SCHNABEL, ARTUR

SCHNABEL, ARTUR (1882–1951), pianist and teacher. A prodigy, born in Lipnik, Moravia, Schnabel studied in Vienna with Leschetitzky and from 1925 taught at the Hochschule fuer Musik in Berlin. He appeared as a soloist in the cities of Europe and on U.S. tours and also became widely known as a chamber-music player, especially with the violinist, Carl Flesch. When the Nazis came to power he settled in Switzerland and held, at Lake Como, master classes that acquired international fame. During World War II he lived in the U.S. Schnabel was a noted interpreter of Mozart, Schubert, and Brahms, and his readings of Beethoven were considered the most authoritative of his time. His playing was intellectual and contemplative rather than emotional. He was also a composer in a modernistic, atonal style, his compositions including a symphony, a piano concerto, orchestral and chamber music,   and songs. He edited Beethoven's piano sonatas with an unprecedentedly detailed commentary, and also the Beethoven piano-violin sonatas jointly with Flesch. He wrote Reflections on Music (1933), Music and the Line of Most Resistance (1942), and My Life and Music (1961). -BIBLIOGRAPHY: C. Saerchinger, Artur Schnabel, a Biography (1957).