Polymaths and Western Classical Music(Schweitzer,Borodin,Paderewski,Godowsky Jr)

I am writing about multi talented people and their involvement in western classical music. There were doctors who were composers, there was a head of state who also was a concert pianist. So I would exemplify polymaths and their talents in music. I am writing about 4 of them - Schweitzer,Borodin, Paderewsky and Godowsky Jr. I don't include others in this polymath musician category but will try to share about more such multitalented people in classical music in next blog. For this article, I thank Wikipedia and Youtube for providing with such rare information. Even 15 years ago a serious collector will not be privy to such recordings (video especially). Today at the click of fingertip Youtube gives me access to a Schweitzer or Paderewsky videos. Without Youtube and Wiki I could not have finished this article.

1. Albert Schweitzer
Albert Schweitzer was a doctor, a theologist and a humanitarian who received a Nobel Peace prize in 1952 for serving the poor in Gabon. He not only dedicated his life for the service of God but also had a lifelong passion for Organ and J.S.Bach.

Youtube has become an archive from where I inserted this rare video of Schweitzer playing Bach on Organ in remote jungle of Lamberene now Gabon. I add another rare video of him playing Prelude in D of Bach below.

Ever since I read about him in high school I idolized him, I believe Schweitzer was one of the greatest human ever alive. He was a multitalented genius whose reverence for life is unquestionable. The famous journalist Norman Cousins wrote in his book An Anatomy of an Illness that despite having a busy schedule of a doctor serving in an African jungle Schweitzer would play his organ late till night.

There are some more audio recordings of Schweitzer in Youtube I dont know if they are authentic. Just putting a record label or CD label may not make it authentic and I leave the veracity of those recordings to the serious collectors.

2. Alexander Borodin

 He was a doctor and a trained chemist, a co discoverer of Aldol reaction every chemistry student knows. But he had a passion for music and he composed symphonies, a symphonic poem, an Opera named Prince Igor and several string quartets. I added his (Borodin), In the Steppes of Central Asia, Polovtsian dances (Svetlanov) above for your listening pleasure. Isn't it beautiful to note a chemist could produce such serene music? Listen to Borodin's Nocturne, one of the most peaceful music you will ever hear.

3. Ignacy Paderewsky
He was Prime Minister of Poland in 1919, a crucial fighter for Poland's freedom. He was a world class concert pianist also and played profusely throughout the United States for fund raising. His own composition Minuet in G reminds you of Mozart and by the time of his death this busy politician and diplomat left behind a volume of instrumental and orchestral works. Thanks to Youtube I could share his original playing of his Minuet in G.

Just 3 years before his death at the age of 77 Paderewsky played Chopin Polonaise no.53 in a movie Moonlight Sonata.

4. Leopold Godowsky Jr

He was a world class chemist who invented the famous Kodachrome colour film and revolutionized photography. He was also a trained classical violinist and played in Los Angeles Philharmonics and San Fransisco Symphony Orchestra. His father Leopold Godowsky Sr was a famous pianist and composer. I could not retrieve any Godowsky Jr work from Youtube or Internet but a rare video of Godowsky senior in NYC in 1935 maybe shot in Kodachrome his violinist son invented.

I will request you to comment and add. I welcome your comments.

Tansen er Tanpura review

I was amused to see Tansen er Tanpura. Concept is nice. It is a nice way to mix Indian classical music in a thriller and present it to new generation for whom classical music holds almost no appeal. Though I did not like Bengali song in Hamsadhwani but other classical songs were relatable especially the raag Kedar ( Kanha re nanda nandana). Bikram Chatterji did a good job, the girlfriend of his is quite forgettable. The idea of sound waves opening a treasure box may be borrowed from Samaddar er Chabi of Satyajit Ray.

However I was quite amused by that pigmyphone, the miniature record player hidden inside the paintings. I was baffled too. I searched for them in Internet and found that Amazon sells a similar looking mini record player with 3 inch vinyl records.

https://www.amazon.com/Crosley-Turntable-3-inch-Records-Silver/dp/B07P83H6KK

The price with record is around $64. This is battery operated. If this is the product they showed in Tansen er Tanpura then the year of hiding this in 1997 is flawed. This is a recent invention. It was not available in 1997. Rather according to RSD website (https://recordstoreday.com/RSD3) this product RSD3 became available in 2019 with the oldest RSD product being available in 2011.

I guess the work Tansen er Tanpura is a fiction and not a reality. The product cannot be functional from 1997 to 2020 because it is battery operated (4 AA batteries) and those batteries cannot be solar powered. So technically showing this product in 1997 and then hiding it for 20 years and suddenly its becoming functional is figment of imagination. But I liked the product and I will buy it. Thank you Tansen er Tanpura series to bring to my notice a technological marvel.