Paul Amadeus Pisk (May 16, 1893,

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

– January 12, 1990,

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

) was an Austrian-born

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and

musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

. A prize named in his honor is the highest award for a graduate student paper at the annual meeting of the

American Musicological Society The American Musicological Society (AMS) is a musicological organization which researches, promotes and produces publications on music. Founded in 1934, the AMS was begun by leading American musicologists of the time, and was crucial in legiti ...

. Pisk earned his doctorate in musicology from

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

in 1916, studying under Guido Adler. Afterwards he studied

conducting Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or Choir, choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary d ...

at the

University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university established in 1817 located in Vienna. With a student body of over three thousand, it is the largest institution of its kind in Austria, and one of t ...

graduating in 1919. His teachers there included

Franz Schreker Franz Schreker (originally ''Schrecker''; 23 March 1878 – 21 March 1934) was an Austrian composer, conductor, librettist, teacher and administrator. Primarily a composer of operas, Schreker developed a style characterized by aesthetic pluralit ...

(

counterpoint In music theory, counterpoint is the relationship of two or more simultaneous musical lines (also called voices) that are harmonically dependent on each other, yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. The term originates from the Latin ...

). Pisk also studied privately with

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian and American composer, music theorist, teacher and writer. He was among the first Modernism (music), modernists who transformed the practice of harmony in 20th-centu ...

from 1917 to 1919. He then taught at the

Academy of Fine Arts Vienna The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna () is a public art school in Vienna, Austria. Founded in 1688 as a private academy, it is now a public university. The academy is also known for twice rejecting admission to a young Adolf Hitler in 1907 and 1908. ...

and gave adult education lectures, especially at the Volkshochschule Volksheim Ottakring, where from 1922 to 1934 he was director of the music department. He also taught at the New Vienna Conservatory from 1925 to 1926 and the Austro-American Conservatory near

Salzburg Salzburg is the List of cities and towns in Austria, fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020 its population was 156,852. The city lies on the Salzach, Salzach River, near the border with Germany and at the foot of the Austrian Alps, Alps moun ...

from 1931 to 1933. He was also a board member, secretary, and pianist in Schoenberg's

Society for Private Musical Performances The Society for Private Musical Performances (in German, the ) was an organization founded in Vienna in the autumn of 1918 by Arnold Schoenberg with the intention of making carefully rehearsed and comprehensible performances of newly composed musi ...

. He was among the founding members of the

International Society for Contemporary Music The International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) is a music organization that promotes contemporary classical music. The organization was established in Salzburg in 1922 as Internationale Gesellschaft für Neue Musik (IGNM) following the ...

and from 1920 to 1928 was coeditor of ''Musikblätter des Anbruch'' and music editor of the '' Arbeiter-Zeitung''. The first airing of his music by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

took place on July 3, 1930, when Austrian pianist

Friedrich Wührer Friedrich Wührer (29 June 1900 – 27 December 1975) was an Austrian- German pianist and piano pedagogue. He was a close associate and advocate of composer Franz Schmidt, whose music he edited and, in the case of the works for left hand alone, r ...

played Pisk's ''Suite for Piano''. In 1936 he emigrated to the United States and taught at the

University of Redlands The University of Redlands is a private university in Redlands, California, United States. The university's main, residential campus is situated on 160 acres (65 ha) near downtown Redlands. An additional eight regional locations throughout Calif ...

(1937–1951), the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

(1951–1963), and in the College of Arts and Sciences at

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

(1963–1972). He composed orchestral works, ballets, chamber music and songs, as well as writings in music theory. His notable students include

Leopold Spinner Leopold Spinner (26 April 1906 – 12 August 1980) was an Austria-Hungary, Austrian-born, United Kingdom, British-domiciled composer and editor. Biography Spinner was born of Austrian parentage in Lemberg (now Lviv, Ukraine, Lwów, Second Polish ...

, Samuel Adler, Gary Lee Nelson, and Thomas F. Hulbert.

Personal history

Paul's parents were Ludwig Pisk, a secular Jewish lawyer, and Eugenie Pollack, a Protestant. Pisk was the elder of two sons; his younger brother was named Otto. They were raised Protestant. Their mother died when Pisk was four. Ludwig remarried and his second wife also bore a son. Otto and Pisk both served in the Habsburg Army in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Paul was a supply sergeant for the

cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...

. In 1935 Pisk was made an honorary member of the

Le Droit Humain The International Order of Freemasonry ''Le Droit Humain'' is a global Masonic order, membership of which is available to men and women on equal terms, regardless of nationality, religion or ethnicity. This practice is known as Co-Freemasonry ...

masonic lodge "Humanitas" No. 962 in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

during the era of the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

. Pisk married Martha Maria Frank in 1919. She was from a once-wealthy family from the Habsburg region near

Czernowitz Chernivtsi (, ; , ;, , see also other names) is a city in southwestern Ukraine on the upper course of the Prut River. Formerly the capital of the historic region of Bukovina, which is now divided between Romania and Ukraine, Chernivtsi serv ...

. They had two children. Martha died in 1973, only a few months after she and Pisk had moved back to Austin, Texas, from

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

. After her death, Pisk moved to Los Angeles and remarried. He had known his second wife, singer and voice coach Irene Hanna (born Johanna Schwartz) for many years. Hanna died in 1981. Pisk died in Los Angeles in 1990.

Major publications

* PA Pisk, "Max Reger, Briefwechsel mit Herzog Georg II von Sachsen-Meiningen." ''Journal of the American Musicological Society,'' Vol. 3, No. 2,149-151. Summer, 1950. * PA Pisk – "Subdivision of Tones: A Modern Music Theory and Philosophy" ''Bulletin of the American Musicological Society'', 1942, v.36 * PA Pisk "The Fugue Themes in Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier" ''Bulletin of the American Musicological Society'', No. 8 (Oct., 1945), pp. 28–29- Compositions : * Der große Regenmacher, 1931 (szenisches Ballett) * Schattenseite, 1931 (Monodram) * Passacaglia for orchestra * String quartet

Notes

References

* Jennifer Ruth Doctor, ''The BBC and Ultra-modern Music, 1922–1936: Shaping a Nation's Tastes'' (1999) – Cambridge University Press * J Glowacki. ''Paul A. Pisk: Essays in His Honor'' (1966) – College of Fine Arts, University of Texas * E Antokoletz, "A Survivor of the Vienna Schoenberg Circle: An Interview with Paul A. Pisk" '' Tempo'', Tempo, New Ser., No. 154, 15–21.(1985)

External links

AEIOU

October 22, 1986
Interview with Paul Pisk (in German)
in the online archive of the

Österreichische Mediathek The Österreichische Mediathek ("Austrian Mediatheque") is the Austrian archive for sound recordings and videos on cultural and contemporary history. It was founded in 1960 as Österreichische Phonothek (Austrian Phonothek) by the Ministry of Educ ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pisk, Paul Austrian emigrants to the United States Austrian classical composers American male classical composers Second Viennese School Austrian musicologists Austrian Jews American people of Austrian-Jewish descent Musicians from Vienna 1893 births 1990 deaths Pupils of Arnold Schoenberg Pupils of Franz Schreker 20th-century American classical composers 20th-century American musicologists 20th-century American male musicians University of Vienna alumni University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna alumni University of Redlands faculty University of Texas at Austin faculty Washington University in St. Louis faculty Academic staff of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna