Else Schmitz-Gohr (12 August 1901 – 13 December 1987) was a German composer, pianist, and teacher who is best remembered for her ''Elegy for the Left Hand'' for piano, her successful students, and her recordings of

Max Reger Johann Baptist Joseph Maximilian Reger (19 March 187311 May 1916) was a German composer, pianist, organist, conductor, and academic teacher. He worked as a concert pianist, a musical director at the Paulinerkirche, Leipzig, Leipzig University Chu ...

’s works for piano. Schmitz-Gohr was born in

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

. She studied at the

Cologne Conservatory Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and over 3.1 million people in the Cologne Bonn urba ...

and the

Stern Conservatory The Stern Conservatory (''Stern'sches Konservatorium'') was a private music school in Berlin with many distinguished tutors and alumni. The school is now part of Berlin University of the Arts. History It was founded in 1850 as the ''Berliner Mu ...

in Berlin. Her teachers included Franz Bolsche,

Wilhelm Klatte Wilhelm Klatte (13 February 1870 – 25 July 1930) was a German Music theory, music theoretician, pedagogue, journalist and Conducting, conductor. Life Born in Bremen, after studying music in Leipzig, Klatte began his professional career as a ...

, Dr. Otto Klauwell,

James Kwast James Kwast (23 November 185231 October 1927) was a Dutch people, Dutch-German people, German pianist and renowned teacher of many other notable pianists. He was also a minor composer and editor. Biography Jacob James Kwast was born in Nijkerk, ...

, and Fritz Hans Rehbold. She socialized with sculptor Lili Graf. In 1918, she debuted as a pianist under conductor

Hermann Abendroth Hermann Paul Maximilian Abendroth (19 January 1883 – 29 May 1956) was a German conductor. Early life Abendroth was born on 19 January 1883, at Frankfurt, the son of a bookseller. Several other members of the family were artists in diverse dis ...

, and in 1922 won the Gustav Hollaender medal. Schmitz-Gohr toured throughout Germany and abroad as a pianist. She was known for her interpretation of modern composers, especially Max Reger, whose works she recorded commercially on LP KAS 30067 (Kaskade). She taught at the Rheinische Musikschule, the State Academy of Music in Cologne, and the Stern Conservatory. Her students included Dietmar von Capitaine,

Bernhard Klee Bernhard Klee (born 19 April 1936) is a German conductor, originally from Schleiz, in Thuringia. He studied piano with Else Schmitz-Gohr. Trained as a member of the Thomanerchor, he has since conducted many of Europe's most prestigious orchestras ...

Aloys and Alfons Kontarsky Aloys (14 May 1931 – 22 August 2017) and Alfons (9 October 1932 – 5 May 2010) Kontarsky were German Duet, duo-pianist brothers who were associated with a number of important world premieres of contemporary works. They had an international rep ...

, Georg Kroll, Irene Vogel Osiander, Erika Rademacher, Eckart Sellheim, and Joachim Volkmann.

Compositions

Schmitz-Gohr's compositions were published by

Schott Music Schott Music () is one of the oldest German music publishers. It is also one of the largest music publishing houses in Europe, and is the second-oldest music publisher after Breitkopf & Härtel. The company headquarters of Schott Music were foun ...

. They included:

Chamber

* Allegro in G minor (violin and piano) * Allegro Moderato in E minor (piano trio) * Andante in G minor (piano trio) * ''Kleine Flöten-Duette (two flutes)

Orchestra

* Overture in G minor

Piano

* ''Elegy for the Left Hand'' * ''Fantasie'' in F major * Suite

References

Recordings

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmitz-Gohr, Else German women composers German classical pianists German music educators German women music educators 1901 births 1987 deaths Musicians from Cologne