70907 for PDF 11/05 - Ivory Classics

Earl Wild – The Romantic Master
VIRTUOSO PIANO TRANSCRIPTIONS
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The word “transcription” comes from transcribe — to write out in full. When applied to the art
of music, it refers to a composition that is arranged or adapted for an instrument, voice, or ensemble
other than that for which it was originally written. Since the earliest of times composers and
performers have been arranging, improvising, paraphrasing, borrowing, or recasting popular
themes. 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 on
popular themes of the day. Mozart chose themes by Salieri, Grétry, Gluck, and Duport. Even the
popular 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 themes
by others.
During the 19th century some of the most popular operatic tunes were circulated for the amateur
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 piano
transcriptions for enjoyment at home. The popularity of this music did not go unnoticed by the
virtuoso pianists of the day. Sigismond Thalberg and Franz Liszt amazed audiences with their extraordinary,
difficult and elaborate improvisations on themes from opera, song, chamber music or
symphonic works.
Franz Liszt (1811-1886) was an inveterate transcriber. Whether the melody was a simple folk
song, 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 compositions
are transcriptions, paraphrases, reminiscences, or fantasies on other composers’ music.
Liszt possessed an amazing response to poetic imagery. He believed that purely musical images of
poetic ideas are capable of being projected to the listener and that he could illustrate such imagery
without words. This was his lifelong aesthetic. Liszt transcribed about 150 songs. In addition, he
transcribed 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 virtuoso
pianists who were to follow.
On this disc, we hear transcriptions by four
great pianists of the past, and nine transcriptions
by Earl Wild, the last living link to the great
romantic pianistic traditions of that past.
The least well-known transcriber in this collection
is Pavel (Paul)Pabst (1854-1897). Pabst
was the son of a German organist. He graduated
from the Vienna Hochschule für Musik and took
piano lessons from Franz Liszt. In 1878 Pabst was
invited by Nikolai Rubinstein to join the faculty
of the Moscow Conservatory. After Rubinstein’s
death in 1883, Pabst became the Conservatory’s
director. His influence on Russian musicians was
impressive. Among his students were Konstantin
Igumnov, Nikolai Medtner, Alexander
Goldenweiser, Alexander Gedike, Sergei
Lyapunov, the Conus brothers, and Elena
Bekman-Shcherbina. Pabst was renowned as a
virtuoso pianist, famous as an interpreter of
Liszt’s and Schumann’s music, and an advocate of
Pavel Pabst (1854-1897)
works by his friends Tchaikovsky and Arensky.
He composed an enormous amount of original music, including a virtuosic Piano Concerto and a
beautiful Piano Trio, but it is the brilliant piano paraphrases on themes by Rubinstein and
Tchaikovsky which are best known today. Pabst’s impressive Paraphrase de Concert sur le ballet
“La belle au bois dormant” [Track 5 ] [Paraphrase on Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty] was originally
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 of
the ballet, opening with the dramatic entrance of the wicked fairy Carabosse, who places a curse on
the newborn princess.
Wilhelm Backhaus (1884-1969) was one of the truly great pianists of this century. Born in
Leipzig, he made his debut at the age of eight. At the age of eleven he met Johannes Brahms, a
meeting he would never forget. Brahms remained an inspiration throughout his life, yet his later
fame rested on his interpretations of Beethoven’s works. Backhaus studied with Liszt pupil and
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legendary pianist Eugen d’Albert. After winning
the Anton Rubinstein Prize in 1905, Backhaus
was appointed professor at the Royal College of
Music in Manchester. By the time he made his
American debut in 1912, he was recognized in
many of the leading European capitals as one of
the outstanding living interpreters of the classic
piano literature. That performance with the New
York Philharmonic also made Backhaus one of
the most famous concert artists in America. One
New York critic wrote: “his type is most unusual.
