Vienna, 1907: Ignaz Friedman, then an upcoming twenty-five year-old
pianist, sighed to a relative: "Mark Hambourg! Er macht besser!"
[He does it better!]. Despite a legacy of nearly two hundred recordings
and two vivid, informative autobiographies, Mark Hambourg (1879-1960)
has become an enigmatic, forgotten figure. Some of his recordings
make one agree with Friedman. Yet Hambourg did not like the studio
atmosphere, or specific works selected by his producers: some
wayward results have discouraged listeners from seeking Hambourg's
great performances, which place him among the finest artists ever
captured on disc. Was it possible to learn how his art developed,
whether it was truly represented and its aftermath?
While compiling a Hambourg CD in 1994, it seemed imperative to
reissue his performance of Beethoven's C minor Piano Concerto,
as it contained Moscheles' cadenzas. Equally compelling was a
recording of the little known Concerto Pathetique for two pianos
by Liszt: joining Hambourg was his 14 year-old daughter Michal.
Their collaboration bears a remarkable unity of ensemble and ideas.
It is hard to discern who took which part, as both play as equals.
Hambourg lauded Michal in his writings, for she had reached musical
maturity under his guidance. Was she still alive, and if so, where?
Had she preserved or imparted her family's musical knowledge and
documents? As the Liszt recording dates from 1934, one feared
that the Hambourg legacy could have disappeared.
Soon after the disc was published, a letter arrived from Robert
MacPhail, stating that he was Mark Hambourg's grandson, and that
his mother Michal Hambourg was alive, well, and in fine pianistic
form. In view of the vastness of her family's background and tradition,
she felt she had something special to contribute to the many musical
problems of talented children and has spent the last 25 years
working in this area as Music Counselor for the National Association
for Gifted Children, while continuing her practicing and playing
mostly at home. After our first phone conversation, Hambourg offered
to play Schumann's Fantasie in order to demonstrate a work of
great importance to their family which Mark Hambourg had not recorded.
She permitted her performance to be recorded: Robert MacPhail
arranged for a sound engineer to bring recording equipment into
her living room and document the Fantasie, a Schubert Impromptu,
and two Chopin Nocturnes.
From the very first measure it was evident that her family's art
lived and had been furthered. It is hard to believe that a pianistic
tradition originating both in mid-19th century Russia and handed
down directly from Beethoven has continued to fully thrive more
than 150 years later. Legendary artists such as Nicholas and Anton
Rubinstein, Leschetizky, and Debussy are still familiar, living
presences: their direct influence on the Hambourg family is attested
to in the writings, reminiscences, and playing of Mark and Michal
Hambourg. While Michal Hambourg absorbed her father's style, her
own art seems closer to the earlier generation of Pachmann and
Rosenthal, yet conveyed with an immediacy that renders it contemporary.
The first professional pianist in their family was Mikhail Hambourg
(1855-1916), Mark's father, a professor at the Moscow Conservatory,
who had been a pupil of Nicholas Rubinstein and Taneev. The senior
Hambourg and his family hurriedly emigrated to England, possibly
to escape retribution from his ties to political anarchists. They
later settled in Canada to found the Hambourg Conservatory in
Toronto. Two other gifted sons, Jan, a violinist, and Boris, a
cellist, had successful international musical careers.
Aside from a technical method he published, little is known of
Mikhail's playing. His ability as a teacher is attested to by
pupils such as his son, and Gerald Moore, the late distinguished
vocal accompanist. In a preface to his book of technical exercises,
Mikhail Hambourg cites his professional and personal contact with
Anton and Nicholas Rubinstein. The presence in Russia of the Irish
composer John Field may have influenced how Mark Hambourg learned
Chopin's Nocturnes from his father. As Field was not unknown to
the older musicians active when Mikhail Hambourg was studying,
Mark Hambourg's playing suggests a link to this vanished practice,
as the phrasing and touch in his recordings of several Nocturnes
are closer to Field than Chopin.
Mark Hambourg recalled his early lessons with the director of
the Moscow Conservatory as 'a sort of farce': "What I learned
from him was purely nominal! My real teacher during all that time
was my father, Professor Michael Hambourg, with whom I learned
the whole of the forty-eight Preludes and Fugues of Bach, and
ruined my eyesight, but improved my technic and knowledge of music.
