Vladimir de Pachmann or Pachman (27 July 18486 January 1933) was a
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 ...
of
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
n-
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
ethnicity, especially noted for performing the works of
Chopin and for his eccentric performing style.
Biography
Pachmann was born in
Odessa,
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
as Vladimir Pachmann. The ''
von
The term ''von'' () is used in German language surnames either as a nobiliary particle indicating a noble patrilineality, or as a simple preposition used by commoners that means ''of'' or ''from''.
Nobility directories like the ''Almanach de ...
'' or later ''de'' as a
nobiliary particle was most probably added to his name by himself. Three of his brothers serving as officers in the Imperial Russian Army did not use the particle, as might be expected.
His father was a professor at the
University of Odessa
Odesa I. I. Mechnykov National University ( uk, Одеський національний університет Iмені І. І. Мечникова, translit=Odeskyi natsionalnyi universytet imeni I. I. Mechnykova), located in Odesa, Ukraine, i ...
and a celebrated amateur violinist who had met
Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...
,
Weber and other notable composers in
Vienna
en, Viennese
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, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
.
[Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed., 1954, Vol. VI, p. 479] He was his son's only teacher until he turned 18,
[ at which time he went to Vienna to study music at the Vienna Conservatory, studying piano with Josef Dachs (a pupil of ]Carl Czerny
Carl Czerny (; 21 February 1791 – 15 July 1857) was an Austrian composer, teacher, and pianist of Czech origin whose music spanned the late Classical and early Romantic eras. His vast musical production amounted to over a thousand works and ...
) and theory with Anton Bruckner. He gained the Conservatory's Gold Medal[ and made his concert debut in Odessa in 1869, but until 1882 he appeared in public infrequently, spending his time in further study. He then toured throughout ]Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
and 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 territori ...
, and was acclaimed as a top player of his era. His programmes consisted almost exclusively of the works of Chopin, with only an occasional movement by 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 ...
, Scarlatti, Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sym ...
or Henselt.[
In Denmark he was appointed a Knight of the Order of the Dannebrog.][
For 18 years, from 1890-1908, he toured across the United States beginning and ending in New York, while also promoting the Chickering Piano.][Search of newspapers a]
Chronicling America
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Pachmann was one of the earliest performers to make recordings of his work, beginning in 1906 with recordings for the Welte-Mignon
M. Welte & Sons, Freiburg and New York was a manufacturer of orchestrions, organs and reproducing pianos, established in Vöhrenbach by Michael Welte (1807–1880) in 1832.
Overview
From 1832 until 1932, the firm produced mechanical musi ...
reproducing piano and in 1907 for the gramophone.
He was also famous for gestures, muttering and addressing the audience during his performance; the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition characterized it as the "playfulness of his platform manner". Critic James Huneker
James Gibbons Huneker (January 31, 1857 – February 9, 1921) was an American art, book, music, and theater critic. A colorful individual and an ambitious writer, he was "an American with a great mission," in the words of his friend, the critic Be ...
called him the "Chopinzee", and George Bernard Shaw
George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...
reported that he "gave his well-known pantomimic performance, with accompaniments by Chopin."
In April 1884 Pachmann married the Australian-born British pianist Maggie Okey (Annie Louisa Margaret Okey, 1865–1952), who was later known as Marguérite de Pachmann. They did concert tours of Europe together and had three sons – Victor, who died in infancy, Adriano and Leonide (called Lionel). The marriage ended after seven years.
Vladimir de Pachmann died in Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
in 1933, aged 84.
References
Further reading
* Mark Mitchell, ''Vladimir de Pachmann: A Piano Virtuoso's Life and Art'' (Indiana University Press, 2002) . This book has been withdrawn by Indiana University Press and the remaining copies destroyed because it "does not sufficiently acknowledge the intellectual debt it owes to Mr. dwardBlickstein's prior labors
* Francesco Pallottelli: ''Vladimiro de Pachmann''. Rom: Novissima, 1916
* Edward Blickstein and Gregor Benko, ''Chopin's Prophet: The life of pianist Vladimir de Pachmann'', Scarecrow Press, 2013
External links
*
Extensive collection of links to online material relating to Pachmann
Allan Evans ''Three essays on Pachmann'' (1996, 1997)
Recordings
Piano Rolls
* ''The Welte-Mignon mystery, 4. Dead or alive''. Stuttgart: Tacet, 2006.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pachmann, Vladimir de
1848 births
1933 deaths
German classical pianists
Ukrainian classical pianists
German male pianists
Russian classical pianists
Male classical pianists
Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medallists
Musicians from Odesa
University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna alumni
Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog