Angelica Morales von Sauer (1911 - 1996) was a Mexican composer, pianist and professor of piano.

Life

von Sauer was born on January 11, 1911, in

Gurabo, Puerto Rico Gurabo () is a town and municipality in eastern Puerto Rico. It is located in the central eastern region, north of San Lorenzo; south of Trujillo Alto; east of Caguas; and west of Carolina and Juncos. Gurabo is spread over 9 barrios and Gurab ...

, the daughter of Puerto Rican violinist Angel Celestino Morales and her Mexican mother Dolores Arellano who was a pianist. At six months old, the family moved to Aguascalientes, Mexico. Angelica received her first piano lessons from her mother, and gave her first recital in 1921. At the age of twelve she was heard by the Russian pianist

Josef Lhevinne Josef may refer to *Josef (given name) *Josef (surname) Josef is the surname of the following people: * Jens Josef (born 1967), German composer of classical music, a flutist and academic teacher * Michelle Josef (born 1954), Canadian musician and tr ...

, who was on tour in Mexico and urged the government to grant her a scholarship to go study abroad, and Angelica moved to Berlin where she auditioned for the pianist Ferrucio Busoni. While Busoni was no longer taking students, he indicated Angelica should study with this protoge

Egon Petri Egon Petri (23 March 188127 May 1962) was a Dutch pianist. Life and career Petri's family was Dutch. He was born a Dutch citizen but in Hanover, Germany, and grew up in Dresden, where he attended the Kreuzschule. His father, a professional vio ...

. She enrolled in the

Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler Berlin The in Berlin, Germany, is one of the leading universities of music in Europe. It was established in East Berlin in 1950 as the () because the older (now the Berlin University of the Arts) was in West Berlin. After the death of one of its fir ...

, and started studying with Emil von Sauer. In 1925 Angelica moved to Paris to further her musical study, and in the middle of 1926 she spent four months in Mexico where she studied with

Josef Hofmann Josef Casimir Hofmann (originally Józef Kazimierz Hofmann; January 20, 1876February 16, 1957) was a Polish-American pianist, composer, music teacher, and inventor. Biography Josef Hofmann was born in Podgórze (a district of Kraków), in A ...

. In 1928 she moved to the United States where she studied with

in New York. In 1930 she went to

Bad Gastein Bad Gastein (; formerly ''Badgastein''; Southern Bavarian: ''Bod Goschdei'') is a spa town in the district of St. Johann im Pongau, in the Austrian state of Salzburg. Picturesquely situated in a high valley of the Hohe Tauern mountain range, it ...

initially to study with Emil von Sauer again, and by 1939 they were married. Emil von Sauer died in 1942. She returned to Mexico in 1946 and was performing and, starting in 1947, teaching at the

Conservatorio Nacional de Música (Mexico) The Conservatorio Nacional de Música (''National Conservatory of Music'', in Spanish) is a music conservatory located in the Polanco neighborhood of Mexico City, Federal District, Mexico. History The Conservatory was founded on July 1, 1866, by ...

. Starting in 1948 she gave masterclasses in Mexico which were three weeks long and reached a broad array of younger pianists. In the 1990s, she spoke of some challenges she experienced during this time in Mexico which ultimately caused her to leave Mexico. In 1955, she was invited to join the faculty of the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. T ...

. She retired in 1973, at 62 years of age. Angélica Morales von Sauer died on April 16, 1996, at the age of 85, in

Stillwater, Oklahoma Stillwater ( iow, Ñápinⁿje, ''meaning: "Water quiet"'') is a city in, and the county seat of, Payne County, Oklahoma, United States. It is located in north-central Oklahoma at the intersection of U.S. Route 177 and State Highway 51. As of t ...

Performances and recordings

Her first performance in Carnegie Hall was in 1929, and she went on to recitals in Europe, Mexico, and the United States. After the death of her husband, she returned to Mexico where her endurance in her performances was noted. She also returned to venues such as Carnegie Hall which she played again in 1958. Angélica Morales von Sauer's comparatively small discography includes recorded the entire Well-Tempered Clavier of

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...

and the Chopin Sonata No. 3.

Awards and honors

In 1958 she was named an honorary member of the Sigma Alpha Iota Fraternity, of the University School of Music in Ann Arbor. Michigan. In 1972, she received the Cross of Honor for Arts and Sciences from the Austrian Government. In 1995, the National Institute of Fine Arts of Mexico initiated the "Angélica Morales" National Piano Competition (Concurso Nacional de Piano "Angélica Morales"), which is held every three years in recognition of her career. The concert hall of the Escuela Superior de Música at the National Institute of Fine Arts bears the name of Angélica Morales.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:von Sauer, Angelica 1911 births 1996 deaths Women pianists University of Kansas faculty Mexican pianists