Richard Moritz Buhlig (December 21, 1880 – January 30, 1952) was an American

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

Early life and education

Buhlig was born in Chicago to a German immigrant father from Saxony, the baker Moritz Buhlig, and his wife Louise. He received early lessons from August Hyllested, Wilhelm Middelschulte and Margaret Cameron, who had studied with the legendary

Teodor Leszetycki 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 ...

. In 1897, 16-year-old Buhlig moved to Vienna to study with

himself.

Career and performances

Upon completing his studies in 1900, he gave his first public concert in 1901 in Berlin, and toured extensively in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

until late 1906. He lived in Berlin until May 1916, where he tutored pupils privately, among others

Grete Sultan Grete Sultan (born Johanna Margarete Sultan) (June 21, 1906June 26, 2005) was a German-American pianist. Biography Sultan was born in Berlin into a musical family of Jewish heritage. From an early age she studied piano with American pianist Ri ...

and

Grete Trakl Grete Trakl (full name Margarethe Jeanne Trakl, married name Grete Langen; 8 August 1891 – 21 September 1917) was an Austrian pianist and sister of the Austrian poet Georg Trakl. Family and ancestry Margarethe Jeanne Trakl was born in Salzb ...

, the sister of the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n poet

Georg Trakl Georg Trakl (; 3 February 1887 – 3 November 1914) was an Austrian poet and the brother of the pianist Grete Trakl. He is considered one of the most important Austrian Expressionists. He is perhaps best known for his poem " Grodek", which h ...

. In 1907, Buhlig made his first mature American debut, with the

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription concerts, n ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. In 1918, Buhlig joined the staff of the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

(then called "Institute of Musical Art") in New York as a piano teacher: he gave recitals of

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 ...

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, often set within studied ye ...

, Chopin,

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

and

Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

(with emphasis on Beethoven). However, he soon left the position and went to Europe again. Some years later, he returned to the US and settled in

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, ...

, dividing his time between teaching and performing. He died in Los Angeles. As a pianist, Buhlig was highly regarded for his performances of

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

(particularly the two piano transcriptions of ''

The Art of Fugue ''The Art of Fugue'', or ''The Art of the Fugue'' (), BWV 1080, is an incomplete musical work of unspecified instrumentation by Johann Sebastian Bach. Written in the last decade of his life, ''The Art of Fugue'' is the culmination of Bach's e ...

'' he made and performed), late Beethoven and Brahms. However, much of his repertoire was contemporary or near-contemporary music. He gave the American premiere of

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 ...

's Op. 11 and performed pieces by other European modernists such as

Ferruccio Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary ...

Béla Bartók Béla Viktor János Bartók (; ; 25 March 1881 – 26 September 1945) was a Hungarian composer, pianist and ethnomusicologist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century; he and Franz Liszt are regarded as Hunga ...

Zoltán Kodály Zoltán Kodály (, ; , ; 16 December 1882 – 6 March 1967) was a Hungarian composer, ethnomusicologist, music pedagogue, linguist, and philosopher. He is well known internationally as the creator of the Kodály method of music education. ...

and

Claude Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

. He also played music by new composers: Ruth Crawford and Adolf Weiss among others. In the 1920s, he began playing

Henry Cowell Henry Dixon Cowell (; March 11, 1897 – December 10, 1965) was an American composer, writer, pianist, publisher, teacher Marchioni, Tonimarie (2012)"Henry Cowell: A Life Stranger Than Fiction" ''The Juilliard Journal''. Retrieved 19 June 2022.C ...

(whom he also taught) and his circle. In the early 1930s, Buhlig tutored

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...

: it was he who advised Cage to study with Schoenberg. The German pianist Grete Sultan, mentor to Christian Wolff and friend to Cage (whom she had met in 1946 through Buhlig), had studied under Buhlig in early 1910s - they became lifelong friends.Bredow 2012.

Notes

References

* Bax, Marty: ''Immer zu wenig Liebe. Grete Trakl. Ihr feinster Kuppler. Ihre Familie.'' Amsterdam 2014, E-Boo

* Bredow, Moritz von. 2012. "Rebellische Pianistin. Das Leben der Grete Sultan zwischen Berlin und New York." (Biography).

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 ...

, Mainz, Germany. * * Olmstead, Andrea. 1999. ''Juilliard: A History''. University of Illinois Press. * Tick, Judith. 1997. ''Ruth Crawford Seeger: A Composer's Search for American Music''. Oxford University Press US.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Buhlig, Richard 1880 births 1952 deaths 20th-century American classical pianists 20th-century American male musicians American contemporary classical music performers American male classical pianists Classical musicians from Illinois Musicians from Chicago Educators from Illinois Juilliard School faculty American people of German descent