70805 for PDF 11/05 - Ivory Classics

children (a daughter who died shortly
after their arrival to Paris, and a son).
Through some unfortunate carelessness
Moritz Moszkowski lost the copyrights to
his compositions during World War I, and
eventually died from a painful throat illness
in near poverty on March 4, 1925 in
Paris.
Today, Moszkowski is best remembered
for a few delightful piano pieces —
the Etudes, Opus 72, Etincelles (“Sparks”),
Opus 36, No.6 (popularized by Hofmann
and Horowitz), and his Spanish Dances
for piano 4-hands, Opus 12. He also
composed operas, ballets, orchestral
suites, songs, concertos, and chamber
music — many of which remain forgotten.
No proper re-assessment of
Moszkowski’s compositions has taken
place nor has anyone written a biography
of this once influential teacher, pianist
and composer. Most writers on music
continue to repeat the pejorative term
Moritz Moszkowski
“salon composer” when commenting on
Moszkowski. How unfortunate.
Much of Moszkowski’s music is written for the piano. These works are generally
miniatures, always well-crafted and pianistic. His early song cycles demonstrate an
affinity for the voice and are written in a powerful Brahmsian mode. The orchestral
suites show Moszkowski to be a brilliant orchestrator having a powerful grasp of
polyphony. The operas and ballets evidence a keen understanding of theatrical
music and have been performed all over the world. The piano and violin concertos
are brilliant showpieces, full of delicious melodies. Yet, despite all this musical
evidence, Moszkowski is not accorded much attention and is often considered a
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