Classical Music | Piano Music

Frédéric Chopin

The Maiden's Wish  Play

Isaac Mikhnovsky Piano

Recorded on 12/31/1969, uploaded on 10/21/2009

Musician's or Publisher's Notes

Franz Liszt's arrangement of Chopin's song.  Recorded in 1938.  Transferred from a 78 rpm record.

Isaac Mikhnovsky (1914 - 1978) was a distinguished Soviet pianist and pedagogue.  His career started in the late 1930s and lasted for about 30 years.  Because of the Cold War, Western music aficionados are not very familiar with his work.  We are proud to present it here, even if just a snippet.  Read Mikhnovsky' biography here: http://www.classicalconnect.com/user/978

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The Maiden’s Wish     Frédéric Chopin

Chopin’s output was not wholly exclusive to the piano, though the instrument does appear in all his compositions. Among these works are a handful of songs, nineteen in total, all based on Polish poetry which have largely been neglected until recent years. This is perhaps due, in small part, to Chopin himself. Though the songs contain fine examples of writing for both piano and voice, Chopin nevertheless likely thought the songs inferior to his composition strictly for the piano. He never performed them in public nor sought to publish them. Following the composer’s death in 1849, sixteen of the songs appeared in print in 1856-57 as opus 74 alongside many of his other heretofore unpublished compositions. A seventeenth song was published separately and under a French title due to censorship restrictions. The remaining two songs were resigned to wait until 1910 before appearing in print.

Despite Chopin’s misgivings over his songs and their subsequent neglect, they nonetheless cultivated a small following. Franz Liszt, who was familiar with them, thought well enough of them to transcribe six for piano solo between 1847 and 1860 under the title Chants Polonais. The first of this collection is the song Życzenie” (“The Maiden’s Wish). A blithe melody over a waltz-like accompaniment, Chopin’s music adequately expresses the love-struck maiden of the poem. Following his more or less modest transcription of the song, Liszt proceeds with three variations on Chopin’s melody, each more ornamented than the last. The final variation adds a feeling of anxiety alongside the song’s inherent gaiety. Florid and lively triplet drive Liszt’s transcription to its conclusion, which effortlessly fades into the distance.      Joseph DuBose


Russian Archival Recording