For there is no grounding, in my opinion, to be compared to the
works of Bach, for the young pianist."
The preparation Mark received from his father was enough to stir
Paderewski when he heard the boy play, for Paderewski immediately
organized and subsidized a fund to enable Hambourg to study for
four years in Vienna under his own teacher Theodor Leschetizky
(1830-1915). Leschetizky had been trained by Carl Czerny, a pupil
of Beethoven; he often shared Czerny's comments on Beethoven with
his students. Hambourg's years in Vienna were crucial; he remained
indebted throughout his life to Leschetizky for having guided
him to his fullest artistic potential:
"Of course it was from that great teacher, Leschetizky, that
I learned most everything, not only pertaining to piano playing,
but in regard to every aspect of how to live. As for a pianoforte
lesson with him, it was a life experience, if one was capable
of understanding what he wanted; and he had a wonderful way of
explaining every detail with the utmost precision and care. He
was not only marvelous at developing facility and brilliance of
execution in his pupils, but also focused his teaching enormously
on the quality of sound produced. Everything had to be beautiful
and polished, with him, and alive with the right kind of expression
and feeling. He never allowed anything to pass his judgment that
was dull, monotonous, or harsh in tone production. He used to
urge us to go and listen to the great singers, to see how they
phrased and brought out melody and cantilena passages, and to
take them as our models in this branch of our studies."
After a debut in Vienna with Hans Richter, Hambourg became sought
after and began years of strenuous touring throughout the world,
giving more than 150 concerts a year. His programs drew on an
immense repertoire spanning the entire keyboard literature, as
Hambourg was fond of works by Bull, Byrd, Purcell, Couperin, and
sought out new compositions by Ravel, Falla, and Villa Lobos,
often giving their world premieres. During his first visit to
Australia in 1895 at age sixteen, Hambourg encountered Edison's
cylinder machine: "I used to make use of it to send pieces
played by myself as greetings to my parents instead of writing
them letters, which I detested doing." In Melbourne, Hambourg
met Mark Twain, who soon became a friend. When Twain's daughter,
Clara Clemens Gabrilowitsch began studying with Leschetizky in
Vienna, the writer held court there. Hambourg recalled:
"Mark Twain used to keep open house in Vienna and musicians
used to drop in for a meal. They were enormous meals, for artists
are always hungry people. One day when I arrived, I heard an extraordinary
noise, like a dog howling. I wondered if the animal was in pain
and discovered it was Mark Twain singing one of the old Mississippi
river songs."
The twelve year-old Horszowski was studying with Leschetizky in
1904 when Hambourg arrived after a lengthy tour to stay with Leschetizky
for ten days, enabling everyone to hear him play daily and at
several evening masterclasses, which deeply impressed the young
Horszowski.
In 1909 Hambourg produced his first phonograph record, placing
him amongst the first generation of artists to document their
art. While loath to undergo the recording process, which would
start with a ringing bell, Hambourg often conveyed a glimpse of
the freedom characterizing his public performances. Even more
troubling were the imposed tempo modifications needed to fit a
given work within the limits of early discs: his performance of
Ravel's Ondine, the work's premiere recording, had to be truncated
and rushed so as to fit onto a one-sided disc with a maximum playing
time of over four minutes. His conception could have been accurately
preserved on two 78 rpm sides, yet due to the producer's instructions,
this was not permitted.
At home, Hambourg practiced daily and enjoyed a lively family
life with his wife and four daughters. Michal (1919-) was the
one among them to continue with serious music studies, guided
by her father's lessons and supervision of her practicing. Following
a two-hour afternoon nap, Hambourg would set out for his second
home, the Savage Club, where he would meet Benno Moiseiwitsch
and other distinguished members for cards. On returning home late
for dinner, his wife Dorothea Hambourg would exclaim: "It's
half past nine. How can you expect the cook to stay?' Hambourg
would sigh, "Ah, Dolushka, my watch said 7:30." Hambourg
passed sleepless nights reading Shakespeare, as he suffered from
a life-long insomnia. He would often experiment in the kitchen
with new recipes and excitedly awaken his wife to have her taste
the results.
