Earl Wild – The Romantic Master

VIRTUOSO PIANO TRANSCRIPTIONSl l l l l l l l

The word “transcription” comes from transcribe — to write out in full. When applied to the artof music, it refers to a composition that is arranged or adapted for an instrument, voice, or ensem-ble other than that for which it was originally written. Since the earliest of times composers andperformers have been arranging, improvising, paraphrasing, borrowing, or recasting popularthemes. Whether in variation form or in elaborate fantasias, themes such as “la Spagna,”Greensleeves, and many others have appeared penned by many of the great composers.

Variation forms allowed composers to create often elaborate sets of improvisations based onpopular themes of the day. Mozart chose themes by Salieri, Grétry, Gluck, and Duport. Even thepopular French children’s song Ah vous dirai-je, maman yielded a new pianistic masterpiece.Beethoven, Chopin, Schumann, and Brahms followed suit with incredible works based on themesby others.

During the 19th century some of the most popular operatic tunes were circulated for the ama-teur musician as piano potpourris and fantasias by workmanlike composers such as Bendel, Cramer,Behr, Leybach and others. All the best and most popular tunes of the day were available as pianotranscriptions for enjoyment at home. The popularity of this music did not go unnoticed by thevirtuoso pianists of the day. Sigismond Thalberg and Franz Liszt amazed audiences with their extra-ordinary, difficult and elaborate improvisations on themes from opera, song, chamber music orsymphonic works.

Franz Liszt (1811-1886) was an inveterate transcriber. Whether the melody was a simple folksong, a complex symphonic work, a lengthy chamber piece, an operatic aria, or a beautiful art-song,Liszt could not resist the urge to lovingly transform it into a piano work. More than half of his com-positions are transcriptions, paraphrases, reminiscences, or fantasies on other composers’ music.Liszt possessed an amazing response to poetic imagery. He believed that purely musical images ofpoetic ideas are capable of being projected to the listener and that he could illustrate such imagerywithout words. This was his lifelong aesthetic. Liszt transcribed about 150 songs. In addition, hetranscribed for piano the complete symphonies of Beethoven, numerous works by Berlioz, Wagner,Rossini, Weber, and others. Virtually every musical work was grist for Liszt’s transcription mill.Liszt set an incredibly high standard for the art of transcription, and it is this standard that was the

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influencing factor and guideline for virtuosopianists who were to follow.

On this disc, we hear transcriptions by fourgreat pianists of the past, and nine transcriptionsby Earl Wild, the last living link to the greatromantic pianistic traditions of that past.

The least well-known transcriber in this col-lection is Pavel (Paul)Pabst (1854-1897). Pabstwas the son of a German organist. He graduatedfrom the Vienna Hochschule für Musik and tookpiano lessons from Franz Liszt. In 1878 Pabst wasinvited by Nikolai Rubinstein to join the facultyof the Moscow Conservatory. After Rubinstein’sdeath in 1883, Pabst became the Conservatory’sdirector. His influence on Russian musicians wasimpressive. Among his students were KonstantinIgumnov, Nikolai Medtner, AlexanderGoldenweiser, Alexander Gedike, SergeiLyapunov, the Conus brothers, and ElenaBekman-Shcherbina. Pabst was renowned as avirtuoso pianist, famous as an interpreter ofLiszt’s and Schumann’s music, and an advocate ofworks by his friends Tchaikovsky and Arensky.He composed an enormous amount of original music, including a virtuosic Piano Concerto and abeautiful Piano Trio, but it is the brilliant piano paraphrases on themes by Rubinstein andTchaikovsky which are best known today. Pabst’s impressive Paraphrase de Concert sur le ballet“La belle au bois dormant” [Track ] [Paraphrase on Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty] was original-ly published by P. Jurgenson in Moscow. A wonderfully elaborate and virtuosic transcription,Pabst’s paraphrase follows some of Liszt’s models by using musical material from several sections ofthe ballet, opening with the dramatic entrance of the wicked fairy Carabosse, who places a curse onthe newborn princess.

