Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler (July 16, 1863 – August 20, 1927) was an Austrian-born American pianist.

Biography

Zeisler was born Fannie Blumenfeld on July 16, 1863, in

Bielitz Bielsko (, ) was until 1950 an independent town situated in Cieszyn Silesia, Poland. In 1951 it was joined with Biała Krakowska to form the new town of Bielsko-Biała. Bielsko constitutes the western part of that town. Bielsko was founded by ...

Austrian Silesia Austrian Silesia, officially the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia, was an autonomous region of the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Habsburg monarchy (from 1804 the Austrian Empire, and from 1867 the Cisleithanian portion of Austria-Hungary). It is la ...

, to Jewish parents. She emigrated to the United States with her family at the age of 4 in 1867. The family settled in Chicago, Illinois, where they later changed their name to Bloomfield. She was the sister of

Maurice Bloomfield Maurice Bloomfield, Ph.D., LL.D. (February 23, 1855 – June 12, 1928) was an Austrian Empire-born American philologist and Sanskrit scholar. Biography He was born Maurice Blumenfeld in Bielitz (), in what was at that time Austrian Siles ...

and the aunt of

Leonard Bloomfield Leonard Bloomfield (April 1, 1887 – April 18, 1949) was an American linguist who led the development of structural linguistics in the United States during the 1930s and the 1940s. He is considered to be the father of American distributionalis ...

. At the age of six, before receiving any musical instruction, she began picking out tunes on the piano. Her first teachers were in Chicago; Bernard Ziehn and Carl Wolfsohn. In 1877, Annette Essipova, then on tour in the United States, heard her play and advised that she became a pupil of

Theodor Leschetizky Theodor Leschetizky (sometimes spelled Leschetitzky; ; 22 June 1830 – 14 November 1915) was a Polish pianist, professor, and composer active in Austria-Hungary. He was born in Landshut in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, then a crown land ...

. She made her debut at the age of 11 in February 1875. In 1878, she returned to Austria to study in Vienna, under Leschetizky. While in Austria, she changed her name from Blumenfeld to Bloomfield. She returned to Chicago in 1883. Bloomfield performed in concert in Chicago in April 1884. In January 1885, she debuted in New York City. Around the turn of the century, she made

piano rolls A piano roll is a music storage medium used to operate a player piano, piano player or reproducing piano. Piano rolls, like other music rolls, are continuous rolls of paper with holes punched into them. These perforations represent note control d ...

of various piano compositions, Chopin's

Waltz The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the ...

No. 11 in

G minor G minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative major is B-flat major and its parallel major is G major. The G natural minor scale is: Changes n ...

being among them.Gerhard Dangel and Hans-W. Schmitz: ''

Welte-Mignon M. Welte & Sons, Freiburg and New York was a manufacturer of orchestrions, organs and reproducing pianos, established in Vöhrenbach by Michael Welte (1807–1880) in 1832. Overview From 1832 until 1932, the firm produced mechanical mu ...

Reproductions. Complete Library Of European Recordings For The Welte-Mignon Reproducing Piano 1905-1932''. Stuttgart 2006. . S. 420 In 1888, she was honorably initiated into musical women's fraternity

Alpha Chi Omega Alpha Chi Omega (, also known as Alpha Chi or A Chi O) is a national women's fraternity founded at DePauw University in 1885. As of 2023, it has more than 140 active collegiate and 170 active alumnae chapters in the United States and has initiat ...

Personal life

Bloomfeld married the attorney Sigmund Zeisler in 1885 and had three sons: Leonard Bloomfield Zeisler, Paul Bloomfield Zeisler, and Ernest Bloomfield Zeisler (married to Claire Zeisler). In 1888, she returned to Vienna to study with Leschetizky. She also began to tour in Europe and the United States, with the

Chicago Symphony Orchestra The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is an American symphony orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891, the ensemble has been based in the Symphony Center since 1904 and plays a summer season at the Ravinia F ...

. Her last performance was in February 1925 in Chicago. She played the

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

Andante Favori The ''Andante favori'' is a work for piano solo by Ludwig van Beethoven. In catalogues of Beethoven's works, it is designated as WoO 57. Composition and reception The ''Andante favori'' was written between 1803 and 1804, and published in 1805. ...

and concertos by Chopin and Schumann. Zeisler died in Chicago, Illinois on August 20, 1927.

Discography and interviews

* Caswell Collection, Vol. 3: Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler ASIN: B00005B7H6 * The Genesis Recordings of Legendary Pianists, Vol. 1 ASIN: B00000J89K * Great pianists on piano playing from

James Francis Cooke James Francis Cooke (November 14, 1875, Bay City, Michigan – March 3, 1960, Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania) was an American music educator.''New York Times'' obituary, March 5, 1960, ''Dr. James Cook, 84, Ex-Editor of Etude'' He was a pianist, com ...

, (published in 1917 republished by

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

1999)

References

External links

The Reproducing Piano Roll Foundation
Fannie Bloomfield-Zeisler and Sigmund Zeisler Papers
at The Newberry
Jewish Encyclopedia
Article on Fannie Blumenfeld
North American Theatre Online
Alexander Street) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bloomfieldzeisler, Fannie 1863 births 1927 deaths 19th-century classical pianists 19th-century American pianists 19th-century American women pianists Austrian classical pianists Austrian Jews Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United States American classical pianists American women classical pianists American people of Austrian-Jewish descent Jewish classical pianists Jewish American classical musicians Musicians from Chicago People from Austrian Silesia People from Bielsko Pupils of Bernhard Ziehn

Biography

Personal life

Discography and interviews

References

Further reading

External links