Isidor Philipp - The Chopin Tradition

The Chopin Tradition

Philipp began piano lessons with George Mathias at age 16. In an interview with E.H. Lampard, a columnist for the St. Catharine's Standard, Harold Bradley, who was a student and associate of Philipp's for over 30 years, stated that it was Mathias who had been the one student of Chopin who absorbed all the wisdom and value in piano pedagogy that Chopin had developed over his life. "Chopin's fame as a composer has obscured the fact that he was the first and greatest name to adopt the career of piano teaching as a profession. He created an entirely new philosophy of musical thinking, and was the first musician of sufficient stature to be able to penetrate into the thought of the keyboard composers who preceded him to the extent of seeing the individual merits of each. Thus, he extended the dimensions of piano teaching to a point where the whole concept of music education became affected."

As most of Chopin's students were amateurs, or died early, Mathias was the only one who could pass on this legacy. Bradley continued, "This is not to be confused with the mere performance of Chopin's own compositions, but an appreciation of the art of the keyboard composers up to his time and the genius to apply this knowledge. At Chopin's death, it was Mathias who was able to furnish information for the complete publication of his compositions but he also felt an obligation to preserve the contribution Chopin had made as a teacher and artist. Mathias in turn trained young pianists, but it proved to be Isidor Philipp that was best equipped to carry on the Chopin philosophy of teaching. Philipp then worked with Mathias that the latter had worked with Chopin. By the age of 30, because of his studies Mathias and other prominent teachers, Philipp was recognized as the supreme authority on the piano and its literature."