Wilhelm Backhaus (1884-1969) was one of the truly great pianists of this century. Born inLeipzig, he made his debut at the age of eight. At the age of eleven he met Johannes Brahms, ameeting he would never forget. Brahms remained an inspiration throughout his life, yet his laterfame rested on his interpretations of Beethoven’s works. Backhaus studied with Liszt pupil and

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Pavel Pabst (1854-1897)

legendary pianist Eugen d’Albert. After winningthe Anton Rubinstein Prize in 1905, Backhauswas appointed professor at the Royal College ofMusic in Manchester. By the time he made hisAmerican debut in 1912, he was recognized inmany of the leading European capitals as one ofthe outstanding living interpreters of the classicpiano literature. That performance with the NewYork Philharmonic also made Backhaus one ofthe most famous concert artists in America. OneNew York critic wrote: “his type is most unusual.In appearance he resembles a slender god juststepped from Olympus. What is more he playslike a god, too. He is Liszt, Rubinstein andPaderewski rolled into one. Why he created afurore is easy to understand.” The New YorkTimes proclaimed the performance “brilliant,crisp, with true poetical feeling.” He continued totour the United States through 1926 and becameinternationally admired for his marvellousrecordings. He returned to New York in 1954 tosold-out concerts. The two all-Beethoven con-certs at Carnegie Hall in 1956 elicited fromHarold C. Schonberg, in the New York Times

nothing but admiration and praise: “His playing is immense, monolithic, carved out of granite...When Mr. Backhaus goes about his work the music emerges in gigantic proportions.” At the age ofeighty, Backhaus undertook to record the 32 Beethoven sonatas for the third time, this time instereo. By the time he died in 1969 he had completed the project, except for one sonata, theHammerklavier, Op.106.

In his concerts Backhaus performed an astonishing variety of music. Besides the standardrepertoire by Mozart, Bach, Brahms, Schumann, and Beethoven, he included many compositionsof Liszt and Chopin (he was the very first pianist to record the Chopin’s 24 Études!), and raritiesby Palmgren, Seeling, Herzog, Wertheim, Pick-Mangiagalli, and others. Many of his recitalsincluded transcriptions by Liszt, Tausig, Dohnányi, Busoni, Siloti, Saint-Saëns, Hutcheson, and,of course, his own transcription of the Serenade (“Horch auf dem Klang” (Deh vieni alla finestra,

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Wilhelm Backhaus (1884-1969)

o mio tesoro) from Act II of Mozart’s DonGiovanni [Track ]. Backhaus’ transcription,published in 1924, captures the strains of DonGiovanni’s mandolin Serenade beautifully, retain-ing its charm, while being unusually free andornate in its pianistic treatment.

Carl Tausig (1841-1871) studied with Lisztand made his public début in 1858. His life andcareer were tragically cut short when he died oftyphoid fever. Musicians and critics agreed thatTausig was almost Liszt’s equal in grandeur ofinterpretation and in technique. As a composer,Tausig left a legacy of original compositions andmasterful transcriptions. The most difficult ofthese were Tausig’s extraordinary transcriptions ofLiszt’s symphonic poems. The transcriptions ofSchubert’s works have remained ever popular,while Tausig’s five Valse-Caprices on themes byJohann Strauss, Jr. were published in two booksentitled Nouvelles Soirées de Vienne. The firstgroup were published by Haslinger in Vienna in1862. Tausig created these as an addendum toLiszt’s series (based on Schubert’s works) and ded-icated the set to his teacher. Amy Fay, who studied with Kullak, Tausig and Liszt, wrote extensive-ly about these works: “Tausig, in my opinion, possessed exceptional genius in compositions, thoughhe left few works behind him to attest it. Prominent among these are his unique arrangements ofStrauss’ Waltzes. He had a passion for philosophy, and was deeply read in Kant and Hegel. These:arrangements” betray his metaphysical and tentative turn, and could only have been the productof the highest mental force and culture. Calling the waltz itself the wrap of the composition, thenthrough its simple threads we find darting backwards and forwards a subtle, complicated, and trag-ic sentiment, and a piquant, aerial fancy, until finally is wrought a brilliant and bewildering tran-scription — transfiguration rather — of endless fascination and tantalizing beauty, which no onebut a virtuoso can play and no one but a connoisseur can comprehend. In a peculiar manner heleaves a stamp upon the heart...” Earl Wild performs the Valse-Caprice No.2 (“Man lebt nureinmal,” Opus 167) [“One Lives But Once”] [Track ].12

