Heinrich Gebhard (July 25, 1878 in

Sobernheim Bad Sobernheim is a town in the Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the like-named ''Verbandsgemeinde'', and is also its seat. It is a state-recognized spa town, and is well known for two fossil discovery sites ...

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

– May 5, 1963 in

North Arlington, New Jersey North Arlington is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the borough's population was 15,392,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 ...

) was a

German-American German Americans (german: Deutschamerikaner, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 43 million in 2019, German Americans are the largest of the self-reported ancestry groups by the Unite ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and piano teacher.

Performer

Gebhard was born in

, but moved at the age of 10 with his parents to Boston, Massachusetts in 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 ...

, where he studied piano and composition with Clayton Johns until 1895. He went to

Vienna, Austria en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

for four years, where he studied under

Theodor Leschetizky Theodor Leschetizky (sometimes spelled Leschetitzky, pl, Teodor Leszetycki; 22 June 1830 – 14 November 1915 was an Austrian-Polish pianist, professor, and composer born in Landshut in the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, then a crown land of ...

, and returned to Boston in 1899. He made his piano debut in 1900 with the

Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the second-oldest of the five major American symphony orchestras commonly referred to as the " Big Five". Founded by Henry Lee Higginson in 1881, ...

. He enjoyed a lengthy career as one of the notable American pianists of the early 20th century. Later in his career, he became a music teacher and taught a number of other famous pianists, most notably

Leonard Bernstein Leonard Bernstein ( ; August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, pianist, music educator, author, and humanitarian. Considered to be one of the most important conductors of his time, he was the first America ...

. The composer

Alan Hovhaness Alan Hovhaness (; March 8, 1911 – June 21, 2000) was an American-Armenian composer. He was one of the most prolific 20th-century composers, with his official catalog comprising 67 numbered symphonies (surviving manuscripts indicate over 70) and ...

also studied with him.''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians (3rd edition)''. (1919). Ed. Theodore Baker and Alfred Remy. p. 301

Composer

Gebhard composed music for piano, chamber orchestra and symphony orchestra. His ''Fantasy for Piano and Orchestra'' was given its first performance by the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

on November 12, 1925, with the composer at the piano. Among Gebhard's other works are the symphonic poem, ''Across the Hills'' (1940), Divertimento for Piano and Chamber Orchestra (1927), ''Waltz Suite'' for two pianos, the song cycle, ''The Sun, Cloud and the Flower'' and numerous works for piano.''Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'', Seventh Edition, Revised by Nicolas Slonimsky, Schirmer Books, New York, 1984, page 807 Gebhard's book, ''The Art of Pedaling'', was published posthumously in 1963.

References and footnotes

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gebhard, Heinrich 1878 births 1963 deaths German composers German classical pianists American composers American male composers American classical pianists American male classical pianists American music educators German emigrants to the United States People from the Rhine Province People from North Arlington, New Jersey Educators from New Jersey Pupils of Theodor Leschetizky