The Georges Mathias Tradition

Piano Traditions Through Their Genealogy Trees

© 2021, by Daniel Pereira

Doctor of Musical Arts | www.daniel-pereira.com

 

Barth, Karl-Heinrich

German (Baltiysk, near Kaliningrad, July 12, 1847 — Berlin, December 23, 1922)

Heir of the Liszt tradition passed onto him through four of Liszt´s students, Barth was a famed pianist and teacher, known for his wide repertory and for being a member of the prestigious Barth Trio. He taught at the Stern Conservatory and at the Hochshule für Müsik, both in Berlin.

[See the Karl-Heinrich Barth Tradition]

 

Benoît, Francine

Portuguese (Périgueux, July 30, 1894 — Lisbon, January 27, 1990)

Francine Benoît was a composer, professor and critic. She studied with Alexandre Rey Colaço and with Vincent D´Indy. In 1942, she co-founded the Sociedade de Concertos Sonata with Fernando Lopes-Graça among others. She wrote articles for Diário de Lisboa, O Diário, A Capital and Renovação. Benoît composed a number of piano works including the Concerto de piano, Peças Infantis e Sonatina.

 

Carreño, Teresa

Venezuelan (Caracas, Venezuela, December 22, 1853 — New York, June 12, 1917)

Teresa Carreño was a pianist, composer and singer. Both her grandfather and father were musicians, and she received her early musical training with the latter. In 1862, the family moved to New York City, where Carreño made her debut when she was eight years old. She also lived in Paris and Boston, and concertized with great acclaim in Europe, Australia, Africa, South America and in the United States. She championed the works of American composers, particularly the music of Edward MacDowell. Carreño also appeared on occasion as an opera singer. She composed about 80 works including the Marche triomphale op. 8, Ballade op. 15 and Vals Gayo op. 38. Carreñorecorded a number of piano rolls for Welte-Mignon and Duo-Art in 1905 and 1914, respectively. She married four times: the violinist Emile Sauret, the baritone Giovanni Tagliapietra, and later his brother Arturo Tagliapietra, and the pianist Eugen d´Albert. Among the pallbearers at her funeral were Paderewski, Hutcheson and Elman.

 

Chopin, Frédéric-François

Polish (Zelazowa Wola, March 1, 1810 — Paris, October 17, 1849)

Frédéric Chopin was a pianist and composer. His father was from Lorraine, France. He studied with Zywny, Elsner and with Wilhelm Würfel, an eminent pianist. However, in terms of piano training, Chopin was mainly self-taught. His earliest autograph is the Polonaise in A flat major, dated in 1821. On November 1, 1830, he departed for Vienna and would never return to his native Poland. After spending some time in Vienna, Munich and Stuttgart, he travelled to Paris. His Parisian debut took place in the Salle Pleyel on February 26, 1832. In the French capital, Chopin became a famous teacher, composer and pianist, although he did not frequently perform in public. He was in close terms with Hiller, Liszt, Berlioz, Delacroix and Franchomme. In 1838, Chopin and George Sand begun their love affair which was to last until 1847. Chopin spent periods of time in Majorca, Marseilles, Nohant, London and Scotland. His health had always been weak and, by October 1848 he weighed less than 45 kgs. Chopin is among the greatest composers for the piano and wrote numerous pieces including études, mazurkas, nocturnes, waltzes, polonaises, sonatas, impromptus, ballades and two concertos.

[See the Frédéric Chopin Tradition]

 

Decombes, Émile

French (Nîmes, August 9, 1829 — Paris, May 5, 1912)

Émile Decombes was a pianist and teacher. He was one of the last pupils of Chopin in Paris. He taught preparatory piano at the Paris Conservatoire between 1875 and 1899 and had Cortot, Risler, Ravel and Satie among his pupils. Decombes edited a number of piano arrangements of piano concertos in École du piano – Choix de Concertos des Maîtres.

 

Drangosch, Ernesto

Argentinian (Buenos Aires, January 22, 1882 — June 26, 1925)

Ernesto Drangosch was a pianist and composer. His father was a Steinway pianos agent in Argentina. He studied with Alberto Williams and Carlo Vidusso in Argentina, and with Karl Heinrich Barth and Conrad Ansorge in Germany. Drangosch performed under the batons of d´Albert, Joachim and Busoni. He taught at the Buenos Aires Conservatory. Among his students was Sebastián Piana. As a composer, he wrote the Études opp. 14 and 21, the latter titled The Art of Playing the Piano, a theoretical and practical compendium about piano technique. Drangosch was the first Argentinian composer in writing a piano concerto, the Concert E dur op. 12.