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Carl Tausig (1841-1871)

The Tausig transcription was a favorite of Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943), who performed itoften and recorded it in 1927. It is difficult to summarize the genius and artistry of Rachmaninovin just a few sentences. Rachmaninov was a true master musician. Arguably the finest pianist of hisday and renowned also as a conductor, he was, as a composer, one of the most important figures ofRussian late Romanticism. Although his technical and interpretative mastery were incidental to hiscreative genius, his recordings continue to fascinate and enthral, for no pianist of that era has leftsuch a treasure trove of extraordinary performances. As a composer, Rachmaninov left a permanentand indelible imprint on all pianists who followed him. His Preludes and Concertos are standardrepertoire — every student and serious concertizing pianist plays his music. Simply put,Rachmaninov’s lyrical gifts carried the Romantic tradition of the 19th century far into the 20th cen-tury and his influence on performers and composers is still being felt today. Earl Wild has often stat-ed that “Rachmaninov was the most important musical influence in my life.” Mr. Wild has per-formed all of Rachmaninov’s piano compositions, has recorded all of the concertos, and transcribedthirteen of Rachmaninov’s sumptuous songs. Mr. Wild writes: “The enduring beauty of the songsgave me the motivation for the transcriptions. As a student, I met the famous Russian soprano MariaKurenko. Rachmaninov often accompanied her in his songs. Madame Kurenko taught me muchabout their interpretation. In particular, I have a deep affection for Midsummer Nights, which I findto be one of Rachmaninov’s loveliest songs.” Midsummer Nights, Opus 14, No.5 [Track ] wascomposed by Rachmaninov in September of 1896. Dedicated to Maria Gutheil, the wife of the pub-lisher who first issued Rachmaninov’s songs, this song is a setting of the poem by Dmitri Rathaus(translated for the Gutheil edition by Edward Agate):

Oh these midsummer nights all in splendor set,Steeped in wonder of moonlight that reigns serene,They awaken the promise of ecstasy,And rekindle the passion of love’s desire.From this sorrowful heart, they will lift the load,Weight of woe unto mortals by life decreed,And the borders of happiness open wide,The spell obeying, that silent its work is weaving...And the gates of the spirit are barr’d no more,For its regions are flooded with waves of love,Oh, these midsummer nights all in splendor set,Clad in magic of moonlight that reigns supreme.

Earl Wild’s transcription of this marvelous song was completed in 1981.

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Rachmaninov’s own transcription of FritzKreisler’s delicious violin work, Liebesleid(“Love’s Sorrow”) [Track ] was first performedby Rachmaninov at a concert in Chicago onNovember 20, 1921. Kreisler wrote this as part ofa trilogy of Alt Wiener Tanzweisen (“Old VienneseDance Melodies”). When Rachmaninov recordedhis own transcription on a reproducing piano rollfor the Ampico Corporation, they published thefollowing information in their catalogue:“Kreisler’s beautiful old Viennese dance melodieshave delighted thousands of music lovers whohave heard them. There is a plaintive appeal inthese dance melodies of a far-off time, recallingthe festivities of other days, when the waltzrhythm was a newly discovered delight. Theycome with much charm inseparable from folkmusic, and bear the unmistakable stamp of theirViennese origin. Rachmaninov has taken one ofthe loveliest, a love song, and added embellish-ments of his own that set it forth in a new dress,but with all its original beauty shining throughthe shimmering filigree with which he adorns it.”

