Wynne Pyle ''(née'' Wynne Belle Pyle 24 October 1881

Ladonia, Texas Ladonia is a town in Fannin County, Texas, United States. Its population was 612 at the 2010 census. History The area was first settled around 1840. Originally called McCownville, its name was changed to Ladonia in 1857, supposedly in honor of A ...

— 24 April 1971

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

) was an American concert pianist.

Early education

She studied piano at the North Texas College of Music at Kidd-Key College in Sherman, Texas, under Harold von Mickwitz — the college has no connection to the

University of North Texas College of Music The University of North Texas College of Music, based in Denton, is a comprehensive music school among the largest enrollment of any music institution accredited by the National Association of Schools of Music. It developed the first jazz studies ...

. Upon the advice of Mickwitz, she went on to study in

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

with

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 ...

. In 1908, she was sent to Paris to study with

Harold Bauer Harold Victor Bauer (28 April 1873 – 12 March 1951) was a noted pianist of Jewish heritage who began his musical career as a violinist. Biography Harold Bauer was born in Kingston upon Thames; his father was a German violinist and his mot ...

; and from there, she went to Berlin where, for five years, where she worked with Albert Jonas.

Concert career

In 1911, she made her Berlin debut with the

Blüthner Orchestra The Blüthner Orchestra was a German symphony orchestra based in Berlin. Founded in 1907, it operated until 1925 when it was absorbed into the Berlin Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra specialised in engaging young players. Its first leader (conce ...

. Upon returning to the United States, she made her recital debut in New York on February 17, 1916. Pyle went on to perform as soloist with the

New York Philharmonic Orchestra 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 ...

, the

New York Symphony Orchestra The New York Symphony Orchestra was founded as the New York Symphony Society in New York City by Leopold Damrosch in 1878. For many years it was a rival to the older Philharmonic Symphony Society of New York. It was supported by Andrew Carnegie, ...

, the

Russian Symphony Orchestra The Russian Symphony Orchestra Society (also known simply as the Russian Symphony Orchestra) was founded in in New York CityLeonard Slatkin, ''Conducting Business: Unveiling the Mystery Behind the Maestro'' (2012), Amadeus Press, p. 32. . Accesse ...

(in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

), and orchestras of Cincinnati, Minneapolis, St. Louis, and Chicago.

Rollography

The

American Piano Company American Piano Company (Ampico) was an American piano manufacturer formed in 1908 through the merger of Wm. Knabe & Co., Chickering & Sons, and Foster-Armstrong. They later purchased the Mason & Hamlin piano company as their flagship piano. The ...

(AMPICO) * 5294:

Rachmaninoff Sergei Vasilyevich Rachmaninoff; in Russian pre-revolutionary script. (28 March 1943) was a Russian composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one o ...

— '' Fantasy Pieces, Op. 3, No. 5, b-b: Sérénade'' * 53073–F: Poldini — ''Etude Japonaise, Op. 27, No. 2'' * 5309:

Sauer The Sauer (German and Luxembourgish, , ) or Sûre ( French, ) is a river in Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. A left tributary of the Moselle, its total length is . Rising near Vaux-sur-Sûre in the Ardennes in southeastern Belgium, the Sauer f ...

— ''Echo de Vienne'' - Concert Waltz * 53104–G:

Debussy (Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...

— ''Prelude, Les Collines d' Anacapri'' (1917) * 53274–F:

Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

— '' Novellette, Op. 21, No. l, E'' * 53344–G:

— ''Préludes, Book I, No. 8:

La fille aux cheveux de lin ''La fille aux cheveux de lin'' () is a musical composition for solo piano by French composer Claude Debussy. It is the eighth piece in the composer's first book of ''Préludes'', written between late 1909 and early 1910. The title is in ...

'' Philipps Duca Reproduktions-Klaviere Rolles * PhPD 1000:

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 ...

— ''Tarantella'' from '' Venezia e Napoli'' (PhPD = Philipps Duca

Reproducing Piano A player piano (also known as a pianola) is a self-playing piano containing a pneumatic or electro-mechanical mechanism, that operates the piano action via programmed music recorded on perforated paper or metallic rolls, with more modern im ...

) Rythmodik Music Corporation * J–18444:

— ''Prelude, Les Collines d'Anacapri'' (1917)

Family

Her only sibling, Lou Netta Pyle (1885 – 1965) was married to Karl Kirksmith (1882 – 1955), a well-known cellist in New York and with several orchestras, including the

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Its primary concert venue is Music Hall. In addition to its symphony concerts, the orchestra gives pops concerts as the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. The Cincin ...

and the

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra The ''Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra'' (''PSO'') is an American orchestra based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The orchestra's home is Heinz Hall, located in Pittsburgh's Cultural District, Pittsburgh, Cultural District. History The Pittsburgh Sy ...

. Pyle was briefly married to Ottokar Malek, a famous European pianist who emigrated to the US in 1902-03. They were married on April 9, 1905 in Dallas, Texas, and divorced in October 1906. Malek later founded the Grand Rapids (Michigan) symphony orchestra. On January 9, 1941, Pyle married her former teacher and colleague Harold Victor Bauer,New York City Marriage Licenses; Borough: Manhattan; Year: 1941 who, in 1940, had been widowed by his first wife, Maria ''(née'' Knapp). They remained together until his death in 1951.

Additional resources

Library of Congress, Performing Arts Reading Room (Music Division), ''Harold Bauer Collection''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pyle, Wynne 1881 births 1971 deaths American classical pianists American women classical pianists Texas classical music 20th-century American women pianists 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century American pianists