Title: Godowsky: Easy Listening Piano Classics
Artist: Godowsky, Leopold
Label: Naxos
Product Type: COMPACT DISCS
UPC: 747313809370
Genre: Classical Composers, Box Sets

I love the piano and those who love the piano. The piano as a medium for expression is a whole world by itself. No other instrument can fill or replace it's own say in the world of emotion, sentiment, poetry, imagery and fancy.' These words, written in 1931 by Leopold Godowsky (1870-1938) could stand as the virtuoso pianist and composer's artistic credo. Some basic lessons, and a mere three months of study in Berlin aside, he was largely self-taught, yet made his first public appearance aged nine and began touring as a piano wunderkind. As a concert pianist, he would perform in every continent except Antarctica and Australia. Liszt's death in 1886 scotched Godowsky's plan to study with the legendary virtuoso, who in his own youth had been inspired by Paganini. He traveled instead to Paris, where he befriended Camille Saint-Saëns. The French composer and pianist introduced him to many leading French musicians, and even proposed to adopt Godowsky if he would take his surname, though Godowsky declined the offer. In 1890 Godowsky began teaching at the New York College of Music. While there, he married Frieda Saxe and became an American citizen. In 1894 he moved to the Broad Street Conservatory in Philadelphia, and in 1895 to the Chicago Conservatory, where he headed the piano department. A successful European concert tour in 1900 landed him once again in Berlin, where he divided his time between performing and teaching. From 1909 to 1914 he taught master classes at the Vienna Academy of Music. When World War I broke out, he returned to New York, maintaining friendships with many distinguished performers and celebrities; Sergei Rachmaninov dedicated his Polka de W.R. to him. Godowsky was also a close friend of Albert Einstein. Godowsky resumed touring after the Great War, but suffered a stroke while making a recording in London on 17 June 1930. His latter years were marked by family tragedy and his death in 1938, of stomach cancer, was mourned as 'A calamitous loss'. Despite his formidable reputation, Godowsky remained modest, writing that 'A few know the begin to live.

Tracks:
1.1 No. 1. Nocturnal Tangier
1.2 No. 2. Sylvan Tyrol
1.3 No. 3. Paradoxical Mood
1.4 No. 6. the Pleading Troubadour
1.5 No. 7. Yesteryear ?
1.6 No. 8. a Watteau Paysage
1.7 No. 9. Enchanted Glen
1.8 No. 21. Orientale
1.9 No. 22. Wienerisch
1.10 Part I: II. Wayang-Purwa, Puppet Shadow Plays
1.11 Part II: IV. Chattering Monkeys at the Sacred Lake of Wendit
1.12 No. 3. Das Wanderin (Arr. of Die Schone Mullerin, Op. 25, D. 795: No. 1. Das Wanderin)
1.13 No. 11. Heidenroslein (Arr. of Heidenroslein, Op. 3, No. 3, D. 257)
1.14 No. 12. Am Meer
1.15 No. 9. An Mignon, Op. 19, No. 2, D. 161
1.16 Renaissance, Book 2: No. 9. Sarabande (Lully)
1.17 No. 3. Menuet in a Minor (Rameau)
1.18 Plaintive Melody: Andante Cantabile
1.19 Nocturne: Andante Espressivo
1.20 Barcarole: Andantino Espressivo
1.21 IV. Allegretto Grazioso E Dolce
1.22 No. 11. Alt-Wien, Whose Yesterdays Look Backwards with a Smile Through Tears
1.23 No. 12. Ethiopian Serenade
1.24 No. 15. the Temptress
1.25 No. 17. An American Idyll
1.26 No. 18. Anachronisms
1.27 No. 19. a Little Tango Rag
2.1 Menuet No. 1
2.2 Au Jardin Des Fleurs
2.3 Serenade
2.4 No. 1. Devotion
2.5 No. 2. Avowal
2.6 No. 1. Ein Dammerungsbild
2.7 No. 2. Menuet
2.8 I. Exaudet's Minuet
2.9 II. Lisette
2.10 III. Good Old Granny
2.11 IV. Mother, Please Explain
2.12 V. Capricious Shepherd Maid
2.13 VI. Would That I Were the Lowly Fern
2.14 VII. Oh, Come Again, Beautiful Spring
2.15 No. 1. in G Major
2.16 No. 2. in a Major
2.17 No. 1. Melodie Meditative
2.18 III. the Miller's Song: Allegretto
2.19 IV. Processional March: Moderato
2.20 Arabian Chant (Orientale): Placido
2.21 Part II: V. Boro Budur in Moonlight
2.22 Part IV: XI. the Ruined Water Castle at Djokja
2.23 No. 6. Die Forelle (Arr. of Die Forelle, D. 550)
2.24 No. 7. Wiegenlied (Arr. of Wiegenlied, Op. 98, No. 2, D. 498)
2.25 No. 5. Litanei (Arr. of Am Tage Aller Seelen, D. 343, Litanei Auf Das Fest Aller Seelen)
3.1 III. Aria: Andante - Molto Espressivo E Cantabile
3.2 Humoresque: Allegretto Grazioso
3.3 Impromptu (In Days of Yore): Adagio Cantabile
3.4 The Hunter's Call (Woodland Mood): Moderato
3.5 Military March: Tempo Giusto
3.6 In Church: Andante
3.7 At Night: Moderato
3.8 Lullaby: Andante
3.9 Rustic Dance: Allegro Con Brio
3.10 No. 21. the Salon
3.11 No. 23. the Music-Box
3.12 No. 24. Lullaby
3.13 No. 25. Memories
3.14 No. 26. the Cuckoo Clock
3.15 No. 27. Lament
3.16 No. 8. Pastorale (Angelus) in G Major (Corelli)
3.17 No. 7. Menuet in E Flat Major (Schobert)
3.18 No. 1. Sarabande in E Major (Rameau)
3.19 No. 11. Capriccio (Le Caquet) in E Major (Dandrieu)
3.20 No. 14. Musette en Rondeau in E Major (Rameau)
3.21 No. 3. Wein, Weib Und Gesang