Of Polish-Jewish heritage, Leopold Godowsky was born in Vilnius on 13 February 1870 and died in New York on 21 November 1938. He received very little piano tuition but nevertheless displayed prodigious talent as a self-taught pianist and from a young age toured Europe and America, even coming under the patronage of Saint-Saëns.

Godowsky began teaching in New York in 1890, and over the next decade taught in Philadelphia and Chicago. In 1891 he married Freda Saxe and took American citizenship.

Many writers attribute an important concert Godowsky gave in Berlin during December 1900 as the source of renewed enthusiasm in Europe for his consummate virtuosity. He transferred his base to Europe thereafter until 1914, succeeding Emil von Sauer and Ferruccio Busoni at the Vienna Academy of Music.

At this point Godowsky’s original compositions included various piano solos. Transcriptions and arrangements, for which he became perhaps better known, had early on emphasised Chopin. Returning to the United States during the First World War, Godowsky subsequently toured East Asia inspiring one of his best-known compositions, the Java Suite (1925).

A stroke in 1930 ended Godowsky’s concert career and unfortunately further personal tragedy clouded his final years. Some idea of Godowsky’s pianism can be obtained from the many recordings and piano rolls he made between 1913 and 1930.