Sergei Bortkiewicz ‒ 10 Preludes Op. 33

Sergei Eduardovich Bortkiewicz (1877 - 1952), 10 Preludes, Op.33 (1926) Performed by Jouni Somero (2014) 00:00 - No. 1 Maestoso 06:08 - No. 2 Vivace 07:23 - No. 3 Andantino 09:04 - No. 4 Sostenuto 10:19 - No. 5 Andantino semplice 11:37 - No. 6 Sostenuto, con espressione dramatica 15:25 - No. 7 Andantino 19:31 - No. 8 Andante sostenuto e cantabile 25:03 - No. 9 Andantino 28:45 - No. 10 Patetico I&recommend No&5 to 10 if you want to hear what these preludes at their best. Bortkiewicz was Ukrainian (he was born in Kharkov, 16 February 1877) and studied at the St Petersburg Conservatory—in his spare time at first, for his father insisted that he study law. ‘I inherited my mother’s pleasure in music-making’, he wrote. ‘And what a blessing it was that we made much music when I was young. My mother played the piano very well and I was passionately fond of music.’ Unlike some of his Russian contemporaries (Rachmaninov, Medtner, Scriabin) Bortkiewicz was not a sufficiently gifted pianist to make a career as a soloist, though after his debut (Munich, 1902) he made several European tours. ‘I am a Romantic and a melodist’, he wrote in an essay towards the end of his life, ‘and as such and in spite of my distaste for the so-called ‘modern’, atonal and cacophonic music, I do hope that I composed some noteworthy works without getting the reputation of being an epigone or imitator of composers who lived before me.’ Bortkiewicz’s compositions are dominated by those for his instrument...