heritage

Dear friends of piano music, 

I have discovered a treasure within myself that I had not detected before, an unexpectedly rich heritage that has taken me completely by surprise. I'm a romantic person, so I've always been very happy to have Polish roots, most likely, because that connects me to Chopin, whom I love so much. And now I have actually discovered him in my pedigree, although not in that of my physical relatives, but in my artistic - pianistic ancestral line. My most important piano teacher studied in Paris with Alfred Cortot, Cortot had studied with Emile Decombes, and this Monsieur Decombes happend to be a student of Chopin!. How much I actually owe to this teacher, how many unusual and fruitful suggestions I received, I realize only now, after all these years, when the seeds are finally beginning to sprout. At that time he almost despaired of me, I was a terrible student, I admire him for the patience he had with me. But that's not all. Two other important teachers of mine were students of Tatjana Nikolajewa, and in her pedigree of teachers we find Tchaikovsky and a cousin of Rachmaninoff. But now comes the very best and most astonishing thing, which for me is like a miracle: I came across Beethoven several times in all of my five influential teachers. I eventually stopped tracing the lines as it seems to be a kind of regularity and instead thought about why it could be that Beethoven is possibly the progenitor of all (European?) professionally trained pianists. My explanation is this: Beethoven was Czerny's teacher, who in turn gave piano lessons practically from morning to night throughout his whole life. He did it at a time when the piano was in almost every household that could afford it, when playing the piano was so immensely popular that some mockingly spoke of a "piano epidemic"... So Czerny formed many many piano teachers, who in turn trained many further piano teachers, he is a multiplier of Beethoven's dedications, which has triggered possibly exponential growth. And then in this line of ancestors we have Franz Liszt, the cosmopolitan to whom the most talented piano students from all over the world came - so Liszt is another multiplier and he spreads Beethoven's legacy internationally. It usually takes at least a handful of piano teachers to become a decent pianist - in fact, I assume we all have a more or less direct connection to music's beloved "titan", Beethoven. Isn't that fantastic? But, quite honestly, after being euphoric for a short time, I realized what a responsibility lies on my shoulders. Because it is not my merit that my teachers had this connection to Chopin and Tchaikovsky, any more than being born to rich parents is a credit to their children. No, it's a big responsibility. Because by no means do I want to be a "dead end", but I want to pass on the legacy to someone who will then also pass on what I have learned to his own students. So I'm looking for a piano student whom I can teach everything I've ever learned so that the chain doesn't break with me. Dear "master student", if you are reading this - get in touch with me. I want to live up to my responsibilities. Oh I wish it was that easy.....

Kerstin