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Leopold Godowsky's Preface to his Studies on Chopin's Etudes Introduction: The 53 studies, built upon 26 Chopin Études, serve a triple purpose: to enrich the mechanical, technical, and musical possibilities of piano playing, to further develop the instrument's unique nature accessible to polyphonic, polyrhythmic, and polydynamic work, and to enhance the possibilities of tonal coloration. The remarkable mental and physical demands placed on the player by this work will undoubtedly lead to a higher level of mastery of the instrument. Simultaneously, the piano composer will find various inspirations for technical and musical expressions for the piano in general. It should be noted that amidst the numerous contrapuntal innovations that often span the entire keyboard, the fingering and pedal markings sometimes appear revolutionary, especially in the 22 studies intended for the left hand alone. The preparatory exercises accompanying several studies greatly aid in mastering the mechanics of the piano, serving as preparatory studies for both arrangements and original etudes. The 53 Chopin studies are suitable for concert performances as well as private study.
Special Remarks on the Studies for the Left Hand Alone: Through the 22 studies for the left hand alone, the author aims to refute the prevailing notion that the left hand is less capable of development than the right. The left hand possesses advantages over the right, and it is incorrect to assume that the left hand is less capable of attaining complete mastery compared to the right. Noteworthy distinctions can prove that the left hand is actually advantageous over the right. The left hand offers the advantage of assigning the stronger part of the hand to emphasize the more prominent part of the melody, just as the stronger fingers lead the upper line in double notes and chords. Additionally, the left hand, governing the lower register of the keyboard, produces a fuller, softer tone with less effort and more elasticity—superior in quality and quantity to the right hand. Another reason the left hand is more amenable to training is that its musculature is more flexible due to less usage. Evidence supporting this view lies in the fact, to the best of the author's knowledge, that aside from one exception, compositions for the right hand alone are scarce, while numerous compositions exist solely for the left hand. The majority of compositions existing solely for the left hand essentially reflect composers' endeavors to develop the left hand predominantly in a superficially virtuosic manner. In many cases, far-reaching arpeggios interwoven with a simple melody resulted in only superficial effects, whereas in these specialized studies for the left hand, the intention is to acquire the enrichment of expressive means brought about by modern evolution.
The piano, with its unique characteristics housing a miniature orchestra, should, according to the author, capitalize on the significant progress made in composition and instrumentation in terms of polyphony, harmony, tonal coloration, and abundant modern contrapuntal techniques.
If it is possible to perform works with the left hand alone that were originally intended for two hands—what prospects does this open up for future composers allowed to extend this achievement to both hands!
Godowsky: 53 Studies on Chopin's Etudes When Leopold Godowsky completed the first ten of his studies on Chopin's Etudes, he was only twenty-three years old. Has any other composer produced works of such a revolutionary nature at such a young age without extensive formal training? Certainly none who had received so little formal education. Born on February 13, 1870, in Soschli near Vilnius (then part of the Russian Empire, now the capital of Lithuania), Godowsky remains an exceptional case as the only major classical virtuoso in the history of piano music to be self-taught. Only some basic knowledge was imparted to him haphazardly as a child, and he spent a mere three months as a prodigy at the Royal Academy of Music in Berlin at the age of thirteen. Godowsky is often labeled as a protégé of Saint-Saëns, who befriended the young pianist three years later. However, as grateful as he was for the kind interest shown, he emphasized that the relationship was not that of a student and teacher (The Étude, January 1928). "I have not had three months of instruction in my life," wrote Godowsky in 1919 for The Musical Leader and added in his autobiographical chapter "Retrospect" (1938): "I do not recall whether anyone taught me the value and meaning of notes and fingering on the piano, or if I acquired my knowledge autodidactically, but I do know for certain that from the age of five I had no further assistance."
