Charles-Marie Widor - Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra Op. 62 (1889)

Charles-Marie Jean Albert Widor (21 February 1844 – 12 March 1937) was a French organist, composer and teacher, most notable for his ten organ symphonies.

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Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra in A-flat major, Op. 62 (1889)
Dedication: Isidor Philipp

Martin Roscoe, piano and BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Martin Yates

Widor dedicated his Fantasy to Isidor Philipp, one of the greatest piano teachers of the 20th Century.

Isidor Philipp studied piano under Georges Mathias (a pupil of Frédéric Chopin and Friedrich Kalkbrenner) at the Conservatoire de Paris and won First Prize in piano performance in 1883. Other teachers included Camille Saint-Saëns, Stephen Heller (a pupil of Carl Czerny, one of Beethoven's students) and Théodore Ritter (a pupil of Franz Liszt). At the Conservatoire, he met fellow student Claude Debussy. They remained lifelong friends, and Philipp often played his compositions. After Debussy's death, Philipp was regarded as the leading authority on his piano music.

The list of Isidor Philipp's students who became notable pianists, composers or conductors is very long, and includes Stell Andersen, Dwight Anderson, Grace Barnes, Emma Boynet, Harold Bradley (pianist), John Buttrick, Serge Conus, Aaron Copland, Jeanne-Marie Darré, Pierre Dervaux, Ania Dorfmann, Rolande Falcinelli, Felix Fox, Jean Françaix, Henri Gagnon, Florence Parr Gere, Youra Guller, Georges Hugon, Fernando Laires, Malvina Leshock, Yvonne Loriod, Nikita Magaloff, Federico Mompou, Léo-Pol Morin, Guiomar Novaes, Ozan Marsh, Wilfrid Pelletier, Émile Poillot, Harrison Potter, noted philosopher Albert Schweitzer, Phyllis Sellick, Soulima Stravinsky, Louise Talma, Alexander Tcherepnin, Dorothy Wanderman, Mabel Madison Watson, Beveridge Webster, and Victor Young.

Additionally, many prominent and well established pianists would seek out his advice, particularly on playing French composers, which included Claude Debussy. Philipp often championed new music throughout his long life, and would frequently edit the works of contemporary composers, such as Sergei Prokofiev and Maurice Ravel. He was close friends with many of the leading pianists and composers of his day, including Leopold Godowsky, Ferruccio Busoni, Josef Hofmann, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Alfred Cortot, Lazare-Lévy, Emile-Robert Blanchet, Béla Bartók, Nadia Boulanger, Jules Massenet, Cécile Chaminade, Gabriel Fauré and Charles-Marie Widor.

Pianist Rudolf Serkin said that not having studied with Philipp was one of the regrets of his life. Later, he knew several of Philipp's students in Vienna, and said 'all of them were brilliant.