Sergei Bortkiewicz’s 10 Etudes, Opus 15: A Teaching and Performance Guide

Sergei Bortkiewicz was a Ukrainian-born composer and music educator who achieved considerable success during his lifetime. Due to the turmoil and displacement caused by World Wars I and II, along with the loss of his manuscripts, his music faded from public attention after his death. This study consists of a recording project and research paper on Sergei Bortkiewicz’s 10 Etudes, Opus 15. I first contextualize the life of Bortkiewicz against the backdrop of the historical circumstances of the war era, highlighting his compositional and pedagogical pursuits under the severe challenges brought by the wars and social upheaval. Relevant research literature is reviewed, followed by a discussion of Bortkiewicz’s musical characteristics and compositional styles. The next chapter offers a comprehensive analysis of each etude from several musical and technical perspectives. I examine the technical difficulties in the pieces and provide corresponding practice methods, explore expressive musical interpretation presented in my performance, and discuss the relative difficulty levels along with essential pedagogical considerations for teaching. Through this project, I aim to draw the attention of piano students and teachers to this neglected composer and encourage more musicians to discover his many piano works beyond this set of etudes. My recording of this set of etudes can be accessed at https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJeeB4je59YrZIrTd88pGfzYslg5tqGQu.