Perhaps it was this intellectual independence, free from the academic ideas and traditions of conservatory professors, that prompted Godowsky to reconsider certain pianistic issues without constraints. After settling in Chicago in 1890, he spent a decade climbing the ranks as a concert pianist while simultaneously succeeding as a teacher. In 1891, Godowsky began experimenting with a loose arm position as a means to enhance his technique—a principle adopted by many great pianists, including Anton Rubinstein and Teresa Carreña, but Godowsky was among the first to explain and pass it on to his students. Around the same time, he started writing his initial piano arrangements—not the typical transcriptions of orchestral or vocal works by other composers but of existing piano music: Chopin's Rondo op. 16 and Grande Valse Brillante in E-flat major op. 18, as well as Henselt's Etude op. 2 No. 6 "Si oiseau j'étais." In 1893, the same year he released his first studies on Chopin's Études, he was appointed Head of the Piano Department at the Chicago Conservatory.
These factors—his success as a piano educator, his interest in solving and developing technical issues, his ambition to refine his personal piano mechanics, his encyclopedic knowledge of piano literature, the necessity to expand his repertoire, his unusual interest in adapting piano works—contributed to inspiring the extraordinary collection that would grow into the 53 Studies on Chopin’s Études.
Just prior to his death in 1938, Godowsky submitted an article titled "Pedagogical Experiments at Both Extremes of Piano Art” to a publication called Overtones. It is worth quoting extensively:
I assume some readers may be interested in how I came to compose these studies. In June 1893, I traveled to Chicago to visit the World’s Columbian Exposition. My enthusiasm for many of the scientific and aesthetic wonders I witnessed, and the marvelous impressions I gathered, knew no bounds. Upon my return to New York, I spoke so tirelessly and extravagantly about the World's Fair that my brother-in-law and his fiancée decided to spend their honeymoon at the Chicago Exhibition. As it was their first time leaving New York, I offered to accompany them. Everything was prepared accordingly, but at the last moment unforeseen circumstances prevented me from joining them. They wrote to me from Niagara Falls, where they made an overnight stop, expressing their great delight in one of the natural wonders of the world, and then continued to Chicago. The letter arrived in the morning, and in the afternoon, newspapers brought extra editions reporting on a dreadful calamity, the most horrific train accident in America's history that occurred near Battle Creek, Michigan. My brother-in-law and his wife were among the nearly one hundred people who lost their lives in the tragedy. At that time, I was practicing Chopin’s double-thirds Étude [Op. 25 No. 6]. Struggling to distract myself from dwelling on the tragic event, I focused on devising a more practical fingering for the double notes in this Étude. After numerous experiments, I managed to find an entirely new sequence of fingers that seemed to be the most efficient. I then transferred the study to the left hand to see if the same fingering could be applied: Much to my surprise, I discovered that the left hand was more accessible to my experiments compared to the right. Upon realizing this, I experimented with other studies that posed specific mechanical challenges. For instance, I transcribed the Black Key Étude, the Sixths Étude, the Étude with the wide-spanning arpeggios [Op. 10 No. 5, Op. 25 No. 8, and Op. 10 No. 1], etc. The more I transcribed, the more evident it became to me that the left hand could adapt to mechanical and technical difficulties just as effectively as the right hand. Ultimately, I concluded that the left hand, when given the opportunity, is easier to develop. To justify myself within the ongoing controversy regarding the aesthetic and ethical rights of a composer to use the works, themes, or motifs of another composer as a basis for paraphrases, variations, etc., I must state that this entirely depends on the intent, nature, and quality of the "offending" work. Since Chopin’s Études are universally recognized as the highest manifestation of the étude form within the realm of beautiful piano music and are also mechanically and technically useful, I deemed it wisest to build upon their solid, inviolable foundation to promote the art of piano playing. As I find any alteration to a masterpiece distasteful when performed in its original form, I would condemn any artist who takes liberties with the works of Chopin or another significant composer. The original Chopin Études remain intact as they were before appearing in an amended form; indeed, many artists argue that through diligent study of my versions,