Velichka Savova was born in Sofia in 1899 to an old family from Vratsa that can be traced back to the times of the National Revival. Vela – as her family called her – got her first piano lessons from her mother at the age of six. Gripped by an overwhelming desire to play, she dedicated herself to music and got down to mastering all subtleties of the instrument.

Her enthusiasm continued throughout her teenage years when she made an important decision – at 16 Velichka Savova left for Berlin, where she continued her studies with Leopold Godowsky. In an interview, kept at the BNR Golden Fund, Velichka Savova remembers:

“My father took me to Munich to apply at the Conservatory. Many talented children applied there. I don’t know why but when I was small I felt a strange contradiction – I felt I had extraordinary talent but at times I felt I knew nothing and was capable of nothing, So, on the day I applied I sat and waited for my turn in a real fluster. I entered – the panel was chaired by Berthold Kellerman, Ferenc Liszt’s last student – he assigned to him all important tasks when he was away. After I stopped playing Kellerman came up to me, asked me my name and where I was from. Then he said: “You love playing the scales with the foot pedal, don’t you?” I blushed and thought I had failed, but then he said in German that I was the next Clara Wieck. I didn’t know what to think, so I went out and waited for the results. In time, the headmaster came out and read out a list of names – mine was first.”

Velichka Savova ventured into many areas of music. Her careers as a soloist and as a pedagogue were the spheres she dedicated her life to. After World War I she again went to Berlin, where she specialized with Ferruccio Busoni and his assistant Gottfried Galston. In 1932 Velichka Savova returned to Bulgaria where she settled down until her death in 1991.

Velichka Savova has made a major contribution to music culture. Throughout her long career as a pedagogue she passed her experience onto many of her students who have made a name for themselves in the country and abroad. The renowned pianist remained true to one of her most famous tutors - Leopold Godowsky. His unique piano method is one of the basic piano techniques that she passed onto her own students. Here is what Velichka Savova says about him:

“This is a piano school that is difficult to explain. It is a way to extract high-quality sound from a piano. It is one thing to hit a key and get a sound and quite another to extract the sound from the keyboard itself. This is a special kind of theory and technique connected with a high degree of subtlety – both physical and mental. The two are connected and cannot be separated from each other.”

One of Velichka Savova’s most famous students is Prof. Tsvetan Konstantinov. He continued in his tutor’s footsteps and in 2011 founded the International Master Institute of Music "Leopold Godowsky" in USA where young performers are able to master the technique and the style of the legendary pianist. Nowadays, recordings by Velichka Savova are rare - some of them have been preserved by the BNR Golden Fund.

English version: Milena Daynova 

The audio to this file contains the following recordings:

-  Piano Improvisations by Pancho Vladigerov;

-  Musette and Rigaudon by Jean-Philippe Rameau;

-  Humoresque by Max Reger;

-  Berceuse, Op. 57 by Frederic Chopin.