Peter Feuchtwanger at Waldkirch Master Class 2014

Peter Bernhard Feuchtwanger (26 June 1930 – 18 June 2016)Peter Feuchtwanger, piano teacher – obituary"
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' (London), 28 June 2016 was a German pianist, composer, and teacher. He lived for many years in London.

Life and work

Feuchtwanger was born in Munich as the son of a local bank director, Theodore Feuchtwanger (1858–1956). During World War II, the family fled to Haifa. Peter Feuchtwanger was a self-taught (?) pianist who later developed exercises to help pianists learn a natural effortless technique and also help pianists who have physical problems due to their approach to playing. Feuchtwanger's piano teachers included

Edwin Fischer Edwin Fischer (6 October 1886 – 24 January 1960) was a Swiss classical pianist and conductor. He is regarded as one of the great interpreters of J.S. Bach and Mozart in the twentieth century. Biography Fischer was born in Basel and studied m ...

and

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, but especially inspiring were the pianist

Clara Haskil Clara Haskil (7 January 1895 – 7 December 1960) was a Romanian classical pianist, renowned as an interpreter of the classical and early romantic repertoire. She was particularly noted for her performances and recordings of Mozart. She was als ...

, who practiced on her concert tours in England with him, and the contralto

Kathleen Ferrier Kathleen Mary Ferrier (22 April 19128 October 1953) was an English contralto singer who achieved an international reputation as a stage, concert and recording artist, with a repertoire extending from folksong and popular ballads to the class ...

. He studied composition with Hans Heimler,

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and . He broke early from a career as a pianist to devote himself to composition and music education. He was a follower of Zen and dealt with music and philosophy from India and the Arab world. His Variation on an Eastern Folk Tune (Books 1 and 2) won first prize at the Viotti International Music Competition in 1959. He worked extensively with the American pianist and composer Carter Larsen the Argentine pianist

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before her breakthrough in the Chopin Competition in 1965. In the same year, he helped

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's late comeback in London. He was one of pianist

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's instructors. He also helped

Shura Cherkassky Shura Cherkassky (; 7 October 1909 – 27 December 1995) was a Russian-American concert pianist known for his performances of the romantic repertoire. His playing was characterized by a virtuoso technique and singing piano tone. For much of h ...

to overcome his nerves; and coached

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Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi Menuhin, Baron Menuhin (22 April 191612 March 1999), was an American-born British violinist and conductor who spent most of his performing career in Britain. He is widely considered one of the greatest violinists of the 20th century. ...

invited him in 1966 to write a work for Violin,

Sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in 19th-century India. Khusrau K ...

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and

Tanpura The tanpura (; also referred to as tambura, tanpuri, tamboura, or tanpoura) is a long-necked, plucked, four-stringed instrument originating in the Indian subcontinent, found in various forms in Indian music. Visually, the tanpura resembl ...

for the Bath International Music Festival. It was first performed by Menuhin and

Ravi Shankar Ravi Shankar (; born Robindro Shaunkor Chowdhury, sometimes spelled as Rabindra Shankar Chowdhury; 7 April 1920 – 11 December 2012) was an Indian sitar, sitarist and composer. A sitar virtuoso, he became the world's best-known expert of Hin ...

. In 2003, with Professor Günter Reinhold, he founded the International Academy of Music Education in Karlsruhe. He was Visiting Professor at the

Yehudi Menuhin School The Yehudi Menuhin School is a specialist music school in Stoke d'Abernon, Surrey, England, founded in 1963 by violinist and conductor Yehudi Menuhin. The current director of music is the British classical pianist Ashley Wass. The school is one ...

in Surrey and at the

Mozarteum University of Salzburg Mozarteum University Salzburg (German language, German: ''Universität Mozarteum Salzburg'') is one of three affiliated but separate (it is actually a state university) entities under the "Mozarteum" name in Salzburg, Salzburg municipality; th ...

. He held part-time professorships at conservatoriums in Karlsruhe and Basel. From 1967, he gave Master Classes throughout the world. He developed a novel technique of piano playing, which led to the publication of special piano exercises.Peter Feuchtwanger, Manfred Seewan, Stefan Blido
(2014). ''Piano Exercises for Curing Playing Disorders and for Acquiring a Functional and Natural Approach to Piano Playing''. Wertheim am Main, Germany: Stefan Blido. He was the vice president of the (London West). Feuchtwanger died in his apartment in London, aged 85, survived by his partner, the artist Michael Garady. He was buried at the

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is since 1852 the first (and only) London cemetery to be Crown Estate, Crown property, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington a ...

References

External links

Peter Feuchtwanger fan site

Musik Bildung *
Peter Feuchtwanger 1939–2016 – Pianist, Composer, Pedagogue
Frances Wilson, 18 June 2016
EPTA-UK
European Piano Teachers Association, United Kingdom
London ArtsFest
Peter Feuchtwanger – Founding Director, Vice Chairman 4 April 2000 – 17 June 2016

Peter Feuchtwanger Piano Exercises {{DEFAULTSORT:Feuchtwanger, Peter 1930 births 2016 deaths Musicians from Munich German classical pianists Jewish classical pianists German male classical pianists English classical pianists Burials at Brompton Cemetery German emigrants to the United Kingdom