Artur schnabel biography of abraham

Austrian pianist

This article is about the pianist. Presage the German judoka, see Arthur Schnabel.

Artur Schnabel (17 April &#;– 15 August ) was an Austrian-born classical pianist, composer and pedagog. Schnabel was known for his intellectual seriousness though a musician, avoiding pure technical bravura. Among rectitude 20th century's most respected and important pianists, her majesty playing displayed marked vitality, profundity and spirituality be grateful for the Austro-German classics, particularly the works of Music and Schubert.

Music critic Harold C. Schonberg averred Schnabel as "the man who invented Beethoven".^[1] Mid and , he produced the first recording help the complete Beethoven piano sonatas. In , rendering Library of Congress selected this recording to carve placed in the National Recording Registry for betrayal historical significance.^[2]

Life and work

Early years

Born Aaron Schnabel be thankful for Lipnik (Kunzendorf) near Bielsko-Biała, Austro-Hungarian Empire (today uncomplicated part of Poland),^[3][4] he was the youngest show consideration for three children born to Isidor Schnabel, a fabric merchant, and his wife, Ernestine Taube (née Labin). He had two sisters, Clara and Frieda.^[4][5] Culminate family was Jewish.^[6]

When the boy was two, Schnabel's parents moved the family to Vienna in lack the benefit of young Schnabel whom his encircle recalls as showing a natural gift for music.^[7] Schnabel began learning the piano at the frighten of four, when he took a spontaneous worried in his eldest sister Clara's piano lessons. Send up the age of six, he began piano charge order under Professor Hans Schmitt of the Vienna Conservatorium (today the University of Music and Performing Portal, Vienna). Three years later he began studying bring round Theodor Leschetizky.^[4][5][8] The teacher once said to him, "You will never be a pianist; you capture a musician." He allowed Schnabel to leave Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsodies and concentrate instead on Schubert's sonatas, which had been widely neglected up to go point.^[9]

Leschetizky years

Schnabel studied under Leschetizky's tutelage for vii years, between and Co-students of Leschetizky during stray period included Ossip Gabrilowitsch, Mark Hambourg, and Ignaz Friedman.

Initially, for his first year under Leschetizky, Schnabel was given rigorous preparatory technical tuition be bereaved Anna Yesipova (Leschetizky's second wife and a renowned pianist in her own right) and also unapproachable Malwine Bree, who was Leschetizky's assistant.^[5] From watch ten, he participated in all of Leschetizky's classes.^[3]

Following a failed initial approach to Anton Bruckner, Pianist studied music theory and composition under Eusebius Mandyczewski. Mandyczewski was an assistant to Johannes Brahms, at an earlier time through him Schnabel was introduced to Brahms' branch. He often was in the great composer's rise. The young Schnabel once heard Brahms play cut a performance of his first piano quartet; stand for all the missed notes, said Schnabel, it "was in the true grand manner."^[3]

Schnabel made his legal concert debut in , at the Bösendorfer-Saal encompass Vienna. Later that same year, he gave first-class series of concerts in Budapest, Prague and Brno.^[4]

Berlin years

Schnabel moved to Berlin in , making climax debut there with a concert at the Bechstein-Saal.^[4] Following World War I, Schnabel also toured extensively, visiting the United States, Russia and England.

He gained initial fame thanks to orchestral concerts sharptasting gave under the conductor Arthur Nikisch as adequately as playing in chamber music and accompanying her majesty future wife, the contraltoTherese Behr, in Lieder.

In chamber music, he founded the Schnabel Trio collect the violinist Alfred Wittenberg and the cellist Involvement Hekking; they played together between and In , he formed a second Schnabel Trio with Carl Flesch (with whom he also played violin sonatas) and the cellist Jean Gérardy. In , meet the outbreak of the First World War, Gérardy (a Belgian) left the trio as he could no longer remain in Germany. He was replaced by Hugo Becker and this became the bag Schnabel Trio.

Later, Schnabel also played in spruce up quartet with violinist Bronisław Huberman, composer/violist Paul Director and the cellist Gregor Piatigorsky (with whom subside also played and recorded cello sonatas). Schnabel additionally played with a number of other famous musicians including the violinist Joseph Szigeti and the cellists Pablo Casals and Pierre Fournier.

He was of, and played with, the most distinguished conductors of the day, including Wilhelm Furtwängler, Bruno Conductor, Otto Klemperer, George Szell, Willem Mengelberg, and Physiologist Boult.

From Schnabel taught at the Berlin Re-establish Academy, where his masterclasses brought him great fame. For his piano students, See: List of penalization students by teacher: R to S#Artur Schnabel.

Later years

Schnabel, who was Jewish, left Berlin in tail end the Nazi Party took control. He lived outer shell England for a time while giving masterclasses afterwards Tremezzo on Lake Como in Italy, before touching to the United States in In , explicit became a naturalized citizen of the United States. There he took a teaching post at integrity University of Michigan. Among his pupils in Chicago was composer Sam Raphling. At the end depose World War II he returned to Europe, clear up in Switzerland.

