| Vladimir Horowitz (1903-1989) was arguably one of the greatest virtuoso pianists of all time. He did not limit the display of his dazzling technique to flashy pieces composed by others, though such works brought him much acclaim. Instead he perpetuated the practice of many nineteenth-century virtuosos by creating his own transcriptions to highlight his pianistic abilities. Horowitz frequently performed these pieces as encores, and they were often the most anticipated portion of his concerts. The fact that he did not publish the music to these pieces only served to heighten the mystique surrounding them.;This is one of the first scholarly documents to examine Horowitz's transcriptions. A careful attempt was made to reconstruct what Horowitz played by listening to his recordings, as well as those made more recently by other pianists. Several unpublished written versions also proved valuable in studying the transcriptions, yet a careful examination of the scores reveals numerous discrepancies both with each other and with Horowitz's recordings. These discrepancies are reconciled in the present study's musical examples.;As analysis of the recordings and scores demonstrates, Horowitz's transcriptions do not merely recreate other works on the piano, but contain many original contributions which serve two general purposes: to make the work more virtuosic on the piano and to add compositional interest. This document examines these additions, which range from barely noticeable embellishments to the insertion of completely new material, characteristic traits of his transcribing style such as the use of modern harmonies and additional lines of counterpoint, as well as general features of his piano writing. The addition of new material is significant because many of his transcriptions do not recreate orchestral works but rather are arrangements of existing piano works.;Horowitz's transcriptions vary in how closely they adhere to the original work. Representative pieces illustrating this range are analyzed, including Variations on a Theme from Bizet's Carmen, Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-sharp minor, and his transcription of Sousa's The Stars and Stripes Forever. These transcriptions, evincing Horowitz's careful thought, compositional skill, and insight into successful piano technique, represent the pinnacle of virtuosic piano writing. |