In appearance he resembles a slender god just
stepped from Olympus. What is more he plays
like a god, too. He is Liszt, Rubinstein and
Paderewski rolled into one. Why he created a
furore is easy to understand.” The New York
Times proclaimed the performance “brilliant,
crisp, with true poetical feeling.” He continued to
tour the United States through 1926 and became
internationally admired for his marvellous
recordings. He returned to New York in 1954 to
sold-out concerts. The two all-Beethoven concerts
at Carnegie Hall in 1956 elicited from
Wilhelm Backhaus (1884-1969)
Harold 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 of
eighty, Backhaus undertook to record the 32 Beethoven sonatas for the third time, this time in
stereo. By the time he died in 1969 he had completed the project, except for one sonata, the
Hammerklavier, Op.106.
In his concerts Backhaus performed an astonishing variety of music. Besides the standard
repertoire by Mozart, Bach, Brahms, Schumann, and Beethoven, he included many compositions
of Liszt and Chopin (he was the very first pianist to record the Chopin’s 24 Études!), and rarities
by Palmgren, Seeling, Herzog, Wertheim, Pick-Mangiagalli, and others. Many of his recitals
included 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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o mio tesoro) from Act II of Mozart’s Don
Giovanni [Track 8 ]. Backhaus’ transcription,
published in 1924, captures the strains of Don
Giovanni’s mandolin Serenade beautifully, retaining
its charm, while being unusually free and
ornate in its pianistic treatment.
Carl Tausig (1841-1871) studied with Liszt
and made his public début in 1858. His life and
career were tragically cut short when he died of
typhoid fever. Musicians and critics agreed that
Tausig was almost Liszt’s equal in grandeur of
interpretation and in technique. As a composer,
Tausig left a legacy of original compositions and
masterful transcriptions. The most difficult of
these were Tausig’s extraordinary transcriptions of
Liszt’s symphonic poems. The transcriptions of
Schubert’s works have remained ever popular,
while Tausig’s five Valse-Caprices on themes by
Johann Strauss, Jr. were published in two books
entitled Nouvelles Soirées de Vienne. The first
group were published by Haslinger in Vienna in
1862. Tausig created these as an addendum to
Liszt’s series (based on Schubert’s works) and dedicated
the set to his teacher. Amy Fay, who studied with Kullak, Tausig and Liszt, wrote extensively
about these works: “Tausig, in my opinion, possessed exceptional genius in compositions, though
he left few works behind him to attest it. Prominent among these are his unique arrangements of
Strauss’ 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 product
of the highest mental force and culture. Calling the waltz itself the wrap of the composition, then
through its simple threads we find darting backwards and forwards a subtle, complicated, and tragic
sentiment, and a piquant, aerial fancy, until finally is wrought a brilliant and bewildering transcription
— transfiguration rather — of endless fascination and tantalizing beauty, which no one
but a virtuoso can play and no one but a connoisseur can comprehend. In a peculiar manner he
leaves a stamp upon the heart...” Earl Wild performs the Valse-Caprice No.2 (“Man lebt nur
einmal,” 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 it
often and recorded it in 1927. It is difficult to summarize the genius and artistry of Rachmaninov
in just a few sentences. Rachmaninov was a true master musician. Arguably the finest pianist of his
day and renowned also as a conductor, he was, as a composer, one of the most important figures of
Russian late Romanticism. Although his technical and interpretative mastery were incidental to his
creative genius, his recordings continue to fascinate and enthral, for no pianist of that era has left
such a treasure trove of extraordinary performances. As a composer, Rachmaninov left a permanent
and indelible imprint on all pianists who followed him. His Preludes and Concertos are standard
repertoire — 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 century
and his influence on performers and composers is still being felt today. Earl Wild has often stated
that “Rachmaninov was the most important musical influence in my life.” Mr. Wild has performed
all of Rachmaninov’s piano compositions, has recorded all of the concertos, and transcribed
thirteen of Rachmaninov’s sumptuous songs. Mr. Wild writes: “The enduring beauty of the songs
gave me the motivation for the transcriptions. As a student, I met the famous Russian soprano Maria
Kurenko. Rachmaninov often accompanied her in his songs. Madame Kurenko taught me much
about their interpretation. In particular, I have a deep affection for Midsummer Nights, which I find