One of Michal Hambourg's early musical experiences at the piano
was being introduced to all the Beethoven string quartets, playing
them in piano four-hands arrangements with her father. She recalls:
"Amongst the great artists who came to the house, my father
was most anxious for me to listen to [Moriz] Rosenthal and [Ignaz]
Friedman, and took me to all their concerts, as in his view they
were the greatest interpreters of Chopin."
One newspaper reported on a visit by Friedman to the Hambourgs
during which the two colleagues played Arensky's Suite for Two
Pianos. Michal Hambourg provides a vivid account of these formative
years:
"From my earliest memories, our home was full of music and
musicians. As the fortunate possessor of an inherited musical
talent, imagine the bliss for me! In the evenings, after dinner,
everyone played chamber music and I have only to close my eyes
to feel the experience of intense life and energy in that musical
scene. Many of the great musicians of those days were my parents'
friends. Busoni, Paderewski, Rubinstein, Huberman, Piatigorsky,
Rachmaninoff, Friedman, Moiseiwitsch, and many others all came
and made music. They actually had time for me! - very small and
aspiring who played Bach and Mozart to them and was showered with
advice, criticism and occasionally a word or two of praise. Although
they were tremendously critical, time was always made for me to
play a trio or a quartet with these kindly but awe-inspiring gods.
Those evenings were vibrant with a special kind of conversation,
centered around a great tank of inherited musical ideas, many
of which were handed down from artist to artist since the time
of Beethoven. This cornucopia of ideas is sometimes called the
living link and forms the basis of all my own offerings in music.
In getting to know the core of great musical masterpieces, those
who preceded us had endless experiences to offer us, and we can
learn endlessly from their musical concepts."
One of Michal Hambourg's teachers was Clarence Lucas, a family
friend whom she remembers as "an aged gnome in a homespun
brown tweed suit who wrote music. Lucas had been well acquainted
with Debussy and had studied with him and knew how the composer
played his own piano works." Lucas taught her composition
and shared his knowledge of Debussy with Michal. She recently
recorded the Isle Joyeuse for Arbiter, interpreting it as a pagan
rite, capturing with her touch the frenzied horns and percussion
leading its dancers into a trance state.
When her father embarked on an extended two year world tour, the
twelve year-old Michal's piano lessons were entrusted to Katherine
Goodson, a favorite of Leschetizky's. Goodson, now unjustly forgotten,
was a demanding teacher who strictly adhered to Leschetizky's
principles, thus deepening Michal's contact with her family's
tradition. An illustrated lecture on Leschetizky by Goodson survives,
preserved from a radio broadcast. It contains examples of her
superb pianism and deserves to be heard again. While listening
to the tape, Michal Hambourg noted that Goodson's remarks were
so ingrained in her own training that their musical principles
are identical.
In 1932, Hambourg decided that the thirteen year-old Michal was
ready to begin her career. She had been assisting her father's
recording sessions since age eight as his page turner, and at
Mark's insistence, making test records, which still exist. To
encourage and assist her, both Hambourgs rehearsed works for two
pianos and concertised as a duo for more than four years and recorded
the Liszt Concerto Pathetique and Schumann's Andante and Variations.
Benno Moiseiwitsch's daughter Tanya recalled their recitals as
having brought out the senior Hambourg's finest playing. According
to Michal Hambourg, "I never cared for the Pathetique, although
there is some lovely music in it, but I preferred the Schumann.
When we recorded it the wax often went bad and we had to repeat
parts. I felt absolutely at one with him."
The emergence of a new breed of megalomaniacal managers and producers
before the Second World War transformed record companies into
an industry, which soon made its impact on the Hambourgs. One
immediate action resulting from the new administrative style was
the termination of Hambourg's recording contract, despite the
success of his discs, and a reduction of his engagements. His
final disc, made in 1935, is a masterful performance of two rare
compositions by Anton Rubinstein. Hambourg was in good company,
as Friedman and Rosenthal were also 'retired' by their respective
companies. Hambourg toured abroad less yet performed in public
into the late 1950's. A surviving two-minute recorded fragment
from a 1957 Proms concert finds Hambourg reaping a thunderous
applause with Liszt's Hungarian Fantasia. Hambourg often practiced
Beethoven's Hammerklavier Sonata (op. 106) during his two years
of retirement (1958-60), telling his son-in-law Ian MacPhail:
"My boy, I'm hoping to meet my Maker soon, and I hope he'll
say 'Markie dear, play something.' "
After Michal Hambourg's appearances with her father and solo debut,
she began touring throughout England in shared recitals with Paul
Robeson, Richard Tauber, and Lawrence Tibbett. The Proms first
engaged her in 1938, when she performed Saint-Saens' Second Piano
Concerto with Sir Henry Wood. During the war, she participated
in the National Gallery concerts organized by Myra Hess. Hambourg
appeared with the BBC Symphony and in solo recitals. She added
to her repertoire new compositions by her colleagues Lennox Berkeley
and Alan Rawsthorne.
