Biographical Note
Artur Schnabel was one of the greatest pianists and pedagogues in the history of musical performance. As a performer, Schnabel eschewed virtuosity in favor of musicianship – indeed, he considered himself a musician foremost, and the piano simply his creative medium – and his sound recordings consistently demonstrate interpretations of sensitivity, commitment, and distinction. He was one of the first pianists to champion new and unfamiliar repertoire (such as the piano sonatas of Franz Schubert), and the first pianist to record the complete sonatas and concerti of Ludwig van Beethoven. As a pedagogue, Schnabel is probably best known for his meticulously annotated performing edition of Beethoven’s piano sonatas, through which countless pianists were introduced to these foundations of the piano repertoire; this edition is in common use even today. Lesser known are Schnabel’s original musical compositions – his uncompromising atonal musical language continues to pose formidable challenges to performers, conductors and listeners – and his contribution to musical scholarship through his autobiography (My Life and Music, 1961), his two books on the role of music in the twentieth century (Reflections on Music, 1934 and Music and the Line of Most Resistance, 1942), and through the several articles he contributed to musical journals throughout his life.
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1882, April 17 | Born, Lipnik, Carpathia, Austria |
| 1888 | Began piano studies with Hans Schmitt |
| 1889 or 1890 | Gave first public concert in Vienna |
| 1891 | Began piano studies with Leschetitzky in Vienna |
| 1896 | Won prizes for three of his works for solo piano in composition competition organized by Leschetitzky |
| 1897 | Graduated from Leschetitzky’s class; received first prize |
| 1898 | Moved to Berlin to begin his professional career Met contralto Therese Behr (b. 1876), a “lieder singer of repute” |
| 1905 | Married Therese Behr (died 1959), they give intermittent concerts together for the next twenty-five years, performing together primarily throughout Germany and Scandinavia |
| 1921 | Made first recital tour of United States |
| 1922 | Made second recital tour of United States |
| 1925-1933 | Professor, piano, Berlin Hochschule für Musik |
| circa 1925-circa 1933 | Performed in recital series with violinist Carl Flesch |
| 1927 | Performed Beethoven’s thirty-two piano sonatas in one season in Berlin, in celebration of the centenary of the composer’s birth |
| 1932-1935 | Recorded Beethoven's thirty-two piano sonatas and five piano concerti for the British firm HMV |
| 1933 | Left Germany and settled in Lake Como, Italy, where he lived for the remainder of his life |
| 1934 | Published Reflections on Music. New York: Simon and Schuster |
| 1935 | Published his edition of complete piano sonatas of Ludwig van Beethoven, in two volumes (over 800 pages). New York: Simon and Schuster |
| 1936 | Performed thirty-two sonatas of Beethoven on “7 Wednesday nights in Carnegie Hall” |
| 1940-1945 | Professor, University of Michigan |
| 1942 | Published Music and the Line of Most Resistance. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press (his thoughts on music and musical esthetics) |
| 1944 | Became a naturalized American citizen |
| 1945 | Returned to home in Lake Como, Italy |
| 1946, Dec. 13 | Première performance of Symphony no. 1, by Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Dimitri Mitropoulos (this difficult and atonal work would be the only one of Schnabel's four symphonies to be performed during his lifetime) Schnabel appeared as soloist in Beethoven’s Concerto no. 4 in the same concert |
| 1948, Dec. 11 | Suffered near-fatal heart attack that left him bedridden for nearly four months |
| 1951, Jan. 20 | Last performance, at Hunter College, New York (of the occasion he wrote, “For the first time I succeeded today in playing the last line of Beethoven’s opus 90 [Sonata] so that I found it convincing”) |
| 1951, Aug. 15 | Died, Grand Hotel in Axenstein, Switzerland |