tempo di Valsero 3:26 Total Playing Time : 75:07 – 3 – WORLD PREMIERE RECORDING Felix Mikhailovich Blumenfeld (1863-1931) A versatile and gifted musician, Felix Blumenfeld is best known to posterity as a teacher. He was the mentor of Simon Barere, Maria Grinberg, Heinrich Neuhaus, Alexander Gauk, Dmitry Tiomkin, and Vladimir Horowitz. Felix Blumenfeld was born in Kovalyovka, a small town in South Ukraine on 19 April 1863. His father taught French and music at the local school and his mother, born Szymanowski, came from an old and respected artistic family. Felix was the fourth child in the family. Felix Blumenfeld’s older brothers were also accomplished pianists and com- posers: Sigismund Mikhailovich Blumenfeld (1852-1920) and Stanislav Mikhailovich Blumenfeld (1850-1897), while his sister, Olga Mikhailovna (1859-c.1940), a fine pianist in her own right, married Gustav Neuhaus (1847-1938). Their son, Heinrich Neuhaus (1888-1964) was one of the greatest Russian piano teachers of all time. Felix’s first music teachers were his brother, Stanislav, and his brother-in-law, Gustav Neuhaus. He studied with them for about three years, eventually enrolling at the local polytechnic institute. During the summer of 1881 Felix met for the first time Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov who was vaca- tioning in Crimea. This meeting was a watershed event in Felix’s life — the musical encounter with Rimsky-Korsakov convinced Blumenfeld that he should pursue a musical career. That fall he entered the St. Petersburg Conservatory, where his teachers included F.F. Stein (piano) and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (composition). After graduating from the Conservatory in 1885, Blumenfeld was immediately retained there as a piano teacher. From 1918-1922 he was director of the Lysenko Music-Drama Institute in Kiev, and from 1922 until his death, professor at the Moscow Conservatory. From 1895-1911 he conducted the Marinsky Theater in St. Petersburg. In 1908 he took the opera company on a tour of France, with great success conducting Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov. As a pianist, Blumenfeld continued in the grand tradition of Anton Rubinstein. His per- formances were marked by a lyrical, singing tone, and colorful virtuosity. He premiered most of the new compositions for piano by Arensky, Glazunov, and Liadov in the 1890s. Blumenfeld fre- quently appeared in chamber concerts and as accompanist to legendary bass, Fyodor Chaliapin. He became one of the most important conductors in Russia, premiering Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Legend of the Invisible City of Kitezh and directing the first Russian performances of Scriabin’s Divine Poem and Poem of Ecstasy. When he died in Moscow on 21 January 1931, the musical journals and newspapers of his country lamented the loss. One colleague wrote: “Blumenfeld was a pianist, composer, conductor, and an amazing teacher. He was also a person of enormous culture, unbounded mind, and limitless senses.... The arts have lost one of its greatest – 4 – minds and creative spirits.” Blumenfeld composed his entire life. His earliest works date from his student years at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Over fifty opus num- bers comprise his musical output. These include thirty-four songs, one symphony, a mazurka for orchestra, and an Allegro de Concert for piano and orchestra, several chamber works (including a string quartet) and many piano pieces. The earliest pub- lished compositions on this recital by Philip Thomson are the Four Preludes, Opus 12 (1890). These are graceful miniatures, unpretentious and elegant, brief and naive. These characteristics are precisely the source of their charm. And there is no uncertainty or diffidence in the writ- ing; as with every note of Blumenfeld, the pianism is immacu- late. The third in the set, in C sharp major, is reminiscent of both Ippolitov-Ivanov’s Caucasian Sketches and Rachmaninov’s Serenade. The Two Impromptus, Opus 13 were also published by M.P. Belaieff in 1890. The first of them is reminis- cent in its form of the 2nd and 4th Impromptus of Schubert’s opus 90. Felix Blumenfeld (Odessa, 1908) The second of the opus 13 Impromptus is an unadulterated pianistic joy. It is an easily understandable piece, and its soaring finale has a perfect climax. Chronologically, what follows is Blumenfeld’s infectious Valse-Impromptu in A flat Major, Opus 16. Composed in 1891 and published in the following year, this airy piece is full of capri- – 5 – cious charm, mirroring the French- influenced popular 19th-century salon-style of piano writing. In 1892, two years after he composed his first four preludes, Blumenfeld’s magnum opus appeared in print — the Twenty- Four Preludes, Opus 17. This was a daring venture for the young com- poser. Although the “prelude” form was popular among Russian com- posers — virtually all Russian com- posers of the time wrote some of these pieces — Blumenfeld was the first important composer to publish a set loosely modeled after Chopin’s famous opus. It should be noted that Scriabin’s opus 11 was only completed in 1896, Anton Arensky’s twelve (of a projected twenty-four) appeared around 1901, Cesar Cui’s opus 64 was pub- lished in 1903, and Rachmaninov’s “twenty-four” preludes spanned three opus numbers. As a set, and individually, Blumenfeld’s Opus 17 preludes became very popular. They were distributed not only in Russia and Europe, but also appeared in published piano collections in the Felix Blumenfeld (St. Petersburg, 1903) United States. Like Chopin, Blumenfeld went about writing his set of twenty-four preludes in an orderly fashion: starting in C major, he went through the relative minor, the dominant, G major, then its relative minor, and so on round the circle ending in F major and D minor. Each of the preludes are a musical “snapshot” of Russian life at the end of the 19th century. The preludes open solemnly with an Andante religioso. The C – 6 – major prelude consists of a slowly undulating theme stated three times. This invitation to prayer paints a musical picture of a Russian cathedral service with choir, deacon and incense. The second prelude, in A minor, is full of unusual harmonic turns as if we are in a feverish dream. The G major prelude which follows, is a short carefree humoresque. The fourth prelude, in E minor, is melan- cholic. While the second prelude in three-four can sound like six-eight, the fifth (in D major), writ- ten in six-eight, often sounds as if it is in three-four. Its theme, is presented twice, the second time more lushly and passionately, before an angelic coda quietly closes the piece. It is a wistful piece, a remembrance of a lost love. The rousing demonic character of the sixth prelude in B minor contrasts starkly with its predecessor. It is followed, by the lyrically restless A major prelude. Its lilting left- hand motive gives this work a delightful capriciousness. The elegant eight prelude, in F-sharp minor, is a graceful scherzo, reminiscent of a Schumannesque flowerpiece. Number nine, in E major, is imperial, recreating a royal cortege. The tenth prelude, in C-sharp minor, is profoundly expressive and unmistakably Russian. The wistful theme of its opening is presented in different guises before it erupts in a passionate cry. The last bars are a resigned echo of the beginning. It is a perfect exam- ple of the deep sentiment of the Russian Soul, so evident in the music of this period. The irresistibly beautiful and intensely emotional 11th prelude, in B major, rises to an exciting climax. The twelfth G-sharp minor prelude is a dramatic study in octave playing. With its steadily increasing texture and volume it makes for a rhythmically exciting listening experience. Number 13, in F-sharp major, creates the atmosphere of a Russian Christmas, soft snow falling and gentle tranquility.