In 1881, when Saint-Saëns was elected tothe Institut de France someone said, “If it werenecessary to characterize Saint-Saëns in a fewwords we should call him the best musician inFrance.” He was a man of extraordinary, and seemingly inexhaustible, energy and drive. He wasan expert organist and pianist, teacher, founder of the Société Nationale de Musique. He editedthe music of other composers, including a comprehensive edition of Rameau’s works, and wrotetheoretical treatises on harmony and melody. Beyond all this he was an amateur astronomer,physicist, archaeologist, and natural historian. He painted and did creative writing, enjoyedlearning new languages, and was an omnivorous reader of the classics. In short, Saint-Saëns wasa man of immense culture.

Saint-Saëns was a master craftsman who had an unerring musical sense and an astonishing

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Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943)

ability to produce masterpiece after masterpiece. He left an astonishing volume of work includingthirteen operas (of which Samson et Dalila is considered one of the greatest works of the Frenchlyric stage), ten concertos (including the delightful Carnival of the Animals for two pianos andorchestra), seven symphonies, numerous choral works, over a hundred songs, symphonic poems,piano compositions and chamber sonatas for violin, cello, clarinet, oboe and bassoon. He also wroteworks for military band, cadenzas to piano concertos of Mozart and Beethoven, and transcribedand arranged numerous works by Bach, Gluck, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Berlioz, Mozart and oth-ers. “Of all composers, Saint-Saëns is most difficult to describe,” wrote Arthur Hervey. “He eludesyou at every moment — the elements constituting his musical personality are so varied in theirnature, yet they seem to blend in so remarkable a fashion... Saint-Saëns is a typical Frenchman...He is preeminently witty... It is this quality which has enabled him to attack the driest forms of artand render them bearable. There is nothing ponderous about him.”

In the period after the Franco-Prussia War, Saint-Saëns helped to found the National Society ofMusic for the encouragement of French instrumental composition. About this same time the pre-occupation with the théâtre among French composers began to slack off a little and representativesof a new symphonic school came forward. It was in this set of circumstances that the four sym-phonic poems — Le Rouet d’Omphale, Op.31; Phaëton, Opus 39; Danse Macabre, Opus 40; andLa Jeunesse d’Hercule, Opus 50 — were conceived. Their part in giving prestige to the new Frenchsymphonists was a most important one.

Le Rouet d’Omphale, Opus 31 [Omphale’s Spinning Wheel] [Track ] was Saint-Saëns’ firstattempt at tone-painting. On the face of it, the music depicts the whirling and whirring of the wheelused in spinning flax into linen thread. According to legend, the spinner is not Omphale, we aretold but Hercules, who got himself in trouble with the gods and was put into bondage to Omphalefor three years. Apparently to humiliate him, Omphale put him to spinning while dressed inwomen’s clothing. The moaning theme introduced in the middle of the piece is said to be oldHercules groaning under the burden of it all. On the flyleaf of the original piano score, Saint-Saënsadded a further note: “The subject of this symphonic poem is feminine seductiveness, the tri-umphant contest of weakness against strength. The spinning wheel is merely a pretext; it is chosensimply for the sake of its rhythmical suggestion and from the viewpoint of the general form of thepiece.” As a model Earl Wild does not use Saint-Saëns’ own rather spare piano version, but returnsto the original orchestral score, incorporating many orchestral effects into his 1995 transcription.

Tchaikovsky was most comfortable writing music for the ballet, opera, and symphony orches-tra. Although he composed for the piano extensively and throughout all of his creative life, thebulk of the music — over one hundred pieces — consists of collections of morceaux, mostlywaltzes, scherzi and other short pieces intended for the piano enthusiast performing in a family

