Gunnar Johansen (January 21, 1906,

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

– May 25, 1991,

Blue Mounds, Wisconsin Blue Mounds is a village in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2020 census, the village had a population of 948. The village is adjacent to the Town of Blue Mounds, and is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area. Blue Moun ...

) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

-born pianist and composer. He was one of the chief proponents of the music of

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 ...

, whose mature keyboard works he recorded in their entirety, as well as the complete keyboard works of

Johann Sebastian 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 w ...

. Johansen was also a scholar, educator and humanist. His many humanitarian efforts included establishment of the Leonardo Academy, dedicated to the integration of the arts and sciences.

Biography

Born in Copenhagen, Johansen was introduced to the keyboard by his father and made his hometown debut at the age of twelve. Remaining in his native Denmark, he went on to study with the pianist and conductor

Victor Schiøler Victor Schiøler was a Danish classical pianist (7 April 1899 – 17 February 1967). Biography Victor Schiøler was born, and died, in Copenhagen. He studied with his mother, then with Ignaz Friedman and Artur Schnabel. He made his debut on 23 J ...

. At the age of fourteen, he moved to Berlin to further his musical education with

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 ...

, a disciple of

. He also worked with

Edwin Fischer Edwin Fischer (6 October 1886 – 24 January 1960) was a Swiss classical pianist and conductor. He is regarded as one of the great interpreters of J.S. Bach and Mozart in the twentieth century. Biography Fischer was born in Basel and studied ...

and

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

's pupil, Frederic Lamond. He toured as a pianist in Europe in the 1920s and came to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

in 1929, first settling in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, where he did weekly radio performances for

NBC Radio Network The NBC, National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (known as the NBC Red Network prior to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in operation from 1926 through 2004. Along with the Blue Network, NBC Blue Network it was ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. He later taught for many years at the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

. Beginning his nearly four decade tenure there in 1939, Johansen has the distinction of being the first musical artist-in-residence at any university in the United States. In the early 1940s, Johansen settled in

, a small rural town approximately 25 miles west of

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

. It was here that many of his composing and recording projects took place. Johansen died of liver cancer at the age of 85 at his home in Blue Mounds in 1991.

Recordings

Johansen was one of the first pianists to attempt to record all of Liszt's known piano music, researching and uncovering many previously unknown works in the 1960s. His recorded output of Liszt (which according to Johansen he "never intended to be absolutely complete") totals 51 LP records. The Australian born pianist

Leslie Howard Leslie Howard Steiner (3 April 18931 June 1943) was an English actor, director and producer.Obituary ''Variety'', 9 June 1943. He wrote many stories and articles for ''The New York Times'', ''The New Yorker'', and '' Vanity Fair'' and was one ...

subsequently recorded 99 CDs, which is believed to account for Liszt's total keyboard production. As a composer he was also prolific, with a catalogue of nearly 750 compositions in various forms: 31 piano sonatas, three piano concertos, three violin sonatas, a large 1937 work for orchestra (''Variations, Disguises, and Fugue, on a Merry Theme of

Cyrus McCormick Cyrus Hall McCormick (February 15, 1809 – May 13, 1884) was an American inventor and businessman who founded the McCormick Harvesting Machine Company, which later became part of the International Harvester Company in 1902. Originally from the ...

''), along with works for string quartet, oboe, and vocal ensembles.

References

External links

* (~1976) * (WNCN-FM, 7-Dec-1979) * (WNCN-FM, 15-May-1981) * (WNCN-FM, 22-May-1981) * (WNCN-FM, 29-May-1981) * (WNCN-FM, 11-May-1976) {{DEFAULTSORT:Johansen, Gunnar 1906 births 1991 deaths Danish classical pianists American classical pianists Male classical pianists American male pianists Danish music educators American music educators Piano pedagogues Pupils of Egon Petri 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century American pianists People from Blue Mounds, Wisconsin 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American composers Danish emigrants to the United States