Moritz Moszkowski
Moritz Moszkowski was born to a wealthy Jewish-Polish family August 23, 1854, in Breslau (now the Polish town of Wroclaw). He began studying music at home and then at the Dresden Conservatory when his family moved there in 1865. He moved to Berlin in 1869 to study piano with Eduard Franck and composition with Friderich Kiel. He switched to study at Theodor Kullak's Neue Akademie der Tonkunst where he would learn composition with Richard Wüerst and orchestra with Heinrich Dorn. It was here that he would meet and become lifelong friends with Xaver and Philip Scharwenka.
He became a teacher at Kullak's academy and would sometimes play first violin in the orchestra there. His first success as a performing pianist was in 1873 and he began touring. He became friends with Franz Liszt and performed with him in 1875. He took a position teaching at the Berlin Conservatory where he would have an impact on many of the rising generation of pianists and composers. In 1884 he married Henriette Chaminade and they had a son and a daughter, but, sadly they divorced only six years later.
His successes had included over two hundred shorter piano pieces. His Spanish Dances Op. 12 for piano duet, which was later arranged for orchestra by Philip Scharwenka, was quite popular. His Serenade Op.15 and his fifteen Etudes de Virtuosite Op. 72 are still studied and performed today. Some of his larger works include his two piano concerti, a violin concerto (Op. 30), three orchestral suites (Opp. 39, 47, and 79), a symphonic poem called Jeanne d'Arc Op. 19, an opera Boabdil Op. 49, and a three-act ballet Laurin.
Moszkowski had found incredible success as a composer, conductor, and pianist and, in his wealthy state, settled in Paris, France, in 1897. He continued to take on composition students and especially enjoyed mentoring young, aspiring composers. After the turn of the century, however, he didn't take to new trends in composition and his popularity faded. He became more recluse and eventually fell into great poverty. His health declined and he died March 4, 1925.
The information for this biography is from the following websites, which I accessed on July 21, 2016: wikipedia.org, and hyperion-records.co.uk.
He became a teacher at Kullak's academy and would sometimes play first violin in the orchestra there. His first success as a performing pianist was in 1873 and he began touring. He became friends with Franz Liszt and performed with him in 1875. He took a position teaching at the Berlin Conservatory where he would have an impact on many of the rising generation of pianists and composers. In 1884 he married Henriette Chaminade and they had a son and a daughter, but, sadly they divorced only six years later.
His successes had included over two hundred shorter piano pieces. His Spanish Dances Op. 12 for piano duet, which was later arranged for orchestra by Philip Scharwenka, was quite popular. His Serenade Op.15 and his fifteen Etudes de Virtuosite Op. 72 are still studied and performed today. Some of his larger works include his two piano concerti, a violin concerto (Op. 30), three orchestral suites (Opp. 39, 47, and 79), a symphonic poem called Jeanne d'Arc Op. 19, an opera Boabdil Op. 49, and a three-act ballet Laurin.
Moszkowski had found incredible success as a composer, conductor, and pianist and, in his wealthy state, settled in Paris, France, in 1897. He continued to take on composition students and especially enjoyed mentoring young, aspiring composers. After the turn of the century, however, he didn't take to new trends in composition and his popularity faded. He became more recluse and eventually fell into great poverty. His health declined and he died March 4, 1925.
The information for this biography is from the following websites, which I accessed on July 21, 2016: wikipedia.org, and hyperion-records.co.uk.
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Spanish Dance No.2 (arr. Sauret)
Nazrin Rashidova, violin Roderick Chadwick, piano |
Spanish Dance No. 1 (arranger not listed)
Duo Elegiaco |
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Violin Concerto, Op. 30
Thomas Christian, violin Bamberger Orchestra |
Etudes de Virtuosite Op. 72, No. 1 in E Major
Li Chu Ren, piano |