I bought the complete Carnegie Hall works of Horowitz last year. I listen to him quite frequently. Particularly with Scarlatti, Horowitz performs those works seemingly effortlessly, while others just seem to see how fast they can do it.

I searched and didn't find any studies of his technique reduced to milliseconds. Is anyone aware of such studies? My rough guess is he is in the 20 Hz to 50 Hz range for individual notes.

John

BTW, there is a vinyl compilation of Horowitz at Carnegie playing Scarlatti that ends with an encore of The Stars and Stripes Forever. It is one of my most favorite recordings, but I have never seen that set on CD. The collection I have has parts, including the encore. Has anyone seen the whole set on CD? Here's an interesting commentary: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/...ir-horowitz-play-octaves-so-fast-take-a-look/

For those who haven't heard it, here is his Start ans Stripes Forever:

 

I bought the complete Carnegie Hall works of Horowitz last year. I listen to him quite frequently. Particularly with Scarlatti, Horowitz performs those works seemingly effortlessly, while others just seem to see how fast they can do it.

I searched and didn't find any studies of his technique reduced to milliseconds. Is anyone aware of such studies? My rough guess is he is in the 20 Hz to 50 Hz range for individual notes.

John

BTW, there is a vinyl compilation of Horowitz at Carnegie playing Scarlatti that ends with an encore of The Stars and Stripes Forever. It is one of my most favorite recordings, but I have never seen that set on CD. The collection I have has parts, including the encore. Has anyone seen the whole set on CD? Here's an interesting commentary: https://welltempered.wordpress.com/...ir-horowitz-play-octaves-so-fast-take-a-look/

For those who haven't heard it, here is his Start ans Stripes Forever:

I think you are in the right range. which means, that when he plays a middle C, you are only hearing 15 or so waves before another note is played.

The slow-motion from the Welltempered.wordpress link above is quite impressive.

 

Horowitz is certainly my favorite. Ashkenazy would be my #2 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Ashkenazy).

I was a little worried that using "Hz" for the frequency with which Horowitz can hit a note might confuse some purists. Glad you understood what I meant.

John