What I Learned from Horowitz: A Pianist’s Perspective

[@mgwhitney]

I saw an interview of him and he said two things that have inspired my playing ever since. 1) "I don't play at 100% of my energy level, I play at 40%." 2) "It's not how one plays the notes - it's how one plays the spaces between the notes."

[@LivingPianosVideos]

Those are both enlightening statements. Thanks for sharing!

[@tiffanyholmes4960]

That's the main point of ALL great music teachers!

[@lordemed1]

Like the negative space around sculpture/

[@hameedkhalaf]

What does it mean spaces between notes

[@barney6888]

@@hameedkhalaf Playing evenly, both in rhythm and in tone. It comes after many, many, many hours of practice. and, not just practice, but loving to sit at the piano all day and play. the "space" is a way of saying, play perfectly evenly. If there is any tension in your hand, it will hamper the "up" movement of your fingers and cause all kinds of havoc in tone and rhythm.

[@leonmaliniak]

There are many great pianists but HOROWITZ was in a league of his own. You could go on and on with endless explanations and analyses of how and why he was so unique but it would never end because it was so multi-faceted. My theory is that he was an extra-terrestrial with two brains...so powerful and independent we're his two hands that at time it sounded like two or more pianists. But to me one of the most impressive qualities was his infinite MEMORY encompassing an enormous repertoire. Then there was his physical stamina. In his later years he looked so frail, so weak and barely able to walk or to speak...until he sits down at the piano and becomes this super-duper ONE OF A KIND

[@vickiehorowitz1934]

Thanks so much Robert. Loved hearing your explanations of Horowitz's genius (and understand that you weren't trying to imitate him. I LOVE Horowitz stories. I have a teacher in London who is Horowitz's great niece and a wonderful pianist. Vladimir's sister, Regina was her great grandmother and her first teacher. Even that distant connection to Vladimir is inspiring to me. (My last name is Horowitz (got it from my husband) and of course any new teacher has to ask about it :-)). Thanks again for this great video!

[@charlesdavis7087]

He plummeted the depths of the dynamics of each work he played. He rarely played the same phrase the same way. There is always something unique and special about these similar phrases. He made you listen for these differences.

[@andygoh8681]

Your last videos are just unbelievably satisfying to watch and listen to.

[@LivingPianosVideos]

That's great to hear! I am trying to come up with engaging content after making almost 1,200 videos!

[@rennedelorean3341]

About Rachmaninov, who has long been my favorite . . . Mr. Horrowitz said, "He was my best friend, I was like a son to him." Rachmaninov himself, loved to hear Horrowitz play his compositions, saying "This is how they should be played!"

[@scottweaverphotovideo]

Thanks for the fun vid! For Xmas 1967 I asked my parents for the newly released Horowitz Return to Carnegie Hall 1965 recital two LP recording. I was thrilled! The Bach was a shock, so amazing and huge, followed by the gigantic Schumann C major Fantasy, equally amazing. The Scriabin Sonata 9 stunned me and scared me too. He concluded, of course, with the Chopin G minor Ballade. I insisted on studying it with my college piano professor about a year later. When I was fourteen I discovered another LP of his at our local library: Portrait of V Horowitz, which included both the Toccata and the Kinderszenen. Could never study the former because it was simply too difficult but I immediately studied the Scenes from Childhood. Still adore that work! Wish I had a piano today, for sure.

[@flintlong2937]

When listening to Horowitz, I've often noticed these things, a sort of finger pedaling, and bringing out hidden lines etc., but I've never seen anyone demonstrate and discuss these elements of his playing. Great job, thank you, Robert!

[@timjbarnes]

Thanks for this. I have been a Horowitz fan since my teens, and it's very interesting to think about what aspects of pianism one might try to appropriate or explore. I feel that one of the characteristics of great pianists is their ability to create clarity both in terms of articulation and in terms of musical logic, and Horowitz did both so well.

[@brtherjohn]

Horowitz did indeed perform and record that Chopin a-flat waltz, from Op. 69. He played a hybridized version of a couple different editions of it!

[@LivingPianosVideos]

I must listen to this - thank you!

[@Poeme340]

Interesting and fun video-I’m not a pianist but when I started listening to Horowitz it felt like he was playing to a room of friends. Each piece, no matter how familiar, sounded new with inner phrasings you hadn’t heard in a hundred prior listenings. Unique. Thx!👍

[@Piano-rk8os]

Thanks for sharing . This is inspiring . Contagious .

[@NN-rn1oz]

After Liszt, he was the only one who made "inaccuracies" sound right.