to be one of Rachmaninov’s loveliest songs.” Midsummer Nights, Opus 14, No.5 [Track 4 ] was
composed by Rachmaninov in September of 1896. Dedicated to Maria Gutheil, the wife of the publisher
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 Fritz
Kreisler’s delicious violin work, Liebesleid
(“Love’s Sorrow”) [Track 13 ] was first performed
by Rachmaninov at a concert in Chicago on
November 20, 1921. Kreisler wrote this as part of
a trilogy of Alt Wiener Tanzweisen (“Old Viennese
Dance Melodies”). When Rachmaninov recorded
his own transcription on a reproducing piano roll
for the Ampico Corporation, they published the
following information in their catalogue:
“Kreisler’s beautiful old Viennese dance melodies
have delighted thousands of music lovers who
have heard them. There is a plaintive appeal in
these dance melodies of a far-off time, recalling
the festivities of other days, when the waltz
rhythm was a newly discovered delight. They
come with much charm inseparable from folk
music, and bear the unmistakable stamp of their
Viennese origin. Rachmaninov has taken one of
the loveliest, a love song, and added embellishments
of his own that set it forth in a new dress,
but with all its original beauty shining through
the shimmering filigree with which he adorns it.”
In 1881, when Saint-Saëns was elected to
the Institut de France someone said, “If it were
Sergei Rachmaninov (1873-1943)
necessary to characterize Saint-Saëns in a few
words we should call him the best musician in
France.” He was a man of extraordinary, and seemingly inexhaustible, energy and drive. He was
an expert organist and pianist, teacher, founder of the Société Nationale de Musique. He edited
the music of other composers, including a comprehensive edition of Rameau’s works, and wrote
theoretical treatises on harmony and melody. Beyond all this he was an amateur astronomer,
physicist, archaeologist, and natural historian. He painted and did creative writing, enjoyed
learning new languages, and was an omnivorous reader of the classics. In short, Saint-Saëns was
a man of immense culture.
Saint-Saëns was a master craftsman who had an unerring musical sense and an astonishing
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ability to produce masterpiece after masterpiece. He left an astonishing volume of work including
thirteen operas (of which Samson et Dalila is considered one of the greatest works of the French
lyric stage), ten concertos (including the delightful Carnival of the Animals for two pianos and
orchestra), 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 wrote
works for military band, cadenzas to piano concertos of Mozart and Beethoven, and transcribed
and arranged numerous works by Bach, Gluck, Schumann, Mendelssohn, Berlioz, Mozart and others.
“Of all composers, Saint-Saëns is most difficult to describe,” wrote Arthur Hervey. “He eludes
you at every moment — the elements constituting his musical personality are so varied in their
nature, 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 art
and 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 of
Music for the encouragement of French instrumental composition. About this same time the preoccupation
with the théâtre among French composers began to slack off a little and representatives
of a new symphonic school came forward. It was in this set of circumstances that the four symphonic
poems — Le Rouet d’Omphale, Op.31; Phaëton, Opus 39; Danse Macabre, Opus 40; and
La Jeunesse d’Hercule, Opus 50 — were conceived. Their part in giving prestige to the new French
symphonists was a most important one.
Le Rouet d’Omphale, Opus 31 [Omphale’s Spinning Wheel] [Track 1 ] was Saint-Saëns’ first
attempt at tone-painting. On the face of it, the music depicts the whirling and whirring of the wheel
used in spinning flax into linen thread. According to legend, the spinner is not Omphale, we are
told but Hercules, who got himself in trouble with the gods and was put into bondage to Omphale
for three years. Apparently to humiliate him, Omphale put him to spinning while dressed in
women’s clothing. The moaning theme introduced in the middle of the piece is said to be old
Hercules groaning under the burden of it all. On the flyleaf of the original piano score, Saint-Saëns
added a further note: “The subject of this symphonic poem is feminine seductiveness, the triumphant
contest of weakness against strength. The spinning wheel is merely a pretext; it is chosen
simply for the sake of its rhythmical suggestion and from the viewpoint of the general form of the
piece.” As a model Earl Wild does not use Saint-Saëns’ own rather spare piano version, but returns
to the original orchestral score, incorporating many orchestral effects into his 1995 transcription.
