Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Adult Beginners Forum Van Cliburn - RIP

Although he had a relatively short time "at the top", his legacy in terms of what he has done for the world of music will live on for a long time:

Van Cliburn - Washington Post

Check out this picture from the Wall St. Journal:

Oh my, RIP. He made Debussy's Reverie one of my favorites.

I heard him perform in Chicago right after he returned from Russia after winning the competition. It is a highly treasured memory. I know he led a lonely life as so many concert pianists do. But he was so instrumental in promoting young pianists at his piano competitions in Texas. They actually have a Chopin competition every 5 years...in Texas!!

I don't think he ever received the accolades he deserved. A gentle giant in so many ways.

Thank you so much Mr. Cliburn.

Kathleen

Ironic sounding, and people might say "are you kidding" -- but I agree. As renowned and decorated as he was, I think he deserved even more.

Interestingly, the famous US critic B.H. Haggin forever maintained that Van Cliburn was an exceptional pianist who was maligned by critics. It may indeed have been the generally unfavorable reception of US music critics which kept Cliburn away from the concert stage for much of his career.

Funny, for a long time all I knew about van Cliburn was that he was mentioned in the song Specialization , sung by Marilyn Monroe and Frankie Vaughnin, from the movie Let's Make Love. Where it says

Van Cliburn
caused us a high burn.
While we were blushin'
some Russians gave him a prize.

He obviously made it big, if he was referred to in a Marilyn Monroe movie. May he rest in peace.

I never knew there was such a thing!

And for the many others who probably also don't, maybe it's not a bad idea to post this (the part we want is at 2:38):