Jean Paul Kürsteiner (July 8, 1864 in
Catskill, New York
Catskill is a town in the southeastern section of Greene County, New York, United States. The population was 11,298 at the 2020 census, the largest town in the county. The western part of the town is in the Catskill Park. The town contains a v ...
– March 19, 1943 in
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
) was an
American 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 ...
, pedagogue,
music publisher
A music publisher is a type of publisher that specializes in distributing music. Music publishers originally published sheet music. When copyright became legally protected, music publishers started to play a role in the management of the intellect ...
, and
composer of piano pieces and
art songs.
[Baker and Slonimsky, p.1277]
Life and musical career
Kürsteiner was the son of a French-Swiss father (August Kürsteiner) and an American mother (Jeannie Taylor Woodruff Kürsteiner).
[Saerchinger, 1918 ''Who's Who in Music'' entry, p. 349] His early education was in New York, then he studied music in
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...
, including composition with
Salomon Jadassohn and
Richard Hofmann
Richard Hofmann (8 February 1906 – 5 May 1983) was a German football player. He played in 25 internationals for Germany as a centre forward, scoring 24 goals, including the first ever international hat-trick against England by a player from ...
and piano with
Johannes Wiedenbach and Robert
Teichmüller. He returned to the United States in 1893, settled in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
and was appointed to the piano and music theory faculty of the
Ogontz School for Girls in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
. He held that position until 1930. Between 1896 and 1906 he also created, developed, and directed a program of piano study at
The Baldwin School
The Baldwin School (simply referred to as Baldwin School or Baldwin) is a private school for girls in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1888 by Florence Baldwin.
The school occupies a 19th-century resort hotel designed by ...
in
Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
Bryn Mawr, pronounced ,
from Welsh language, Welsh for big hill, is a census-designated place (CDP) located across three townships: Radnor Township, Pennsylvania, Radnor Township and Haverford Township, Pennsylvania, Haverford Township in Delaw ...
.
Kürsteiner founded a
music publishing house in New York called
Kürsteiner & Rice, and published much of his own music there. The "silent" partner in the firm may have been the operatic
tenor
A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is wide ...
Leon Louis Rice. The singer was known to have performed Kürsteiner's songs on tour, and some of the songs were written for or dedicated to him.
On July 21, 1901, in
Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Eau Claire (; ) (French for "clear water") is a city mostly located in Eau Claire County, Wisconsin, of which it is the county seat, and with a small portion in Chippewa County, Wisconsin. It had a population of 69,421 in 2020, making it the stat ...
,
Kürsteiner married Myrta French, an operatic
soprano. In 1938 the Kursteiners moved to
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
, California, where he lived the last years of his life.
Musical works
Kürsteiner composed music in 33 opus numbers for
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...
solo and
art songs for voice and piano in the years between 1910 and 1930. His song ''Invocation to Eros'' became fairly well known in its day.
For example, it was performed by the American
soprano Rosa Ponselle
Rosa Melba Ponzillo, known as Rosa Ponselle (January 22, 1897 – May 25, 1981) was an American operatic soprano.
She sang mainly at the New York Metropolitan Opera and is generally considered to have been one of the greatest sopranos of the 20t ...
on a concert at
Hill Auditorium
Hill Auditorium is the largest performance venue on the University of Michigan campus, in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The auditorium was named in honor of Arthur Hill (1847-1909), who served as a regent of the university from 1901 to 1909. He bequeath ...
at the
University of Michigan
, mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth"
, former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821)
, budget = $10.3 billion (2021)
, endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...
on October 28, 1928. Twelve years earlier, on November 7, 1916, the ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' review of contralto
Frances Ingram
Elizabeth Frances Ingram (5 November 1888 – 12 April 1974) was an American operatic contralto of English birth who had an active career in North America during the 1910s and 1920s.
Life and career
Born in Liverpool, Ingram was a graduate of N ...
at
Aeolian Hall in New York praised for her performances of both Kürsteiner's “Invocation to Eros” and “The Soul’s Victory”.
He is also known to have composed and published
choral music
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which s ...
. An advertisement in the
American Guild of Organists
The American Guild of Organists (AGO) is an international organization of academic, church, and concert organists in the US, headquartered in New York City with its administrative offices in the Interchurch Center. Founded as a professional educat ...
journal ''The American Organist'', Volume, 2, no. 1, January 1920, p. A-4, lists “New Choruses for solo, quartet or chorus, with added solos, duos, trios, and contrasting solo quartet sections." The ad also claims that the choruses are "Intense in Devotional Spirit; adapted to all Creeds—
Episcopal,
Christian Science,
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
Synagogues,
Baptists, etc., of genuine Melodic Beauty. Letters from Coast to Coast indicate their worth as helps to divine worship". A quote from ''
Musical America Magazine'' praises one anthem as “One of the most conspicuous numbers of devotional music by a contemporary composer that we know”.