Tchaikovsky was most comfortable writing music for the ballet, opera, and symphony orchestra.
Although he composed for the piano extensively and throughout all of his creative life, the
bulk of the music — over one hundred pieces — consists of collections of morceaux, mostly
waltzes, 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 distinction
is important, in that, for Tchaikovsky the piano was a means to an end — an instrument
to try out ideas, audition symphonic works, or accompany the voice. Earl Wild’s 1975
transcription of Tchaikovsky’s “Dance of the Four Swans” (Pas de Quatre, Act 2) from Swan Lake,
Opus 20 (1875/76) [Track 11 ] is a pure delight. Not to be mistaken for the “Dance of the Little
Swans” which occurs in Act 4 of the ballet, the “Dance of the Four Swans” takes place in Act 2, just
prior to the Pas d’action. Swan Lake is one of the greatest ballets of all time — a Germanic fairy
tale, in which Prince Siegfried woos Odette, Queen of the Swan Maidens. The Swan Maidens are
swans 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 from
Rotbart’s magic power, but in the end he finally succeeds. Earl Wild’s transcription of Tchaikovsky’s
memorable and haunting romance from 1878, At the Ball (“Sred shumnovo bala”), Opus 38,
No.3 [Track 10 ] captures the music’s gentle poignancy reflecting the more inward feelings stirred
by 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, November
4, 1924. As a youth he had every musical advantage. He studied under the best teachers, including
Saint-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 to
Paris, and after occupying various rather minor posts as organist, he was made accompanying
organist 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 the
Madeleine, becoming organist of this famous basilica in 1896. About the same time he took up
his duties as a professor of composition at the Paris Conservatory, where he advanced continually
until in 1905 he held the post of director in succession to the organist, Theodore Dubois. With
this appointment began a period of great accomplishment. As a teacher his influence has been felt
to the present day, not only in the music of France but among all the composers who have ever
studied in that country. Among his pupils whose gifts he developed and encouraged were such
colossal figures as Nadia Boulanger, Roger-Ducasse, Aubert, Ravel, Laparra, Florent Schmitt and
many 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 6 ], Earl Wild is mindful
of not only the words but also Lotte Lehmann’s sage advise: “Begin this song as if still in a
dream... it is also important that each phrase be sung with a swing, with a soft rise and fall... Begin
with 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 was
steady rather than spectacular and while his achievement was considerable by the time he took
English nationality at the age of forty-one his best known works — in almost every field — were
yet to come.
A year after George I had confirmed Handel’s British citizenship and appointed him to the
post 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 and
orchestra 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 of
his oratorio Saul at the King’s Theatre. He had completed this work in September, 1738, and only
four days later, on October 1, plunged into Israel in Egypt, which he composed in the space of
about three weeks, a feat that remains incredible, even when we grant the fact that he used a great
deal 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, with
the success of Messiah. Considering the rate at which Handel was producing masterpiece after
masterpiece, we might expect to find something feverish, something overdriven, in the Concerti
Grossi. But we find nothing of the kind. It is true, as Romain Rolland and others have pointed
out, 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 he
could throw off completely formed and balanced works that unite classical beauty with the utmost
freedom of imagination.
