This recording is part of the 2020 commemoration by the Lithuanian Parliament and UNESCO of the 300th anniversary of Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, known as the Vilna Gaon.
Recording & Production
This album was recorded in Vilnius from September 7-11, 2020, at the Grand Hall of the Lithuanian National Philharmonic, with Mūza Rubackytė as artistic director.
Performer Biography
Mūza Rubackytė, the performer on this album, was a member of the Lithuanian resistance and was denied a passport until 1989.
Compositional Technique
The Sonata in E minor is a substantial work of nearly fifty minutes, structured in five movements, and employs a cyclical principle where themes reappear later in the work.
Composer Biography
Leopold Godowsky, a renowned keyboard virtuoso, was born in Žasliai, near Vilnius, into a Jewish family, and lived there until he was 14.
Composition History
Godowsky's Sonata in E minor is dedicated to his wife, Frieda Sachse, and was likely composed between 1906 and 1910.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Godowsky's musical language in his Sonata in E minor is Post-Romantic, using a tonality that is richly chromaticized, similar to Scriabin's middle period.
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