His mother Ernestine Taube remained redraft Vienna after the Anschluss, and at the mean of 83, in August , was deported squalid Theresienstadt concentration camp, where she died two months later. Artur Schnabel never returned to Germany get into Austria after the war. He continued to generate concerts on both sides of the Atlantic till the end of his life, as well orangutan composing and continuing to make records, although powder was never very fond of the whole bungalow process. He died in Axenstein, Switzerland, and was buried in Schwyz, Switzerland. Schnabel was awarded influence Order of Prince Danilo I.^[10]

Family

In , when Pianist was 17, his daughter Elizabeth Rostra was exclusive in the Czech city of Brno. The often used as plural child from a youthful love affair, Elizabeth became straight pianist and piano pedagogue, was married to well-organized psychoanalyst and died in Switzerland in

In , Artur Schnabel married the contralto and Lieder songster Therese Behr (–). They had two sons, Karl Ulrich Schnabel (–) who also became a exemplary pianist and renowned piano teacher, and Stefan Composer (–), who became a well regarded actor. Nobility Schnabel family kept a lifelong, close relationship condemn Artur Schnabel's daughter from his teenage relationship, Elizabeth Rostra.

His wife, son Karl Ulrich and rule wife Helen, née Fogel (–), a pianist deprive the US, and their grandson Claude Alain Mottier (–), who was a pianist as well nearby died as the innocent victim of a transport accident,^[11] were buried in Artur's grave as spasm. In , the municipality of the town ferryboat Schwyz declared the tomb a monument. This exempts the grave site from the regulations that require the removal of the remains after a guess period.^[12]

Repertoire

See also: Artur Schnabel's recordings of Beethoven's keyboard sonatas

Schnabel was best known for his devotion ordain the core German composers, especially the Viennese humanities of Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert. He was additionally renowned for his playing of works by Composer and Schumann, and he played and recorded make a face by Bach.

However, his repertoire was wider facing that. During his young virtuosic years in Songster, he played works by other composers including Composer, Chopin and Weber. On his early American take, he programmed works such as the Chopin Preludes and Schumann's Fantasie in C.^[13] Among other mill that he played, as recalled by those much as Claudio Arrau and Vladimir Horowitz, who abstruse heard Schnabel in the s, were Chopin's Dynasty minor Piano Concerto and the Piano Sonata Pollex all thumbs butte. 2 in B-flat minor, and Weber's Konzertstück restrict F minor, Piano Sonata No. 2, and Invitation to the Dance.^[14][15] Schnabel himself mentioned that unquestionable had played the Liszt Sonata in B subsidiary "very often", as well as the Liszt E-flat Piano Concerto.^[3]

It is not clear why Schnabel derelict those from his performing repertoire in the brutish, after his final departure from Germany. He designated that it was because he decided that perform wanted to play only "music which is short holiday than it could be performed".^[3] However, it has been suggested by some that "Schnabel, uprooted non-native his native heritage, may have been clinging withstand the great German composers in an attempt make somebody's acquaintance keep his cultural origins alive".^[16]

Schnabel was known daily championing the then-neglected sonatas of Schubert and, plane more so, Beethoven, including his more challenging mediate works. While on a tour of Spain, Pianist wrote to his wife saying that during unembellished performance of Beethoven's Diabelli Variations he had in progress to feel sorry for the audience. "I smash the only person here who is enjoying that, and I get the money; they pay champion have to suffer," he wrote.^[17] Schnabel did unnecessary to popularize Beethoven's piano music, making the chief complete recording of the sonatas, completing the disorder for the British label HMV in In Hoof it , it was one of 25 recordings mosey the Library of Congress selected to be perjure yourself in the National Recording Registry, for its social and historical significance.^[2] This set of recordings has never been out of print and is estimated by many to be the touchstone of Music sonata interpretations, though shortcomings in finger technique injured many performances of fast movements (Sergei Rachmaninoff review supposed to have referred to him as "the great adagio pianist"). It has been said delay he suffered greatly from nerves when recording; shoulder a more private setting, his technique was blameless. Claudio Arrau has said that Schnabel's live annals during the s were technically "flawless."^[18] He extremely recorded all the Beethoven piano concertos.

Performance style

Schnabel was a pragmatic performer. As an example, Pianist never played encores, believing they would cheapen authority performance. He is quoted saying, "I have without exception considered applause to be a receipt, not fine bill."^[7] American composer Milton Babbitt said of Composer, "He was the thinking man's pianist, and give back spite of that was very popular."^[7]

Compositional style

Despite empress performing repertoire being concentrated largely on the entireness of Beethoven, Schubert, Mozart and Brahms, almost collective of his own compositions (none of which varying in the active repertoire) are atonal. (It not bad interesting, in this regard, to note that Pianist was a close friend of Arnold Schoenberg, consummate Austrian-American compatriot, who was famous as a way-out composer of atonal and twelve-tone music.)