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salon. Tchaikovsky, even in the larger forms, was never completely at ease writing for the piano.This may be because he always considered himself a “piano player” rather than a “pianist.” The dis-tinction is important, in that, for Tchaikovsky the piano was a means to an end — an instrumentto try out ideas, audition symphonic works, or accompany the voice. Earl Wild’s 1975transcription of Tchaikovsky’s “Dance of the Four Swans” (Pas de Quatre, Act 2) from Swan Lake,Opus 20 (1875/76) [Track ] is a pure delight. Not to be mistaken for the “Dance of the LittleSwans” which occurs in Act 4 of the ballet, the “Dance of the Four Swans” takes place in Act 2, justprior to the Pas d’action. Swan Lake is one of the greatest ballets of all time — a Germanic fairytale, in which Prince Siegfried woos Odette, Queen of the Swan Maidens. The Swan Maidens areswans only by day, being transformed back to their original state at night by the magician Rotbart,under whose spell they exist. Naturally, Siegfried has a hard time winning Odette away fromRotbart’s magic power, but in the end he finally succeeds. Earl Wild’s transcription of Tchaikovsky’smemorable and haunting romance from 1878, At the Ball (“Sred shumnovo bala”), Opus 38,No.3 [Track ] captures the music’s gentle poignancy reflecting the more inward feelings stirredby a beautiful woman glimpsed across a crowded and noisy ballroom. The poem by Aleksey Tolstoy(1817-1875) attracted Wild to transcribe the song in 1992.

Amid the din of the ball in the tumult of everyday bustle,I chanced to see you, but a secret veiled your features;Only your eyes looked on sadly, but your voice sounded so divine,Like the sound of a distant pipe, like the sea’s playful wave.I loved your slender figure and your pensive look,And your laughter, at once sad and vibrant,Has rung out in my heart since then!When, in the lonely hours of the night,I am weary and would lie down to rest,I see your sad eyes, and hear your happy voice.Then sadly, so sadly, I sink into sleep, a sleep of dreams beyond recall.I do not know if I love you, but it seems to me that I do!

Gabriel Fauré was born in Pamiers, Ariege, France, May 13, 1845; he died in Paris, November4, 1924. As a youth he had every musical advantage. He studied under the best teachers, includingSaint-Saëns, Niedermeyer and Dietsch. He progressed rapidly as composer, organist and teacher.His first professional position was that of organist at St. Sauveur, at Rennes; later he returned toParis, and after occupying various rather minor posts as organist, he was made accompanyingorganist at St. Sulpice, where the late and beloved Charles-Marie Widor was at one time principal

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organist. Still later he accepted the principal post of maitre de chapelle at the Church of theMadeleine, becoming organist of this famous basilica in 1896. About the same time he took uphis duties as a professor of composition at the Paris Conservatory, where he advanced continuallyuntil in 1905 he held the post of director in succession to the organist, Theodore Dubois. Withthis appointment began a period of great accomplishment. As a teacher his influence has been feltto the present day, not only in the music of France but among all the composers who have everstudied in that country. Among his pupils whose gifts he developed and encouraged were suchcolossal figures as Nadia Boulanger, Roger-Ducasse, Aubert, Ravel, Laparra, Florent Schmitt andmany others.

Of the Fauré songs, the best known are, perhaps, Les Roses d’Ispahan, Opus 39, No.4 (1884)and Après un rêve, Opus 7, No.1 (1878) — but there is a large number of others, equally beautiful.In his 1992 transcription of Faure’s Après un rêve (“After a Dream”) [Track ], Earl Wild is mind-ful of not only the words but also Lotte Lehmann’s sage advise: “Begin this song as if still in adream... it is also important that each phrase be sung with a swing, with a soft rise and fall... Beginwith a delicate ecstasy and don’t forget that some of the phrases are silvery, very bright, very ethereal.”The anonymous words are radiant:

In a slumber, charmed by your image,I dreamed of happiness - ardent mirage.Your eyes were more gentle, your voice pure and clear.You were radiant like a sky brightened by sunrise.You called me and I left the earth to flee with you towards the light.The skies opened their clouds to us —splendors unknown — glimpses of divines light.Alas, alas, sad awakening from dreams!I call to you, oh night, give me back your illusions.Return, return with your radiance, return, oh mysterious night!

A few of the great composers showed exceptional talents when very young. Although some,such as Mozart, were “infant prodigies” it is not to be taken for granted (although it sometimes is)that all composers of genius belonged to this class. George Frideric Handel’s development wassteady rather than spectacular and while his achievement was considerable by the time he tookEnglish nationality at the age of forty-one his best known works — in almost every field — wereyet to come.