 

Ericourt, Daniel

French-American (Jossigny, Seine-et-Marne, December 12, 1903 — Greensboro, North Carolina, June 21, 1998)

Daniel Ericourt was a pianist and teacher. He studied with Roger-Ducasse and later with Santiago Riera and Nadie Boulanger at the Paris Conservatoire. In 1926, he became a teacher at the Cincinnati Conservatory and also taught at the Peabody Conservatory and at the University of North Carolina. Ericourt met Debussy, who had a strong influence on him. He composed a few pieces and transcribed songs by Debussy and Ravel.

 

Fotino, Maria

Romanian (1913 — 1996)

Maria Fotino was a pianist and teacher. Her sister was the pianist Ecaterina Fotino-Negru and her brother the cellist Ion Fotino. She studied with renowned teacher Florica Musicescu at the Bucharest Conservatory, with Edwin Fischer in Berlin and with Santiago Riera at the Paris Conservatoire. She concertized extensively and appeared on stage with George Enescu.

 

Gottschalk, Louis Moreau 

American (New Orleans, May 8, 1829 — Tijuca, Brazil, December 18, 1869)

Louis Moreau Gottschalk was a pianist and one of the most relevant American composers of the 19th century. He was recognized as a forerunner of the ragtime. His German-Jewish father was born in London and his mother had left Haiti for Louisiana during the 1790s. At the age of 11, Gottschalk travelled to France to study music. In 1845, Chopin congratulated the young pianist after a recital at the Salle Pleyelin Paris. Gottschalk concertized in Europe, became an idol in Spain under the support of Isabella II, and toured extensively inNorth America, Canada, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Antilles. After he was forced to leave the USA due to a scandalous affair with a student, he travelled to South America where hecontinued to perform and had a profound influence on music education and Classical music in several countries. In 1869, he settled in Rio de Janeiro, and organized the “monster concerts” featuring over 650 performers. His vast piano output consists of Classical and popular works including the Souvenirs d´Andalousie, La jota aragonesa, Le banjo, Last Hope, Souvenir de Puerto Rico, Bamboula, Le bananier and the Grande Tarantelle for piano and orchestra. Pianists John Kirkpatrick, Jeanne Behrend and Eugene List have championed Gottschalk´s piano works and contributed to increase an interest in his music.

 

Halm, Anton

Austrian (Haselberg, June 5, 1789 — Vienna, April 6, 1872)

An official of the Imperial and Royal Army for a period of three years, he met Beethoven and performed his works on a few occasions, writing a four-hand arrangement of the Grosse Fugue for Artaria. He also collaborated with a variation for Anton Diabelli´s project.

 

Heller, Stephen

Hungarian-French (Pest, May 15, 1813— Paris, January 14, 1888)

Of Jewish descent, he went to Vienna to study with Carl Czerny, but his father was not able to afford his expensive fees. Through Anton Halm, he met Schubert and Beethoven. When he was on a concert tour in Augsburg, he fell ill from nervous fatigue and remained in that city for about eight years. He collaborated with Schumann writing for the Neue Zeitschrift and the German composer highly appreciated his letters exchange with him. He settled in Paris in 1838 and became Berlioz´s closest friend, writing for the Gazette musicale. In his later years, he did not enjoy public performing and he also started having sight problems. Heller published a substantial amount of piano works, which range from the elementary level to virtuoso-like compositions. Examples of his varied piano writing are the etudes opp. 16, 45, 46, 47, 90 and 125, the Introduction, variations and finale op. 6, the Sonata op. 143 and the Preludes op. 150. Liszt and other pianists played his etude de concert La chasse op. 29 frequently. He also wrote transcriptions of Schubert lieder.

 

Huneker, James Gibbons

American (Philadelphia, January 31, 1857 — New York, February 9, 1921)

James Huneker was a critic and essayist. He studied the piano with Georges Mathias, Edmund Neupert and Rafael Joseffy. He taught at the National Conservatory in New York and worked for the New York Times as a foreign correspondent and music critic. Huneker published over 20 books including Chopin, his most famous publication.