Handel composed sixteen keyboard suites which were published between 1720 and 1733. The
Suite No.5 in E Major, contains four movements, concluding with Handel’s most famous keyboard
work, the so-called “Harmonious Blacksmith.” The title accorded this Air con Variazioni cannot be
found in any publication prior to the 19th century. The movement is a straight forward air with
five variations which become progressively more elaborate. In his 1993 transcription of the Air and
Variations - “The Harmonious Blacksmith” [Track 2 ], Mr. Wild shows his consummate knowledge
of 18th century performance practices. Earl Wild has stated that he incorporated the “many
benefits of the double-keyboard harpsichord in preparing the score for modern piano. I was also
very influenced by the performances I heard of this work as a child by great masters such as Moritz
Rosenthal and Sergei Rachmaninov.” According to composer and musicologist, Hubert Parry, the
story of the “Harmonious Blacksmith” arose from a mythical account of Handel “being caught in
a shower of rain while walking near Cannons. Handel took refuge in a blacksmith’s shop, where he
heard the blacksmith whistling or singing the famous tune to the accompaniment of the ringing
sound 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. He
is gay like Paris, sad like Paris. And he bustles constantly. His hands wave, his eyebrows arch, he
twitches, grins, makes faces. When his mouth talks, all of him talks too. If he is not Paris, he is at
least French. Not even a deaf man could doubt that.” And certainly that is also true of Poulenc’s
music. In much of his music (the finest examples being his Suite française, a transcription of seven
dances 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 melancholic
mixed with liberal dashes of wry dissonances and haunting, plaintive melodies. No other 20th century
composer created music in this style, vigorous, whimsical and peppery. Earl Wild’s Hommage
à Poulenc (1995) [Track 7 ] is in essence an improvisation “in the style” of Poulenc based on Bach’s
Sarabande, from the Partita No.1 in B flat Major, BWV 825. Mr. Wild writes: “One day I happened
to be playing the well-known Sarabande from Bach’s Partita No.1. Suddenly, I wondered how it
might sound in a Poulenc setting. This notion intrigued me since Bach and Poulenc are two composers
often thought to be incompatible. I realized it was truly an homage to Poulenc, whom I
found to be a very gracious and generous man.”
The recent celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Walt Disney’s Snow White included its first
release on videotape. Earl Wild comments: “Watching Snow White brought back so many vivid
memories of the past that I wanted to write something making use of these enchanting tunes by
Frank Churchill.” Frank Churchill (1901-1942) was a pianist and composer, educated at the
University of California, Los Angeles. Among the marvelous scores he composed during his tenure
with 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), Snow
White and The Seven Dwarfs (1938), and Bambi (1942). Earl Wild’s own sense of humor adds to
the charm of the original music, developing these reminiscences (of the marvelous songs: “Whistle
While You Work”; “I’m Wishing”; “One Song”; “Heigh-Ho”; and “Someday My Prince Will
Come”) into a personal statement that pays homage to the feature-length animated film. It is one
of the few uniquely American art forms. Earl Wild completed the Reminiscences of Snow White
[Track 9 ] in 1995, dedicating the work to Barbara Sokol.
Contemporaries of Fryderyk Chopin (1810-1849) reported that he often played for them a solo
version of the Larghetto from the Piano Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21 [Track 3 ]. Franz Liszt
called this movement “resplendent with rare dignity of style, and containing passages of wondrous
interest and astonishing grandeur. The whole movement is of an almost ideal perfection; its expression
is now radiant with light and anon full of tender pathos.” Hermann Scholtz, another celebrated
pianist, who transcribed the movement for solo piano in the 19th century, wrote: “It is a
piece full of poetic charm. In it all the attributes of a perfect work of art appear in the happiest
union; noble melody, choice harmonies, agreeable figures, and the perfection of form, while the
thoroughly 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 transcribing
this work for solo performance.” Mr. Wild’s transcription was completed in 1985.
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— Notes by Marina and Victor Ledin, © 1999.

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 grand
Romantic tradition. His legendary
career, so distinguished and long, has
continued for well over 70 years.
Born in 1915, in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, Earl Wild’s technical
accomplishments are often likened to
what those of Liszt himself must have
had. Born with absolute pitch he
started playing the piano at three.
Having studied with great pianists
such as Egon Petri, his lineage can be
traced back to Scharwenka, Busoni,
Ravel, d’Albert and Liszt himself.