A year after George I had confirmed Handel’s British citizenship and appointed him to thepost of Court composer, for which he was now eligible, he died and was succeeded by George II.

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In October, 1727, the Coronation took place and Handel composed four anthems for voices andorchestra to celebrate the occasion. By the time he began composing his twelve Concerti Grossi,Opus 6 he was at the height of his powers. On January 16, 1739, he had led the performance ofhis oratorio Saul at the King’s Theatre. He had completed this work in September, 1738, and onlyfour days later, on October 1, plunged into Israel in Egypt, which he composed in the space ofabout three weeks, a feat that remains incredible, even when we grant the fact that he used a greatdeal of music by other composers in this work. On April 4, 1739, Israel in Egypt was performed.Although it was at first a failure, Handel was to be amply consoled two years later, in 1741, withthe success of Messiah. Considering the rate at which Handel was producing masterpiece aftermasterpiece, we might expect to find something feverish, something overdriven, in the ConcertiGrossi. But we find nothing of the kind. It is true, as Romain Rolland and others have pointedout, that this music has the nature of a constant improvisation. Rolland adds that it must be“served piping hot”! Yet so colossal were Handel’s musical powers, so sure was his hand, that hecould throw off completely formed and balanced works that unite classical beauty with the utmostfreedom of imagination.

Handel composed sixteen keyboard suites which were published between 1720 and 1733. TheSuite No.5 in E Major, contains four movements, concluding with Handel’s most famous keyboardwork, the so-called “Harmonious Blacksmith.” The title accorded this Air con Variazioni cannot befound in any publication prior to the 19th century. The movement is a straight forward air withfive variations which become progressively more elaborate. In his 1993 transcription of the Air andVariations - “The Harmonious Blacksmith” [Track ], Mr. Wild shows his consummate knowl-edge of 18th century performance practices. Earl Wild has stated that he incorporated the “manybenefits of the double-keyboard harpsichord in preparing the score for modern piano. I was alsovery influenced by the performances I heard of this work as a child by great masters such as MoritzRosenthal and Sergei Rachmaninov.” According to composer and musicologist, Hubert Parry, thestory of the “Harmonious Blacksmith” arose from a mythical account of Handel “being caught ina shower of rain while walking near Cannons. Handel took refuge in a blacksmith’s shop, where heheard the blacksmith whistling or singing the famous tune to the accompaniment of the ringingsound of the anvil.” A pleasant story, now proven to be baseless.

Critic Jay Harrison once stated that “In many ways, Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) is Paris. Heis gay like Paris, sad like Paris. And he bustles constantly. His hands wave, his eyebrows arch, hetwitches, grins, makes faces. When his mouth talks, all of him talks too. If he is not Paris, he is atleast French. Not even a deaf man could doubt that.” And certainly that is also true of Poulenc’smusic. In much of his music (the finest examples being his Suite française, a transcription of sevendances by Claude Gervaise, and his Valse-improvisation sur le nom de BACH dedicated to Vladimir

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Horowitz) Poulenc combined the old with the new. His style was at times sweetly melancholicmixed with liberal dashes of wry dissonances and haunting, plaintive melodies. No other 20th cen-tury composer created music in this style, vigorous, whimsical and peppery. Earl Wild’s Hommageà Poulenc (1995) [Track ] is in essence an improvisation “in the style” of Poulenc based on Bach’sSarabande, from the Partita No.1 in B flat Major, BWV 825. Mr. Wild writes: “One day I happenedto be playing the well-known Sarabande from Bach’s Partita No.1. Suddenly, I wondered how itmight sound in a Poulenc setting. This notion intrigued me since Bach and Poulenc are two com-posers often thought to be incompatible. I realized it was truly an homage to Poulenc, whom Ifound to be a very gracious and generous man.”