 

Ituarte, Miguel

Spanish  (Getxo, 1968)

Miguel Ituarte is a pianist and teacher. He studied in Bilbao, Madrid and Amsterdam with Isabel Picaza, Juan Carlos Zubeldia, Almudena Cano and Jan Wijn. He is also interested in the harpsichord and the organ. He received first prize at the Jaén, Ferrol and Fundación Guerrero competitions, and was a finalist at the 1995 Santander International Competition. He maintains an active concert career and has made a number of recordings. In 2001, Ituarte was appointed professor at the Musikene in the Basque Country, Spain.

 

Kalkbrenner, Frédéric

French (early November 1785 — Enghien-les-Bains, June 10, 1849)

Kalkbrenner was a pianist, teacher and composer. He was born en route from Kassel to Berlin. His father, Christian Kalkbrenner, gave him his first music lessons. Subsequently, Kalkbrenner studied at the Paris Conservatory and obtained premiers prix in piano and harmony. Between 1803 and 1804, he travelled to Vienna where he met Haydn, who offered him guidance, and also made the acquaintance of Clementi. In 1814, Kalkbrenner settled in England, where he achieved fame as a pianist, teacher and composer. Ten years after, he returned to Paris and found his place among the most prominent virtuosos of his day, not only in France but all over Europe, attaining an international career without precedent. Kalkbrenner invited Chopin to study with him, but the Polish composer declined the offer. However, Chopin dedicated his Concerto in E minor op. 11 to Kalkbrenner. As a composer, Kalkbrenner focused mostly on the piano. He produced piano concertos, 13 sonatas, Élégie harmonique op. 36, Caprice op. 104, and a number of other pieces such as airs variés, romances, rondeaux and waltzes. Ha also wrote pedagogical pieces including the 24 études dans tous les tons opp. 20 and 88, 12 études préparatoires, 25 grandes études de style et de perfectionnement, and the influential Méthode pour apprendre le piano-forte à l´aide du guide-mains. He invented the so-called hand-guide mechanism with the aim of helping the pianist avoid any arm movement and, as a consequence, develop the maximum finger independence possible.

[See the Frédéric Kalkbrenner Tradition]

 

Leschetizky, Theodor

Polish (Łańcut, Galicia, June 22, 1830 — Dresden, November 14, 1915)

Theodor Leschetizky was a pianist, teacher and composer. His father gave him his first music lessons. His debut, performing a Czerny concertino, was conducted by W.A. Mozart´s son, Franz Xaver. In Vienna, Leschetizky studied with Carl Czerny. In 1852, he moved to Saint Petersburg, where he taught and headed the piano department at the Conservatory from 1862 and stayed in the city for the next 26 years. His second wife was his student Anna Essipova, whom he divorced in 1892. Subsequently, he married two other students consecutively. Another student of his, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, contributed to expanding Leschetizky´s fame as a teacher, particularly in the United States. An estimate of 1,200 pianists studied with him, exerting a deep influence on pianism around the world, with students who were still performing as late as 1991. He was a crucial figure in the revival of Schubert´s piano sonatas, especially through his student Arthur Schnabel. Leschetizky composed a one-movement Piano Concerto and virtuoso piano music.

[See the Theodor Leschetizky Tradition]

 

Liberté, Alfred La

Canadian (St-Jean, Québéc, February 10, 1882 — Montreal, May 7, 1952)

Alfred La Liberté was a pianist, composer, teacher and lecturer. He studied in Canada, and later in Berlin with Paul Lutzenko and Teresa Carreño. He taught at the Montreal and Ottawa conservatories as well as the École Normale Vincent D´Indy in Montreal. La Liberté met Scriabin in New York and later studied with him in Brussels. He was a champion of the Russian composer´s works. Scriabin entrusted La Liberté with the manuscripts of the Sonata no. 5 and the Poem of Ecstasy, among others.

 

Lima, Eurico Tomás de

Portuguese (Ponta Delgada, Açores, December 17, 1908 — Maia, June 8, 1989)

Eurico Tomás de Lima was a pianist, composer and pedagogue. His father was António Tomás de Lima, a violinist and professor at the Lisbon Conservatory. Eurico studied with Alexandre Rey Colaço and Vianna da Mota. He taught at the Mozart, Beethoven and Parnaso academies in Porto, Academia de Música e Belas-Artes da Ilha da Modeira and at the Gulbenkian Conservatory in Braga. Eurico Tomás composed numerous works for piano including Estudo Brasileiro, Ilha do Paraíso, Suite Portuguesa no. 2 and Sonata no. 4.

