Two more items from Godowsky's Java Suite. I am still totally besotted by this suite, which shows Godowsky at his most beguiling and perceptive.
I worked on these for about a year, and still they are not perfect, bah... But I need to let go for now.

The Kraton is a splendid Javanese palace in Yogyakarta, the former residence of the Sultan Hamengkoeboewono. Near this palace there is a water palace which fell into disrepair and decline after the sultan's reign. Both places inspired Godowsky to write some of his finest (IMO) music.

Godowsky - Java Suite - 10: In the Kraton (8:11)
Godowsky - Java Suite - 11: The Ruined Water Castle at Djokja (5:07)

Comments welcome, and yes I know where all the bugs are

Hi Chris,

I believe the Java Suite is Godowsky at his best. And he certainly had plenty of exotic inspirations from his travels in Indonesia to produce such wonderful music for the piano. I've looked through these Java scores, and they're a lot to handle! Difficult indeed. Of the two presented here both as compositions and performances, I think I like "The Ruined Water Castle" best, but that's just a personal preference. These are probably not quite up to your standard, but nonetheless, they are very good performances in my opinion. If you were to go back to them in the future, you could probably put some additional finish on them.

Thanks for posting these pieces.

David

Thanks David. I must admit not being wholly comfortable with the Water Castle yet. I've lived with it some months shorter than with the Kraton, and consequently there are more flubs in it. I should certainly redo this one, maybe both. But I believe there are good things in both (musically speaking).