The recent celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Walt Disney’s Snow White included its firstrelease on videotape. Earl Wild comments: “Watching Snow White brought back so many vividmemories of the past that I wanted to write something making use of these enchanting tunes byFrank Churchill.” Frank Churchill (1901-1942) was a pianist and composer, educated at theUniversity of California, Los Angeles. Among the marvelous scores he composed during his tenurewith Walt Disney were Three Little Pigs (1933) which included the universally recognized song,“Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?,” Dumbo (which won him the Academy Award in 1941), SnowWhite and The Seven Dwarfs (1938), and Bambi (1942). Earl Wild’s own sense of humor adds tothe charm of the original music, developing these reminiscences (of the marvelous songs: “WhistleWhile You Work”; “I’m Wishing”; “One Song”; “Heigh-Ho”; and “Someday My Prince WillCome”) into a personal statement that pays homage to the feature-length animated film. It is oneof the few uniquely American art forms. Earl Wild completed the Reminiscences of Snow White[Track ] in 1995, dedicating the work to Barbara Sokol.

Contemporaries of Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849) reported that he often played for them a soloversion of the Larghetto from the Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21 [Track ]. Franz Lisztcalled this movement “resplendent with rare dignity of style, and containing passages of wondrousinterest and astonishing grandeur. The whole movement is of an almost ideal perfection; its expres-sion is now radiant with light and anon full of tender pathos.” Hermann Scholtz, another cele-brated pianist, who transcribed the movement for solo piano in the 19th century, wrote: “It is apiece full of poetic charm. In it all the attributes of a perfect work of art appear in the happiestunion; noble melody, choice harmonies, agreeable figures, and the perfection of form, while thethoroughly original ideas are finely contrasted.” Earl Wild states: “The dramatic middle section,which is accompanied by a tremolo in the orchestra, necessitated a total adjustment in transcribingthis work for solo performance.” Mr. Wild’s transcription was completed in 1985.

— Notes by Marina and Victor Ledin, © 1999.

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EARL WILD“When Earl Wild performs, the Golden Age of the keyboard suddenly reappears.”

TIME Magazine (1995)

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Earl Wild is a pianist in the grandRomantic tradition. His legendarycareer, so distinguished and long, hascontinued for well over 70 years.Born in 1915, in Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania, Earl Wild’s technicalaccomplishments are often likened towhat those of Liszt himself must havehad. Born with absolute pitch hestarted playing the piano at three.Having studied with great pianistssuch as Egon Petri, his lineage can betraced back to Scharwenka, Busoni,Ravel, d’Albert and Liszt himself.

Earl Wild’s career is dotted withmusical legends. As a young pianisthe was soloist with Arturo Toscaniniand the NBC Symphony. Since thenhe has performed with virtually everymajor conductor and symphonyorchestra in the world. Rachmaninovwas an important idol in his life. It’sbeen said of Earl Wild, “He’s theincarnation of Rachmaninov,Lhevinne and Rosenthal rolled intoone!” In 1986 after hearing him playthree sold-out Carnegie Hall con-certs, devoted to Liszt, honoring the Earl Wild

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centenary of that composer’s death, one critic said, “I find it impossible to believe that he playedthose millions of notes with 70-year-old fingers, so fresh-sounding and precise were they. Perhapshe has a worn-out set up in his attic, a la Oscar Wilde’s Picture of Dorian Gray.”

He’s one of the few American pianists to have achieved international as well as domestic celebri-ty. He has performed for six Presidents of the United States, beginning with Herbert Hoover, andin 1939, was the first classical pianist to give a recital on the new medium of Television. At four-teen he was performing in the Pittsburgh Symphony with Otto Klemperer as well as working atradio station KDKA, where he played many of his own compositions. As a virtuoso pianist, com-poser, transcriber, conductor, editor and teacher, Mr. Wild continues in the style of the legendarygreat artists of the past.

In addition to his distinguished concert career, which encompasses performances with othereminent conductors such as Stokowski, Reiner, Maazel, Solti and Mitropoulos, and artists likeCallas, Tourel, Pons, Melchior, Peerce and Bumbry, Wild successfully shines as both a conductorand composer. His Easter oratorio, Revelations, was broadcast by the ABC network in 1962 andagain in 1964. Wild’s most recent composition, Variations on a Theme of Stephen Foster for pianoand orchestra (“Doo-Dah” Variations), premiered with Wild as soloist with the Des MoinesSymphony Orchestra in 1992.