 

Matthias, Georges Amédée Saint-Clair

French (Paris, October 14, 1826 — Paris, October 14, 1910)

Georges Mathias was a pianist, teacher and composer. At the Paris Conservatory, he studied with François Bazin, Auguste Barbereau, Augustin Savard and Fromental Halévy. He studied composition with Kalkbrenner and perfected his pianism with Frédéric Chopin. Along with Karol Mikuli, Mathias was one of the most important figures in perpetuating Chopin´s style into the next generation. He taught at the Paris Conservatory from 1862 to 1893 and had numerous illustrious pupils including Teresa Carreño, Isidor Philipp and Alberto Williams. He composed two piano concertos, chamber music some opera transcriptions.

[See the Georges Mathias Tradition]

 

Petri, Egon 

Dutch-German-American (Hanover, March 23, 1881 — Berkeley, California, May 27, 1962)

Egon Petri was a pianist and teacher. His father played in the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra and taught him the violin when Petri was 5 years old. Petri also learned the organ and the horn. He became one of the most respected of Busoni´s pupils, andhelped the Italian master with the corrections of operas and piano works and with the edition of Bach´s keyboard works. He had an active teaching career and held positions at the Royal Manchester College of Music, Hochschule für Musik in Berlin, Cornell University, Mills College and San Francisco Conservatory. He was naturalized American in 1955. Petri made remarkable recordings including the works of his teacher Busoni. He was fluent in 6 languages. 

[See the Egon Petri Tradition]

 

Philipp, Isidore

Hungarian-French (Budapest, Hungary, September 2, 1863 — Paris, France, February 20, 1958)

Born in Hungary, he was professor of Piano at the Paris Conservatory and at the American Conservatory of Fontainebleau and, during the Nazi invasion of 1940, he fled to the United States. He became a renowned teacher, famous for his capacity to approach and solve any pianistic issue. He published numerous collections of piano exercises and studies, including the Ecole du Mécanisme, Exercices d´extension pour les doigts and Exercices de velocité, and works such as Valse-caprices and concert studies. The Isidore Philipp Archive was established in 1977 at the University of Louisville and is considered the largest Isidore Philipp collection.

[See the Isidore Philipp Tradition]

 

Pires, Maria-João

Portuguese (Lisbon, July 23, 1944)

Maria-João Pires is a pianist. She made her debut at the age of four. She studied at the Lisbon Conservatory with Campos Coelho and Francine Benoît. Subsequently, after obtaining a scholarship, she entered the Musikhochshule of Munich and became a pupil of Rosl Schid and, later, of Karl Engel in Hanover. In 1970, she received first prize at the Beethoven Bicentennial Competition. Pires made numerous recordings including the complete Mozart sonatas, as well as discs of Chopin, Bach, Schubert and Schumann. She founded the Belgais Center for the Study of the Arts in Castelo Branco, Portugal.

 

Pollini, Maurizio

Italian (Milan, January 5, 1942)

Maurizio Pollini is a pianist. He studied with Carlo Lonati, Carlo Vidusso and, briefly, with Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli. He received first prize at the Ettore Pozzoli Competition and the Chopin Competition in Warsaw. After an initial success, he retired from the concert platform for a period of time in order to improve and consolidate his technique. Pollini made numerous recordings for EMI and Deutsche Grammophon, including works by Beethoven, Chopin, Bartók, Prokofiev, Schoenberg and Boulez.

 

Pugno, Raoul

French (Montrouge, near Paris, June 23, 1852 — Moscow, January 3, 1914)

Raoul Pugno was a pianist, teacher and composer. He studied at the École Niedermeyer and at the Paris Conservatoire where he received the Premier Prix in in piano in 1866 and also in harmony and organ. From 1896 to 1901, he taught piano at the Conservatoire. In 1903, Pugno made some recordings for the Gramophone and Typewriter Co. in Paris. As a composer, he wrote a piano concerto and a sonata, among other pieces.