Earl Wild’s career is dotted with
musical legends. As a young pianist
he was soloist with Arturo Toscanini
and the NBC Symphony. Since then
he has performed with virtually every
major conductor and symphony
orchestra in the world. Rachmaninov
was an important idol in his life. It’s
been said of Earl Wild, “He’s the
incarnation of Rachmaninov,
Lhevinne and Rosenthal rolled into
one!” In 1986 after hearing him play
three sold-out Carnegie Hall concerts,
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 played
those millions of notes with 70-year-old fingers, so fresh-sounding and precise were they. Perhaps
he 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 celebrity.
He has performed for six Presidents of the United States, beginning with Herbert Hoover, and
in 1939, was the first classical pianist to give a recital on the new medium of Television. At fourteen
he was performing in the Pittsburgh Symphony with Otto Klemperer as well as working at
radio station KDKA, where he played many of his own compositions. As a virtuoso pianist, composer,
transcriber, conductor, editor and teacher, Mr. Wild continues in the style of the legendary
great artists of the past.
In addition to his distinguished concert career, which encompasses performances with other
eminent conductors such as Stokowski, Reiner, Maazel, Solti and Mitropoulos, and artists like
Callas, Tourel, Pons, Melchior, Peerce and Bumbry, Wild successfully shines as both a conductor
and composer. His Easter oratorio, Revelations, was broadcast by the ABC network in 1962 and
again in 1964. Wild’s most recent composition, Variations on a Theme of Stephen Foster for piano
and orchestra (“Doo-Dah” Variations), premiered with Wild as soloist with the Des Moines
Symphony Orchestra in 1992.
Earl Wild has been called “the finest transcriber of our time,” and his piano transcriptions are
widely known and respected.
This eminent pianist has built an extensive repertoire over the years, which includes both the
standard and modern literature. He has become world renown in particular for his brilliant performances
of the virtuoso Romantic works. Today at 84, Mr. Wild continues to record and perform
concerts throughout the world. In 1997, he won a Grammy ® Award for this disc, “The Romantic
Master” – 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 greatest
pianistic treasure” — this CD is once again available in its original HDCD state-of-the-art audiophile
sound.
When he was 79, he recorded a well received Beethoven disc which included the monumental
Hammerklavier Sonata, as well as another disc composed of Rachmaninov’s Preludes and the Second
Piano Sonata. Mr. Wild was also included in Philips’ Great Pianists of the 20th Century series with
a double CD devoted to piano transcriptions. As an Ivory Classics ® artist, he has just recorded three
20th 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).
– 14 –

CREDITS
Recorded in Fernleaf Abbey, Columbus, Ohio, May 7-11, 1995
20-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 USA
Phone: (614) 761-1755 • Fax: (614) 761-9799
All of Mr. Wild’s Transcriptions are ASCAP
To place an order or to be included on mailing list:
Ivory Classics • P.O. Box 341068 • Columbus, Ohio 43234-1068
Phone: 888-40-IVORY or 614-761-8709 • Fax: 614-761-9799
e-mail@ivoryclassics.com • Website: http://www.IvoryClassics.com
– 15 –

Earl Wild
Virtuoso Piano Transcriptions
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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 3:26
Tchaikovsky / 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 2:42
Churchill /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 1:40
Johann Strauss, Jr./Tausig: Man lebt nur einmal 7:22
Kreisler / Rachmaninov: Liebesleid 4:40
Total Playing Time: 66:54 • *World Premiere Recording
Producer: Michael Rolland Davis • Engineer: Ed Thompson
1999 Ivory Classics ® • All Rights Reserved. 64405-70907 STEREO
Ivory Classics ® • P.O. Box 341068
Columbus, Ohio 43234-1068 U.S.A.
Phone: 888-40-IVORY or 614-761-8709 • Fax: 614-761-9799
®
e-mail@ivoryclassics.com • Website: www.IvoryClassics.com