Alfred Grünfeld
Alfred Grünfeld (Prague, July 4, 1852 – January 4, 1924, Vienna) was an Austrian pianist and composer. He was the first pianist of note to make genuine commercial recordings, and a CD featuring many of his tracks is available. His brother was musician Heinrich Grünfeld. His Viennese house is at Getreidemarkt 10, and has a plaque above the door. His grave can be visited in the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna.
Life
Alfred Grünfeld was born as the second of ten children in a family of a Jewish leather merchant Moses Grünfeld (*1817 Kolín nad Labem) and his wife Regina, born Pick (*1826 Osek), in Prague - New Town.[1] He received his first music lessons at the age of four. Later he studied with Josef Krejčí at the Prague Conservatory and with Theodor Kullak and J.T. Hoyer at the New Academy of Music in Berlin. In 1873 he settled at Vienna, where he received the title of "Kammervirtuose", and held a concert tour throughout Europe and the United States. During a visit to Germany Grünfeld was appointed court pianist to Emperor Wilhelm I of Germany. For his concert performances he received many titles, medals and decorations. From 1897 he was a professor at the Vienna Conservatory.
Works
Of his works, the following are for the pianoforte:
- Octave-study, Op. 15
- Minuet, Op. 31
- Spanish Serenade, Op. 37
- Tanz-Arabeske, Op. 41
- Romanze, Op. 42
- Ungarische Fantasie: mit Benutzung von Nationalmotiven, Op. 55 (1912)
- Johann Strauss II: Transcriptions & Paraphrases for Solo Piano - Die Fledermaus, Op. 56
- Soirée de Vienne, Konzertparaphrase über Johann Straußsche
- Walzer-Paraphrase about Frühlingsstimmen, Op. 410 by Johann Strauss
- Kaiser-Walzer
Recordings
References
- ^ National archives of the Czech Republic: Národní archiv, Konskripční seznamy - pobytové přihlášky pražských obyvatel z let 1850-1914
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Singer, Isidore; et al., eds. (1901–1906). The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty|title=(help)
External links
- Free scores by Alfred Grünfeld at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
- AEIOU
- Jewish Encyclopedia
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Academics | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
 | This article about an Austrian musician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This article on a classical pianist is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- 1852 births
- 1924 deaths
- 19th-century classical composers
- 20th-century classical composers
- Austrian classical composers
- Austrian classical pianists
- Austrian Jews
- Jewish classical composers
- Jewish classical pianists
- Musicians from Prague
- Romantic composers
- Austrian male classical composers
- 19th-century classical pianists
- Austrian musician stubs
- Classical pianist stubs