 

Rattalino, Piero

Italian (Fossano, March 18, 1931)

Piero Rattalino is a pianist, musicologist and music critic. He studied at the Parma Conservatory with Carlo Vidusso and taught at the Cagliari, Trieste, Milan and Parma conservatories, as well as at the Incontri col Maestro in Imola since 1987. Rattalino published numerous books on music including From Clementi to Pollini: Two Hundred Years with the Great Pianists, The History of the Piano, Chopin: A Portrait, and many other writings and articles on the music of Beethoven, Brahms, Schumann, Prokofiev or on such pianists as Backhaus, Horowitz or Richter.

 

Ravel, Maurice

French (Ciboure, Basses-Pyrénées, March 7, 1875 — Paris, December 28, 1937)

Maurice Ravel was a composer and pianist. When he was three months old, the family moved to Paris. His Swiss father was an engineer and amateur pianist. Ravel´s first piano teacher was Henri Ghys and, from 1889, he took lessons from Émile Descombes, Eugène Anthiôme and Charles-Wilfrid de Bériot. He left the Conservaroire in 1895 but returned two years later to study composition with Fauré. Ravel produced numerous piano works including Gaspard de la nuit, Mirroirs, Jeux d´eau, Sonatina and two piano concertos. Ravel suffered from insomnia, ataxia and aphasia. He died a few days after a brain surgery.

 

Reinecke, Carl

German (Altona, June 23, 1824 — Leipzig, March 10, 1910)

Active as pianist, composer, conductor, teacher, administrator and even as a painter and poet, he received a complete music instruction from his father J.P. Rudolf Reinecke. He was appointed court pianist in Copenhagen in 1846 and taught counterpoint and piano at Hiller´s conservatory in Cologne and at the Leipzig Conservatory, which he also directed and transformed into a top and famous school in Europe. In Leipzig, he also conducted the Gewandhaus Orchestra. As a composer, he wrote a substantial amount of works including piano sonatinas, exercises and four piano concertos and was remarkably noted in the “Hausmusik” style. He also wrote books and essays on music subjects. 

[See the Carl Reinecke Tradition]

 

Rendano, Alfonso

Italian (Carolei, April 5, 1853 — Rome, September 10, 1931)

Alfonso Rendano was a pianist and composer. He studied with Sigismond Thalberg in Naples and with Georges Mathias in Paris. He also studied at the Leipzig Conservatory with and Richter. Rendano concertized in several cities in Europe. He met Liszt and Bülow. The pedale Rendano or pedale indipendente was introduced by Rendano in order to extend certain chord vibrations. He taught in Naples and Rome. As a composer, he wrote the Piano concerto, Alla gavotta, Rondoletto and Montanaro Calabro.

 

Restani, Paolo

Italian (La Spezia, August 2, 1867)

Paolo Restani is a pianist. He studied with Vincenzo Vitale, Gerhard Oppitz and Peter Lang, and attended masterclasses with Gustav Kuhn, Piero Rattalino, Nikita Magaloff and Vladimir Ashkenazy. Restani made numerous recordings for DECCA, Amadeus and Brilliant Classics including John Field´s piano concertos, Brahms´s variations and Liszt´s 12 Trascendental Études.

 

Rey Colaço, Alexandre

Portuguese (Tangier, Morocco, April 30, 1854 — Lisbon, September 1, 1928)

Professor of princes D. Luís Filipe de Bragança and D. Manuel de Bragança, the last king of Portugal, his father was a French citizen born in Cyprus and his mother was half Spanish. He taught at the Hochshule für Musik in Berlin and at the Lisbon Conservatory, and remained committed and active in the cultural life of his country. As a composer, he was a pioneer in introducing Portuguese popular melodies into his music, for example in the collection of Fados, Bailarico, Jota and Malagueña. Educo Records released a recording of a selection of his piano output in 1985 featuring pianist Michael Habermann. He also published a collection of thoughts and reflections on music titled De Música. His daughter Amélia Rey Colaço became one of Portugal´s leading actresses. 

 

Riera, Santiago

Spanish (Barcelona, June 11, 1867 — 1959)

Santiago Riera was a pianist. He begun piano lessons with Cándido Candi. In 1885, he entered the Paris Conservatoire where he became a pupil of George Mathias and Charles Wilfrid de Bériot and received the Premier Prix in 1888. He taught at the Bucharest Conservatory until 1895. Maria Fotino was among his students.

