E. Robert (Elie Robert) Schmitz was a Franco-American pianist, teacher, writer, editor, and organizer.

Biography

Schmitz (born February 8, 1889, in Paris) studied with Louis-Joseph Diémer at the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

where he won first prize in piano. A protégé of

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

, Schmitz caught the attention of

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (; 9 October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano C ...

and

Vincent D'Indy Paul Marie Théodore Vincent d'Indy (; 27 March 18512 December 1931) was a French composer and teacher. His influence as a teacher, in particular, was considerable. He was a co-founder of the Schola Cantorum de Paris and also taught at the P ...

while directing the ''Association musicale moderne et artistique'' (later renamed ''L'Association de concerts Schmitz'') which premiered Debussy's '' Première rhapsodie,'' Roussel's ''Evocations,'' Le Flem's ''Crépuscules d'amour,'' and Milhaud's ''Suite symphonique.'' Schmitz lead the Association from 1911-14. Schmitz toured the United States in 1919 and, the following year, founded the Franco-American Music Society in New York, which incorporated as Pro Musica from 1923-36. During this period, the first American appearances of Bartók and

Ravel Joseph Maurice Ravel (7 March 1875 – 28 December 1937) was a French composer, pianist and conductor. He is often associated with Impressionism along with his elder contemporary Claude Debussy, although both composers rejected the term. In ...

were sponsored, as well as lectures and concerts by

Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...

, and

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential 20th-century clas ...

. Schmitz also had a personal and professional friendship with

Charles Ives Charles Edward Ives (; October 20, 1874May 19, 1954) was an American modernist composer, one of the first American composers of international renown. His music was largely ignored during his early career, and many of his works went unperformed ...

. Schmitz published his system of piano study, ''The Capture of Inspiration'', in 1935, as well as editions of the Chopin ''Etudes'', the Bach ''Two-Part Inventions'', and other works that included explanatory texts on his method. His book, ''The Piano Works of Claude Debussy'', a technical analysis with commentary, was published posthumously in 1950. Among his pupils were the composers

Samuel Dolin Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bi ...

Harry Somers Harry Stewart Somers, CC (September 11, 1925 – March 9, 1999) was a contemporary Canadian composer. Possessing a charismatic attitude and rather dashing good looks, as well as a genuine talent for his art, Somers earned the unofficial title ...

, and

Gertrude Price Wollner Gertrude Price Wollner (May 15, 1900 – March 1985) was an American writer and composer. Her teachers included Albert Stossel, E. Robert Schmitz, and Emile Jacques Dalcroze. She married Herbert J. Wollner on April 2, 1926 and they had a daughter ...

. He recorded the Debussy Preludes, Books I and II, for RCA Victor Records, in addition to other works for Edison Records. Schmitz died in San Francisco, California, on September 5, 1949.

References

External links

Modern Ideas in Piano Technic — E. Robert Schmitz (interview), Etude Magazine, August 1925
* E. Robert Schmitz Papers, Irving S. Gilmore Music Library, Yale University {{DEFAULTSORT:Schmitz, E. Robert (Elie Robert) 1889 births 1949 deaths Musicians from Paris 20th-century French male classical pianists Conservatoire de Paris alumni French emigrants to the United States 20th-century French musicians Piano pedagogues