[@aagguujjaa]

Absolutely fascinating video. I will listen to maestro Horowitz with a basic understanding of what to listen for. Thank you.

[@TheMisterGriswold]

Horowitz did play the A flat major waltz! Great video! Thanks Robert!

[@mountainmann2443]

As usual, very detail & descriptive analysis. Thank you so much. You opened my eyes a bit mire today🙏

Hofman said that a scale played in perfect control and moderato will sound faster than a scale played presto but poorly controlled.

[@chrissinger24]

I think it’s the Russian piano technique, I was brought up in this tradition. People remark on his flat hands and it’s standard in the Russian school.

[@daevaskye]

I didn't know that but I had noticed that Valentina Lisitsa who was Russian trained also plays somewhat flat fingered.

[@vickiehorowitz1934]

One of my teachers graduated from the Moscow Conservatory. Sometimes he wants my fingers flat and sometimes rounded. It's all according to the music. When I was playing very flat one day he said "don't imitate Horowitz! No one can!".

[@Delectatio]

I don't think so. I have never met any teacher who would have told me flat fingers are a must. In fact, there are two main schools here - Moscow and St. Petersburg, and they are quite opposite to each other is some technical aspect, but none of them claim flat fingers as the foundation of technique or something.

[@B-S-K]

Once I read: "Horowitz wrote Art Tatum: 'I could probably reach your speed, but I can't get your timing!' " :-)

[@sebastianciarfella3061]

Horowitz to Tatum or backwards?

[@B-S-K]

@@sebastianciarfella3061 yes ... Horowitz to Tatum ... I forgot where I read this, maybe in a Tatum-CD-Inlet ...

[@kaspianocz6330]

@@B-S-K I saw a video on yt, Horowitz also did a jazz composition and then played it in front of Tatum. Tatum said sth like: "This was very nice" Horowitz: "Thank you it took me few days" Tatum: "let me try". And he immediately, not only played that perfectly, but then where the piece ended, he continued.

[@tiffanyholmes4960]

Love it!!!

[@kaspianocz6330]

@Jaewon Shin thanx

[@tjpj111]

00:06 “London Bridge is falling down...”

[@fredericfrancoischopin6280]

Correction 4:51 that's Chopin waltz in a Flat not e flat

[@DannyPlass]

Dude, your midi controller is so appropriate!

[@axsup7g140]

Absolutely amazing content!!!

[@clairavoyant1212]

Passionate Piano Man Gushes Over Vladimir Horowitz For Over 17 Minutes (I learned a lot from this~)

[@musimedmusi8736]

Very enlightening, esp. re the shallow, light action, fade hammers, sitting low and weight control

[@polyphoniki]

Amazing approach!

[@adlib8096]

Such a joy to listen to you sir, inspirational as well. Not sure if you have already covered this but im interested in the development of piano playing over the decades. Just like violin playing has evolved over decades

[@LivingPianosVideos]

That is a very interested topic which is close to my heart. I will keep this subject in my mind for a future video.

[@adlib8096]

LivingPianosVideos 🙏🏻😍

[@lykeioschoolprojects9806]

Robert, can you please talk about your piano contraption there? I see a piano mechanism, but where is the sound coming from?? I see no strings, no soundboard, no piano!

[@LivingPianosVideos]

My prototype modular piano systems send out MIDI through USB to a computer running PianoTeq physical modeled piano software which I highly recommend.

[@Din6Jing2]

@@LivingPianosVideos Do you intend to sell custom midi controllers?

[@rogercarroll2551]

@@LivingPianosVideos It sounds like it. Not "real". Stick to your REAL pianos.

[@santibanks]

@@LivingPianosVideos Is this up for sale? Looks like something i need in my life…

[@dancingecho3864]

Teacher: why are you laughing? Me: nothing. My brain: Horowotsits

[@mariecohen3052]

My old time favorite and I have a 1957 Vinyl of Dinu Lipatti last concert in Besançon France

[@weichen0505]

Hi, Robert, may I ask what kind of piano you are playing? Is it acoustic or electric?

[@paullebon323]

Imagine if Art Tatum had grown up in a conservatory playing on perfectly regulated Hamburg Steinways.

[@jimkost2002]

Paul, the very fact the Tatum created the music he did under absolutely adverse conditions is a further testament to his transcendent genius

[@TBlev215]

Then he would not have been Art Tatum.

[@kylelochlann5053]

Any relation to pianist Morton Estrin? Either way, I can't get enough hearing about Horowitz! Thanks for sharing your stories.

