Konrad Wolff

Konrad Wolff
Born(1907-03-11)March 11, 1907
Berlin, Germany
DiedOctober 23, 1989(1989-10-23) (aged 82)
Cologne, West Germany
NationalityGerman
Spouse
​
(m. 1937)​
ParentMartin Wolff

Konrad Wolff (March 11, 1907 – October 23, 1989) was a German pianist and musicologist.

The son of Martin Wolff and Marguerite Jolowicz,[1] he was born in Berlin, Germany, on March 11, 1907.[2] From 1925 to 1930, he studied at the University of Heidelberg and the University of Berlin.[3] He received his Doctor of Law degree at the University of Berlin, and forged lifelong friendships with classmates Stephan Kuttner and Hsu Dau-lin.

He studied piano under Josef Lomba, who had been a student of Franz Liszt, as well as under Bruno Elsner, and the Austrian pianist Artur Schnabel.[2][3][4] In France, he studied at the Sorbonne in Paris (1934–1935), and met and married the photographer Ilse Bing. Together they moved to the United States in 1941.[2]

Although he performed as a concert pianist and in chamber music groups, he devoted himself to teaching and research. He was a faculty member at Westchester Conservatory (1949–1954), Drew University, New Jersey (1952–1962), and Peabody Conservatory (1963–1974), as well as teaching at Smith College and Montclair State University (NJ).[2][3] In 1972, his major work on Artur Schnabel was published, "Schnabel's Interpretation of Piano Music." In 1983, he published his second book, "Masters of the Keyboard."

He died in Cologne, West Germany, where he had travelled to lecture and perform, on October 23, 1989.[3]

  1. ^ Gillen, Ruth, ed. (2006). The Writings and Letters of Konrad Wolff. Indiana University Press. p. xxi. ISBN 0253028396.
  2. ^ a b c d "Konrad Wolff, Pianist And Author, Dies at 82". The New York Times. October 26, 1989. Retrieved July 27, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d "Konrad Wolff Collection". International Piano Archives at Maryland. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  4. ^ Wolff, Konrad. 1983. Masters of the Keyboard: Individual Style Elements in the Piano Music of Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, and Brahms. Indiana University Press, Bloomington. preface