Classical Music | Piano Music

Recorded on 06/23/2004, uploaded on 04/20/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Along with the Impromptus that date from the same time, the Six Moments Musicaux are among Schubert's most often performed piano works. They also embody the same spontaneous character as the Impromptus. The first known use of the word "Impromptu" was in 1817 and was used by a publisher to describe a piano piece by Czech composer Jan Václav Voříšek. It is possible that the Impromptus of Voříšek were influential on Franz Schubert's own Impromptus and Moments Musicaux much in the same way Chopin drew inspiration from the Nocturnes of John Field.

The third piece of the set, an Allegro moderato in F minor, begins with a folk-like tune over a simple accompaniment in the left hand. Three melodic ideas are heard, each eight measures long and repeated. After the third idea, a single restatement of the first appears. A fourth idea then follows, though, its similarity to the first gives it more the impression of a short coda. The final cadence brings the piece to a close in F major.

The Polish American pianist, Leopold Godowsky, arranged the piece, embellishing it with more florid harmony.      Joseph DuBose

Six Moments Musicaux, op. 94 (D 780), no. 3       Franz Schubert

One of the great players of his time, Polish-American pianist Leopold Godowsky was born in Lithuania in 1870. He made his first public appearance as a pianist in 1879, and in 1884 he gave his first concert in the United States-in Boston. In 1886 he traveled to Paris, with the object of studying with Camille Saint-Saëns. Their relationship continued for three years and allowed Godowky to meet the leading figures in contemporary musical life. In 1890 he returned to America, where he taught and continued his career as a performer, while at the same time writing music of his own for the piano.  His performance career was curtailed by a stroke in 1930, which incapacitated him until his death in 1938.

Godowsky's Moment musical No. 3 is an arrangement of Schubert's famous piece in a different key, with the addition of colorful harmony and humor.  A.Wakabayashi

Courtesy of International Music Foundation.