Sergei Bortkiewicz - Piano Sonata No.1, Op.9

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Intro : [0:00]
I. Allegro ma non troppo [0:05]
II. Andante mesto e molto espressivo [11:24]
III. Presto [16:49]
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Piano : Klaas Trapman
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Sergei Bortkiewicz was a Russian and Austrian Romantic composer and pianist of Polish origins. He moved to Vienna in 1922 and became a naturalized Austrian citizen in 1926.
Bortkiewicz's piano style was influenced by Franz Liszt, Frédéric Chopin, Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff, early Scriabin, Wagner, and Ukrainian folklore. The composer never saw himself as a modernist, as can be seen from his Künstlerisches Glaubensbekenntnis, written in 1923.

[@fabz1509]

Never have heard of this composer before but how appropriately I stumbled upon the Classical Gems channel to discover this beauty. ❤

[@briansunday7099]

Certain elements of this remind me of Schumann - certainly the Allegro, op. 8. Bortkiewicz did win the Schumann Prize, though I don’t suppose that anything to do with this. Perhaps the Leipzig Conservatory stressed Schumann, though Bortkiewicz’s teachers were both students of Liszt. But I speculate. Beautiful work in its own right.