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theses

This study seeks to situate the contribution of Leopold Godowsky and Franz Schmidt to the history of redefining left-hand piano music. Both were outstanding pianists and composers who came to the left-handed genres for their own individual reasons. They each defined their pianistic styles based on common traits (the music of both Chopin and Bach figured highly for both) but differed in approach owing to the genres in which they worked: Godowsky’s compositions were chiefly in the realm of solo piano music, while Schmidt’s fell in the realms of both chamber music, discussed here, and in concertos. Rather than defining the left-hand piano in a two-handed fashion as had composers before them––attempting to “normalize” the left hand by making it do the work of two––both carefully crafted the left-hand piano as a unique instrument capable of performing its own type of music. The study will begin by discussing the state of left-handed piano music before the early twentieth century from its beginnings in the eighteenth, showing how most composers came to see music written for the left-hand piano before 1900. Two larger chapters will then focus on Godowsky and Schmidt, detailing their relationship to the piano, clarifying certain of their ideas on the instrument, examining their sources of inspiration, and providing analyses of their music to show how they defined the left-hand piano as an instrument in its own right.

ETD_10685

Ph.D.

Includes bibliographical references

doi:10.7282/t3-0016-mc37

ETD doctoral

The author owns the copyright to this work.