 

Ritter, Théodore

French (April 5, 1840 — April 6, 1886)

Son of composer Eugène Prévost, his real name was Toussaint Prévost and initiated his career as baritone under the name of Félix. He toured in Canada and in the United States. He married singer Alice Desgranges and his niece Gabrielle Ritter-Ciampi also became a famous singer. As composer, he wrote numerous piano pieces and transcriptions such as Berlioz´s L´enfance du Christ and Roméo et Juliette.

 

Rubinstein, Anton

Russian (Vikhvatintsï, Ukraine, November 16 or 28, 1829 — Peterhof, now Petrodvoret, November 8 or 20, 1894)

Pianist, conductor, composer and teacher, he was a colossus of the piano and regarded an equal to Liszt. He had a tremendous impact on Russian´s musical life and education that lasts until today, establishing the pedagogical and interpretative principles of what came to be known as the Russian School of pianism. His early piano instruction came from his mother and, subsequently, Alexander Villoing taught the child prodigy and took him on an extended concert tour all over Europe, meeting Chopin, Liszt, Mendelssohn and Meyerbeer. In 1848, the Gran Duchess Yelena Pavlina took interest in the young pianist, offering him lodging quarters in one of her palaces, having him perform for the tsar´s family and, years after, envisioning and planning together a revolution in the musical education in Russia. As a result, they founded the Russian Musical Society in 1859 and the Saint Petersburg Conservatory in 1862. He embarked on several extended concert tours including one in the USA with Wieniawski in which they played over 215 recitals in a period of about 8 months. His repertoire was humongous, as the seven historical recitals he gave in Europe and Russia between 1885 and 1886, encompassing all the history of the piano literature. His piano output is extensive, including five piano concertos, four piano sonatas, Tarantella, Six Preludes, Suite and the famous Melody in F op. 3 no. 1.

[See the Anton Rubinstein Tradition]

 

Rudorff, Ernst

German (Berlin, January 18, 1840 — Berlin, December 31, 1916)

Pianist, conductor, composer and teacher, he was born into a cultural and intellectual family. His mother was a friend of Mendelssohn and his father a law professor. Besides music, he studied theology and history. He taught at the Cologne Conservatory and at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik and succeeded Bruch as conductor of the Stern Choral Society. He was a close friend of Clara Schumann, who also taught him for a short period. He produced a number of piano compositions including the Fantasie op. 14, Romanzen op. 48 and the Impromptu op. 51. He was a member of the editorial committee of Denkmäler Deutscher Tonkunst.

 

Saint-Saëns, Camille

French (Paris, October 9, 1835 — Algiers, December 16, 1921)

Described by Gounod as the “French Beethoven”, he was a child prodigy and became a virtuoso pianist and organist admired by Liszt, Gounod, Rossini and Berlioz. His official debut took place at the Salle Pleyel at the age of ten performing from memory Beethoven´s Third Piano Concerto and Mozart´s Piano Concerto K. 450, for which he played a cadenza of his own. His concert tours took him to South America, United States, East Asia, Canary Islands, Scandinavia, Africa and Russia, where he met Tchaikovsky. His output covered all genres including a dozen operas, five piano concertos, chamber music works and numerous other brilliant pieces such as the etudes opp. 52, 111 and 135, Suite and Vals nonchalante. He edited a number of works from the French harpsichord repertoire and pieces by Liszt and Mozart. His broad interests included the French classics, religion, Latin and Greek, mathematics and natural sciences. 

 

Satie, Erik

French (Honfleur, May 17, 1866 — Paris, July 1, 1925)

Erik Satie was a composer. He had Scottish ancestry on his mother´s side. In 1879, he entered the Paris Conservatoire where he studied with Émile Decombes and Georges Mathias. He also studied composition and counterpoint at the Schola Cantorum between 1905 and 1912. For a time, he worked at café-concerts and in a number of theatrical entertainments in order to make a living. Spanish pianist Ricard Viñes premiered a numbered of Satie´s compositions. His piano output includes Trois gymnopédies, Trois gnosiennes, Vexations, Embrions desséchés, Menus propos enfantines and Pièces froides. Satie was a close friend of Debussy and influenced the group of Les Six. He started to drink heavily and developed cirrhosis and pleurisy at the end of his life.