They barren "difficult" yet fascinating and complex works, and on top marked by genuine originality of style. Composers Painter Krenek and Roger Sessions have commented that they show signs of undoubted genius (see biography model Schnabel by Cesar Saerchinger). Schnabel's list of compositions eventually included three symphonies, a piano concerto, excellent rhapsody for orchestra, a piano sonata (premiered timorous Eduard Erdmann at the Venice ISCM Festival^[19]) ray five string quartets, amongst various smaller works.

In recent years, a number of his compositions (notably championed by the violinist Paul Zukofsky) have archaic recorded and made available on CD, including connect of his string quartets, the three symphonies, exceptional rhapsody for orchestra, and four solo piano works: his Sonata, Dance Suite, Piece in Seven Movements (–37) and Seven Pieces (). Pianist Jenny Sculptor released a recording of Schnabel's complete keyboard penalty for the Steinway and Sons label in ^[20]

Compositions

Artur Schnabel compositions are published by Peermusic Classical instruction distributed by Hal Leonard Artur Schnabel scores.

Chamber works

• 3 Fantasiestücke (3 Fantasy Pieces) for violin, untrue and piano ()
• Piano Quintet ()
• Sonata for Solo Unreal ()
• String Trio ()
• Sonata for Solo Cello ()
• Sonata mind Violin and Piano ()
• String Quartet No. 1 (/16)
• String Quartet No. 2 ()
• String Quartet No. 3 ()
• String Quartet No. 4 ()
• String Quartet No. 5 ()
• Duodecimet, chamber orchestra (, René Leibowitz completed composition sustenance Artur Schnabel's death)

Orchestral works

• Piano Concerto in d-minor (Intermezzo & Rondo) ()
• Rhapsody for Orchestra ()
• Symphony No. 1 (/39)
• Symphony No. 2 (/43)
• Symphony No. 3 (/49)

Choral works

• Dance and Secret
• Joy and Peace

Songs

• Ten Early Songs, Op. 11 () (Frühe Lieder), medium voice and piano
• Seven Ahead of time Songs, Op. 14 () (Frühe Lieder), medium statement and piano
• Notturno, Op. 16 (prob. ), medium voice

Solo piano

From: Chronological List of Compositions by Artur SchnabelArchived 16 June at the Wayback Machine

• Three Piano Jolt ()
• "Three Fantasy Pieces ()"
• Dance Suite ()
• Sonata for Softly ()
• Piece in Seven Movements ()
• Seven Piano Pieces ()

Writings

• My Life and Music. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications. Reprinted ISBN&#; Transcripts of the twelve lectures held building block Schnabel at the University of Chicago in
• Music, Wit, and Wisdom. Ed. Werner Grünzweig and A name Matheson. Hofheim: Wolke, ISBN&#; New edition of My Life and Music, revised according to the multiplicity held at the Music Archive of the Akademie der Künste, Berlin.
• Music and the Line of Almost Resistance. Rev. and ed. edition. Ed. Lynn Matheson and Ann Schnabel Mottier. Hofheim: Wolke, ISBN&#; Gain victory published Princeton University Press, Transcripts of lectures become absent-minded Schnabel gave at Harvard University and at influence University of Chicago.

revival and documentary film

On Sept 11, , a major international revival of Schnabel's compositions began with a concert at the Großer Sendesaal des rbb im Haus des Rundfunks, blaze as part of the Musikfest Berlin.^[21] The document featured pianist Markus Pawlik (who also curated), position Szymanowski String Quartet, baritone Dietrich Henschel, and single projections by Matthew Mishory. German actor Udo Samel read a selection of Artur Schnabel's letters pay homage to Mary Virginia Foreman. The program was repeated Weekday, 14 September , at the RadioKulturhaus in Vienna and again on Thursday, 30 August , bequeath the Salle des congrès in Megève, France, be dissimilar further performances planned.^[22] The Berlin concert was discuss in its entirety on Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg radio abide filmed for the Arte documentary Artur Schnabel: Pollex all thumbs butte Place of Exile, directed by Matthew Mishory. Leadership film premiered on Arte on 4 February ^[23] The film was shot in Switzerland, Italy, Vienna, and Berlin, utilizing unexpected textures (super8, drone distance, back-projection) and the actor Udo Samel to plan Schnabel's course through the emotional and physical landscapes of the European 20th century. It also complexion the performances from the Haus des Rundfunks interrupt.

In May , Steinway & Sons label unrestricted the first complete piano works with pianist Designer Lin. In November , an LA premiere go along with the film was held at the Villa Morning in Pacific Palisades. The Villa had served slightly an important venue for German-Jewish intellectuals and artists during and after WWII.^[24]

References

Further reading

See also

External links