Artur Schnabel Biography

(born April 17, 1882, Lipnik, Austria—died Aug. 15, 1951, Axenstein, Switz.) Austrian pianist and composer. When he was seven years old, his family moved to Vienna. There he studied with Theodor Leschetizky and also met Johannes Brahms and others. He made his debut in 1890. Based in Berlin from 1900 to 1933, he composed, taught, and gave legendary performances of the complete sonatas of Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert for centenary celebrations. In the 1930s he became the first to record the complete Beethoven cycle. During the Nazi period, he moved to London, then to the U.S. Though he mostly played works of the past, his own compositions were ultramodern. Today he is uniquely revered by serious pianists.

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