While Hambourg's time is now primarily spent aiding young gifted
musicians, she has consented to an on-going project initiated
with her Schumann recording: to select works from her repertoire
and record them when she feels the time is right. Some seven sessions,
from which future CDs will be compiled, have documented works
by Bach, Gluck, Mozart, Schubert, Chopin, Liszt, Debussy, Ravel,
and her father's Volkslied.
Michal Hambourg's mother Dorothea Muir MacKenzie (a pupil of Ysaye
in Belgium, where she met Mark Hambourg) carefully preserved voluminous
scrapbooks, letters and photos that account for Mark Hambourg's
six-decade career. Copies of his books and pedagogical articles
from rare music journals are also contained in the collection.
In 1996, Michal Hambourg donated all of the material to the International
Piano Archive at the University of Maryland. In addition to the
source material, a unique score belonging to the family for nearly
a century was added to their bequest: the Beethoven Piano Concertos,
edited by Ignaz Moscheles. This rare edition was used by Mark
Hambourg when he recorded the Third Concerto, using Moscheles'
cadenza. The score had fingerings and pedal markings inked in
after publication. Whose were they? Michal Hambourg said they
were not her father's, rather they were made by its original owner.
The title page bore Moscheles' signature: it had been his own
working copy - a gift to the young Hambourg from Moscheles' son
Felix, a distinguished painter who had been Hambourg's guardian
in Britain who, with Paderewski, helped finance his studies in
Vienna. One may now examine the annotations by a contemporary
of Beethoven in a score used by him, which also introduced the
music to both Hambourgs.
For this anthology of recordings, we chose the Chopin Andante
Spianato as it represents a lost art of cantilena and rubato playing
which Hambourg learned in the 19th century: it sounds as though
one is being drawn into a dream-state. The following Beethoven
sonata attests to the monumentality of Anton Rubinstein's influence,
a rare example of pre-Schnabelian playing. Leonard Borwick, a
piano pupil of Clara Schumann, entrusted the premiere of his piano
arrangement of Debussy's Prelude to Hambourg; this rare recording
is a reminder that Hambourg knew Ravel and may have encountered
Debussy. Our booklet's cover photo was taken at the Abbey Road
studios in 1933, during the Schumann recording session: note the
closed scores on their pianos, as they played both Schumann and
Liszt from memory.
The Liszt Legende and Schumann Fantasie are Michal Hambourg's
first recordings since 1934, played in one take and unedited,
as she wished to preserve them as performances, rather than the
assembled and edited "product" of the recording industry.
Schumann's Fantasie is a significant composition for the Hambourgs:
Michal was advised by her father not to learn it until she was
past twenty "in order to be able to do it justice."
She is concerned that, as her conception of the work is constantly
changing and evolving, one performance cannot be entirely representative.
Hambourg's new recordings are played on her 1900 Bluthner grand,
maintained by Colin Leverett, manager of the Bluthner workshops
at Perivale (London). It has additional fourth strings in the
treble register that vibrate sympathetically. She points out the
advantages in using a Bluthner, especially in realizing Chopin's
ornaments, as Leschetizky taught her father that they were "prisms
of light" which seem to Michal like "heavy tapestry"
when played on other instruments. Mark Hambourg's HMV discs were
made on a Bechstein.
The musical contributions by the Hambourg family are continuing,
as the Hambourg Archive is available for consultation at IPAM,
detailing their past activities and concepts, while Michal Hambourg's
new project illustrates a heritage developing even further through
her ongoing studies of Western and Oriental philosophy, a lifetime
of music-making, and willingness to remind all of music's vital
role in our lives.
Allan Evans C1997