[@LivingPianosVideos]

Morton Estrin was my father. There are quite a few of his recordings here on KZbin such as his Rachmaninoff Preludes: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pp-UoqmbgJutarc

[@perryphilias]

Hugh Cowden, who taught horn to both Robert and me, once said that when one sat next to the great Bruno Jaenicke, he sounded like a garbage can. And yet from the hall, his sound was heavenly. Listen to him for example in the astounding Mengleberg Heldenleben.

[@LivingPianosVideos]

I remember that recording of Richard Strauss Heldenleben and the French horn solo at the end sounded heavenly! French horn has the benefit of directing the sound behind the player. So, some noise in the sound doesn't project to the audience. Here is the performance: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z5ubiGabe9B5jZI I just got an email from someone commenting that the great flutist William Kincaid compared it to theatrical makeup which looks normal from a distance but a little grotesque up close.

[@perryphilias]

The phenomenon is well known to sculptors and architects. Statues to be seen from below are made larger on top. Every line in the Parthenon is curved, otherwise it would not look straight. Plato discusses this at length.

[@brendaboykin3281]

Thanx, Ron.

[@frankwalker5040]

I remember the great Heifetz said I don't play faster than other violinists, I play the notes clearly and precise, and it gives the allusion that I'm playing faster.

[@pianostudy4403]

Excellent video... I really, really like Horowitz... I’ve added to my LP collection this year and many of those are Horowitz recording-you can hear his technique come through. On another topic, have you had a chance to play his Steinway since it is on tour from time to time? You are right, the action is awesome!

[@LivingPianosVideos]

I haven't had a chance to play the Horowitz piano. However, I had spoken to my piano technician years ago about that piano and apparently it is nothing like it was when he was alive according to him.

[@rennedelorean3341]

@@LivingPianosVideos What I heard was, when Steinway got their hands on it, they removed all the changes that Horrowitz had his technician make, so it's no longer anything like when 'The Maestro' had it.

[@grubbetuchus]

I asked Steinway and they told me that it's regulated & voiced the same as when the maestro played it. My son played it for 20 minutes. I played only 20 notes, maybe.

[@evergreen7213]

I think you are describing Mr. Horowitz’s playing technique such as sitting low and flat fingers as what Mr. Peter Feuchtwagner’s teaching that I just discovered from watching Mr. Graham Fitch’s Pianist Magazine .

[@alexistinsleypope9327]

Very interesting, thank you - what instrument are you playing.

[@LivingPianosVideos]

That is one of 2 prototype modular piano systems of mine which provide a virtual concert grand experience.

[@socialite1283]

What you're saying is that Horowitz isn't as heavy with his use of the sustain pedal. His playing is a little drier. He allows the ambiance of the concert chamber to join the notes together.

[@robertlivenmore1786]

I spent the whole video trying to figure out how the piano was playing with the key bed outside of the piano case.

[@jimmygiannakis3638]

Question. I have a P90 Yamaha keyboard without speakers and on a budget. I noticed your studio monitors and want to know what can be purchased that has an all around range, especially deep lows?

[@LivingPianosVideos]

If you're looking for good sound with strong bass, you might consider a 2.1 system that has a pair of good near-field monitors with a subwoofer.

[@liedersanger1]

Interesting and well done, but not a single mention of an important (and mysterious) element in Horowitz’ playing, the pedal.

[@lordemed1]

Robert- fascinating and wonderful discussion. Care to compare Horowitz and Rubinstein?

[@militaryandemergencyservic3286]

I was taught briefly (informally) by someone who took a lesson from Horowitz.

[@dibaldgyfm9933]

That instrument -- I searched for the video where you introduce it. Comments say it is a special made Kawai synth-instrument? or an adapted grand action?

[@JoanKSX]

Horowitz's Träumerei is one of the best live stage performance video recording that I have heard in my entire life. It's so complex, with all the internalized emotions, with tinge of melancholic but trying to smile again... it's so real but dreamy like floating on clouds at the same time... the performance sounds so unreal but hurtful at the same time trying hard to surpress and let it go? =O

[@mariecohen3052]

What is your opinion on Kimiko Ishizaka ? I cannot see another artist playing Bach with more feelings Love what you do specifically the piano lessons tutorials

[@my-self2278]

It is in Ab Major but okay 4:51

[@weinerdogcat3101]

Was the piano's action light?

[@LivingPianosVideos]

Yes, Horowitz's piano was regulated to play with a light touch.