Earl Wild has been called “the finest transcriber of our time,” and his piano transcriptions arewidely known and respected.

This eminent pianist has built an extensive repertoire over the years, which includes both thestandard and modern literature. He has become world renown in particular for his brilliant perfor-mances of the virtuoso Romantic works. Today at 84, Mr. Wild continues to record and performconcerts throughout the world. In 1997, he won a Grammy® Award for this disc, “The RomanticMaster” – Virtuoso Piano Transcriptions. Praised by critics and music lovers around the world as a“stunning document of musical sensitivity and virtuosity” and “a tribute to America’s greatestpianistic treasure” — this CD is once again available in its original HDCD state-of-the-art audio-phile sound.

When he was 79, he recorded a well received Beethoven disc which included the monumentalHammerklavier Sonata, as well as another disc composed of Rachmaninov’s Preludes and the SecondPiano Sonata. Mr. Wild was also included in Philips’ Great Pianists of the 20th Century series witha double CD devoted to piano transcriptions. As an Ivory Classics® artist, he has just recorded three20th century piano sonatas by Barber, Hindemith and Stravinsky as well as a sonata of his own,which will be released in the year 2000 (his 85th birthday year).

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Phone: 888-40-IVORY or 614-761-8709 • Fax: 614-761-9799e-mail@ivoryclassics.com • Website: http://www.IvoryClassics.com

CREDITS

Recorded in Fernleaf Abbey, Columbus, Ohio, May 7-11, 199520-bit HDCD encoded

Producer: Michael Rolland Davis

Engineer: Ed Thompson

Piano Technician: Andrei Svetlichny

Special thanks to the Michael Palm Foundation

This disc is dedicated to the memory of Michael Palm and Andrei Svetlichny

Liner Notes: Marina and Victor Ledin

Design: Communication Graphics

Inside Tray Photo: Earl Wild’s 1997 Grammy® Award

This disc was previously released in 1995 on Sony Classical [SK62036]

Printed Scores of Earl Wild’s Transcriptions are available from:Michael Rolland Davis Productions, Publisher, ASCAP

2233 Fernleaf Lane • Columbus, Ohio 43235 USAPhone: (614) 761-1755 • Fax: (614) 761-9799

All of Mr. Wild’s Transcriptions are ASCAP

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Saint-Saëns /Wild: Le Rouet d’Omphale, Op.31 8:12 *Handel /Wild: Air and Variations – The Harmonious Blacksmith 4:26 *Chopin /Wild: Larghetto, from Piano Concerto No.2 in F minor, Op.21 9:17 *Rachmaninov /Wild: Midsummer Nights, Op.14, No.5 3:26Tchaikovsky /Pabst: Paraphrase on Sleeping Beauty 6:58 *Fauré /Wild: Improvisation on “Après un rêve” 2:40 *Bach /Wild: Hommage à Poulenc 4:23 *Mozart / Backhaus: Serenade from Don Giovanni 2:42Churchill /Wild: Reminiscences of Snow White 7:49 *“Whistle While You Work” – “I’m Wishing” – “One Song” –“Heigh-Ho” – “Someday My Prince Will Come”Tchaikovsky /Wild: At the Ball, Op.38, No.3 3:00 *Tchaikovsky /Wild: Dance of the Four Swans from Swan Lake 1:40Johann Strauss, Jr./Tausig: Man lebt nur einmal 7:22Kreisler / Rachmaninov: Liebesleid 4:40

Total Playing Time: 66:54 • *World Premiere Recording

Producer: Michael Rolland Davis • Engineer: Ed Thompson

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1999 Ivory Classics® • All Rights Reserved.Ivory Classics® • P.O. Box 341068

Columbus, Ohio 43234-1068 U.S.A. Phone: 888-40-IVORY or 614-761-8709 • Fax: 614-761-9799e-mail@ivoryclassics.com • Website: www.IvoryClassics.com

64405-70907 STEREO

Earl Wild Virtuoso Piano TranscriptionsEarl Wild Virtuoso Piano Transcriptions