Nicolas Medtner: Composer, pianist, and teacher (translation of Medtner's notes compiled into a book, 'The Daily Work of the Pianist and Composer' by M. Gurvich and L. Lukomsky, with an introduction by his student, P. Vasiliev)

The purpose of this research was (a) to translate into English the book The Daily Work of the Pianist and Composer by the Russian pianist Nicolas Medtner; (b) to help to improve piano instruction; and (c) to obtain more information about his life, philosophy, and pedagogical principles. The specific problem was the translation itself. The book is a compilation of the pianist's private notes made during the process of his practice or lessons with his students and was not intended by him for publication. Therefore, many difficulties arose while trying to interpret the author's thoughts clearly and correctly. Sometimes one Russian word in his notes can have several meanings, so one must rely on context to find the English word or expression that exactly corresponds to that in the Russian language. In order to get more information about Medtner's life, philosophy, and pedagogical principles the researcher undertook a trip to Russia and England, and established contacts with Medtner's relatives and acquaintances and gained their consent to participate in the research. The methodology involved the taping of the interviews with these people, making copies of unpublished documents (letters, post cards, letters of recommendations, pictures) and collecting articles from periodicals and newspapers from their private collections. I have included much of this material in this project.