[@gjeacocke]

Isn’t that why its pointless interpreting because depending on the hall, if you obey markings in score it will unsuccessful. Composers did not cater for halls or rooms when they composed.

[@LivingPianosVideos]

Part of the job of performers of any instrument is taking into account the sound of the hall. Interpretations are not static. They depend upon not only the piano and the hall, but the audience as well!

[@gjeacocke]

@@LivingPianosVideos KZbin perhaps gives the greatest and consistent opportunity to give the original intentions of composers.

[@daevaskye]

I believe the great players all have an ability to listen to themselves as they play and make constant adjustments depending what they are hearing rather that simply playing what they had practiced.

[@PppaulieGualtttieri]

Yes, the pictures at an exhibition by Horowitz is a great example. "Bydlo" is unconventional but pure mastery of dynamics.

[@carlhopkinson]

Constance Keane was a raving beauty.

[@tiffanyholmes4960]

With Wanda witching at him 24/7 it's amazing he could play well at all. He did have a terrible time with his nervous system which, unfortunately, affected some concerts badly. His eyes told you his whole story. There are no more Horowitz or Rubenstein concert pianists around at all. Teaching will have to change dramatically.

[@Deeznutsmynamejeff21]

I think Wanda actually improved his playing, she was definitely his biggest critic and although it was damaging to him in the long run, hardships usually improve great musicians music

[@axsup7g140]

Listen to Trivonov

[@michaelreich2306]

@@axsup7g140 and Malofeev :)

[@Delectatio]

Do you believe Horowitz would agree to play on an instrument that has no actual strings:))?

[@poshtraditions]

He didn't appear to play them faster, he played them languidly and poetically.

[@MrInterestingthings]

Constance Keene was the wife of Abram Chasins who was a student and friend of Josef Hofmann ! Chasins heard Godowsky ,Rachmaninoff and all the greats of the 30's and 40's !

[@markito3311]

What about Pletnev.

[@ulyseslozano5389]

Friend, that waltz is in A-flat

[@mevans4715]

Robert: I have really enjoyed this long format piece on Mr. Horowitz. Thank you, Michael Evans

[@socialite1283]

And now what you're saying is that Horowitz knew the instrument he played and knew how to use the character of the instrument to produce the ends of dynamic phrases.

[@billligon4005]

Again, what why is that 'piano' you are playing? Why? And where is the sound board?

[@Chulamani]

We have homework!

[@beatlessteve1010]

Can you describe your very interesting piano?

[@rhodemb]

😌

[@Mereaux]

I dont do those things - horowatz

[@lexusmaxus]

Fantastic “naked” piano

[@jackludo738]

Would it be possible to replicate Horowitz's piano? It is a shame that the knowledge of how Horowitz's piano was prepared will one day be lost to history. I would love to have tried Horowitz's modified Steinway action.

[@RichardJamesMendoza]

It's possible, but it hasnt been formalized. The general idea about his piano was that, apart from the ultra light action (its a few grams lighter than standard), its hammers were also heavily lacquered and polished, if thats what its called. The lacquered hammers in particular, are a part to that unique Horowitz sound; bright highs, mellow trebles, and those famous bass notes.

[@khlymore]

you got the best midi piano, thats exactly what i want, not the most portable but the closest to a grand, the only thing that boders me is when they gonna start doing all those moving parts out of carbon fiber or titanium just like anything else from the past that used to be made out of wood? i wish i was able to get the bosendorfer imperial 290 keys and hammer parts just like yours, well they dont actually make the keys they send it somewhere else to be made, i think bechstein make their own keys but no 97 keys like bosendorfer, get one of those top key set like yours and put the midi system with vienna synchron pianos to practice, any other plastic pianos ill destroy the keys.

[@LivingPianosVideos]

Mason & Hamlin has their Wessel Nickel & Gross composite actions on their pianos. They utilize carbon fiber hammer shanks. Kawai has their Millennium action which have wooden hammer shanks, but composite materials for the rest of the action.

[@vova47]

If you were any kind of musician you'd know that Chopin Waltz Op.69 no.1 you cite is in A flat major and NOT E flat. You reveal yourself as a clown right there!

[@andrzejszymanski4593]

You pronounce "Horowitz" wrong.

[@christophe6315]

So basicaly its just playing Rubato

[@rogercarroll2551]

There were better pianists than Horowitz even in his own generation. Not a worshipper here. And he did play flat fingered. Imagine how much that changed touch-tone.

[@Joshua-dc1bs]

I read this as, "What I learned from Hogwarts". 🥲

[@pianoplayer5000]

What a horrible-sounding instrument.