 

Schelling, Ernest

American (Belvidere, July 26, 1876 — New York, December 8, 1939)

Ernest Schelling was a pianist, conductor and composer. He studied with Mathias at the Paris Conservatoire and later with Moritz Moszkowski, Dionys Pruckner, Theodor Leschetizky, Hans Huber, Karl-Heinrich Barth and Paderewski. Schelling concertized widely in Europe and South America. In 1919, he was involved in a car accident in which he injured his hands. He frequently conducted the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Young People´s Concerts in New York. He composed Theme and variations and Six compositions among other pieces.

 

Simonsen, Rudolph

Danish (Copenhagen, April 30, 1889 — Copenhagen, March 28, 1947)

Rudolph Simonsen was a composer and pianist. He also received a law degree at the University of Copenhagen. He was a teacher at the Copenhagen Conservatory and succeeded Carl Nielsen as its director in 1931. His compositions include the Piano Concerto of 1915. 

 

Sousa Pedroso, Elisa de

Portuguese (Vila Real, July 10, 1881 — Lisbon, April 18, 1958)

Elisa de Sousa Pedroso was a pianist. She studied with Alexandre Rey Colaço, Vianna da Motta, Pedro Blanch, Ignaz Friedmann, Edouard Risler, Conrado del Campo and Pau Casals. In 1934, she founded the Círculo de Cultura Musical. She published Musica Espanhola Contemporânea among other articles and books.

 

Stamaty, Camille

Greco-French (Rome, March 13 or 23, 1811 — Paris, April 19, 1870)

Camille Stamaty was a pianist, composer and teacher. He continued Kalkbrenner´s tradition of piano playing in France. While he was deciding between studying music or adventuringinto business, he worked at the Prefecture of the Seine. He madehis debut at the Salle Pleyel in Paris in 1835, performing Kalkbrenner´s Grand Duo in D op. 128 for two pianos, with the composer himself. In 1862, he received the Chevalier of the Légion d´Honneur distinction. Stamaty composed several piano works including the Grande Sonate op. 20, and the Sicilienne dans le genre ancient. He also produced pedagogical works as the five-volume L´ecole du pianist classique et modern and the 25 études pour piano op. 11, used by the Paris Conservatory as part of its teaching methods.

 

Tragó y Arana, José

Spanish (Madrid, September 25, 1857 — Madrid, January 3, 1934)

José Tragó was a pianist, composer and teacher. Heir of Chopin´s tradition through Georges Mathias, Tragó played her debut concert in Paris at the Salle Pleyel in 1880. He frequently appeared with such musicians as Sarasate o Fernández Arbós. Since 1886, Tragó taught at the Madrid Conservatory. He composed a number of piano pieces including Tarantela y Zortzico. Spanish pianist Ana Benavides recorded his piano oeuvre in Piano inédito español del siglo XIX. 

[See the José Tragó Tradition]

 

Vidusso, Carlo

Italian (Talcahuano, Chile, February 10, 1911 — Milan, August 7, 1978)

Carlo Vidusso was a pianist and teacher. He studied with Ernesto Drangosch in Buenos Aires and later with Carlo Lonati in Milan. He taught at the Padua and Verona musical institutes and, between 1939 and 1951, at the Parma Conservatory. He concertized with great success until 1953, when he abandoned the concert platform due to a hand injury. Maurizio Pollini was one of his most eminent students.

[See the Carlo Vidusso Tradition]

 

Williams, Alberto

Argentine (Buenos Aires, November 23, 1862 — Buenos Aires, June 17, 1952)

Alberto Williams was a pianist, conductor, composer and teacher. He received his first piano lessons from Pedro Beck and Luis Bernasconi. Thanks to the support of a scholarship, he entered the Paris Conservatoire in 1882 and became a pupil of Georges Mathias, and also studied composition with Franck. Upon his return to Argentine, he became a fundamental figure in Buenos Aires, introducing the European pedagogical methods in the nation. Williams directed concerts series such as the National Library Concerts and the Popular Concerts. He was involved in the foundation of the Buenos Aires Conservatory, later renamed Williams Conservatory, which he directed until 1941. Williams was a pioneer of the nationalistic movement in Argentina. Among his works are Souvenir d´enfance op. 2, Mazurca op. 3, El rancho abandonado and Poemas.

 

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