Published Songs
''Opus, Title, Publisher, Publication date''
*12/1 I would my song were like a Star; G. Schirmer, 1910
*12/2 How very Near; G. Schirmer, 1910
*12/3 Lines of a Flame; G. Schirmer, 1910
*13/1 Song of Life; Kürsteiner & Rice, 1911
*13/2 Canticle of Love; Kürsteiner & Rice, 1911
*13/3 Invocation to Eros (text by Edith A. Pusey); Kürsteiner & Rice, 1911
*14/1 Leave Me Not Yet, O Love; Kürsteiner & Rice, 1911
*14/2 Love, My Queen; Kürsteiner & Rice, 1911?
*14/3 Night from the Dark World; Kürsteiner & Rice, 1911?
*14/4 That One Refrain; Kürsteiner & Rice, 1911
*14/5 Rose of the World; Kürsteiner & Rice, 1911
*15/1 Morning; Kürsteiner & Rice, 1911?
*15/2 Of A’ the Airts the Wind can Blaw; Kürsteiner & Rice, 1911?
*15/3 The Betrothal; Kürsteiner & Rice, 1911?
*16/1 Awake, My Love; Kürsteiner & Rice, 1911?
*16/2 His Lullaby; Kürsteiner & Rice, 1911?
*17/1 My Heart Sings as the Birds Sing; Kürsteiner & Rice, 1911
*17/2 O Breath of the Golden Day (text by James B. Kenyon); Kürsteiner & Rice, 1912
*19 Three Night Songs (text by Martin Schütze); Kürsteiner & Rice, 1912
*20/1 If I Were a Raindrop; Kürsteiner & Rice, 1912
*20/2 Only a Day for Tears; Kürsteiner & Rice, 1913
*24/2 The Salutation of the Dawn (text translated from the
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
); Kürsteiner & Rice, 1915
*24/3 The Soul’s Victory (Dramatic); Kürsteiner & Rice, 1916
*24/4 Nightfall (Lyric Song); Kürsteiner & Rice, 1916
*25/1 Supplication (Religious-Dramatic); Kürsteiner & Rice, 1916
*25/2 Hope (Religious-Dramatic); Kürsteiner & Rice, 1916
*25/3 Deliverance (Religious-Dramatic); Kürsteiner & Rice, 1916
*25/4 Triumphans (Religious-Dramatic); Kürsteiner & Rice, 1917
*26/1 Penitence; publisher unknown, nd
*26/2 Promise; publisher unknown, nd
*26/3 Praise (Lyric-Sacred); Kürsteiner & Rice, 1918
*26/4 The Message; publisher unknown, nd
12/4 Serenade; G. Schirmer, 1910
Published Piano Solos
*Second Nocturne for Piano;
G. Schirmer, 1910
*Dreams of Myrta; ''
Ladies’ Home Journal'' magazine, 1910
*Bridal Morning Waltz; ''
Ladies’ Home Journal'' magazine, nd
*Second Nocture for piano; G. Schirmer/Boston Music Co., 1910
*Third Nocturne in A flat; Kürsteiner & Rice, 1911
*22/1 La Turquoise Valse in C; unknown publisher, nd
*Mazourka de Concert; unknown publisher, nd
[The last four piano works are listed in the Saerchinger, 1918 ''Who's Who in Music'' entry, p. 349]
*Etude de Concert; unknown publisher, nd
*Etude Melodique for left hand; unknown publisher, nd
*Appassionato in D minor; unknown publisher, nd
Published Choral works
*25/1a Supplication; publisher unknown, nd
*25/2a Hope; Kürsteiner & Rice, 1919
*25/3a Deliverance; Kürsteiner & Rice, 1919
*26/2a Promise; publisher unknown, nd
*26/3a Praise; Kürsteiner & Rice, 1919
Educational Publications
*''Essays on Expert Aid to Artistic Piano Playing'', Unz and Co. publisher, New York, 1910s
*12 articles on "Artistic Piano Playing" in ''The Foyer'' of Philadelphia
Footnotes
References
*.
*.
*.
*.
*.
External links
*http://ums.aadl.org/ums/programs_19281010e Rosa Ponselle at Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor Michigan
*https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1916/11/07/104694131.pdf Review of a concert including Kürsteiner's songs
*https://books.google.com/books?id=UZRhAAAAIAAJ&pg=PP9&lpg=PP9&dq=Jean+Paul+K%C3%BCrsteiner&source=bl&ots=UV8bE8rK30&sig=oK7X9shQOpXGZVFE1QuH7_Pt2iw&hl=en&ei=FNakS_WHMpOXtgehrqD0CQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CBoQ6AEwCDgK#v=onepage&q=&f=false Advertisement in the American Guild of Organists magazine, 1920
*http://www.philsp.com/homeville/fmi/t851.htm#A18612 Contents of The Ladies’ Home Journal, v. 27 #8, July 1910
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kursteiner, Jean Paul
1864 births
1943 deaths
20th-century classical composers
American male classical composers
American classical composers
People from Catskill, New York
Pupils of Salomon Jadassohn
20th-century American composers
20th-century American male musicians