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Paul WittgensteinAustrian and American pianist, brother of the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein.
Date of Birth: 05.11.1888
Country:  Austria |
Content:
Biography of Paul Wittgenstein
Paul Wittgenstein was an Austrian and American pianist, and the brother of philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. He was born into a family of Austrian steel magnate of Jewish descent, Karl Wittgenstein.
Early Life and Education
Wittgenstein studied piano under Malvine Bre and Theodor Leschetizky, and music theory under Josef Labor. He made his debut in Vienna in 1913, but the following year, with the start of World War I, he enlisted and went to the front. He was severely wounded and lost his right arm, but he resumed his concert career and achieved exceptional skill playing with only his left hand. In doing so, he repeated the achievement of pianist Geza Zichy, who had lost his hand half a century earlier and did not give up his career.
Exceptional Talent
Wittgenstein's virtuosic mastery of piano technique allowed him to successfully perform compositions that were comparable in difficulty to those played by pianists with both hands. He toured extensively in Europe, playing his own arrangements of classical repertoire for the left hand. Composers of his time, including Richard Strauss, Maurice Ravel, Benjamin Britten, Sergei Prokofiev, and Sergei Bortkiewicz, wrote compositions specifically for Wittgenstein. He also commissioned works from Erich Korngold, Franz Schmidt, Julius Wolfson, and many other composers.
Later Career and Legacy
From 1931 to 1938, Wittgenstein taught in Vienna. In 1934, he toured outside of Europe for the first time, performing Ravel's Second Piano Concerto in Montreal. He then presented the same program with the Boston Symphony Orchestra in Boston and New York City. In 1938, the pianist emigrated to the United States, where he continued teaching privately and at the New Rochelle Conservatory and the Manhattanville College. In 1958, he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Music degree by the Philadelphia Musical Academy.
Wittgenstein authored "School for the Left Hand," which was published in London in 1957. The pianist's life served as the inspiration for John Barchilon's novel, "The Crown Prince" (1984).
