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Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler (July 16, 1863 – August 20, 1927) was an Austrian-born U.S. pianist.
Bloomfeld married the attorney Sigmund Zeisler in 1885 and had three sons: Leonard Bloomfield Zeisler, Paul Bloomfield Zeisler, and Ernest Bloomfield Zeisler (married to
Piano Rolls
The Reproducing Piano Roll Foundation
Fannie Bloomfield-Zeisler and Sigmund Zeisler Papers
at The Newberry
Jewish Encyclopedia
Article on Fannie Blumenfeld
North American Theatre Online
Alexander Street) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bloomfieldzeisler, Fannie 1863 births 1927 deaths 19th-century classical pianists 19th-century American pianists 19th-century American women pianists Austrian classical pianists Austrian Jews Austro-Hungarian emigrants to the United States American classical pianists American women classical pianists American people of Austrian-Jewish descent Jewish classical pianists Jewish American classical musicians Musicians from Chicago People from Austrian Silesia People from Bielsko Pupils of Bernhard Ziehn
Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler (July 16, 1863 – August 20, 1927) was an Austrian-born U.S. pianist.
Biography
Zeisler was born Fannie Blumenfeld on July 16, 1863, inBielitz
Bielsko (german: Bielitz, cs, Bílsko) was until 1950 an independent town situated in Cieszyn Silesia, Poland. In 1951 it was joined with Biała Krakowska to form the new town of Bielsko-Biała. Bielsko constitutes the western part of that to ...
, Austrian Silesia
Austrian Silesia, (historically also ''Oesterreichisch-Schlesien, Oesterreichisch Schlesien, österreichisch Schlesien''); cs, Rakouské Slezsko; pl, Śląsk Austriacki officially the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia, (historically ''Herzogth ...
, to Jewish parents. She emigrated to the United States with her family at the age of 4 in 1867. The family settled in Chicago, Illinois, where they later changed their name to Bloomfield. She was the sister of Maurice Bloomfield and the aunt of Leonard Bloomfield
Leonard Bloomfield (April 1, 1887 – April 18, 1949) was an American linguist who led the development of structural linguistics in the United States during the 1930s and the 1940s. He is considered to be the father of American distributionalis ...
.
At the age of six, before receiving any musical instruction, she began picking out tunes on the piano. Her first teachers were in Chicago; Bernard Ziehn and Carl Wolfsohn. In 1877, Annette Essipova, then on tour in the United States, heard her play and advised that she became a pupil of 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 ...
. She made her debut at the age of 11 in February 1875. In 1878, she returned to Austria to study in Vienna, under Leschetizky. While in Austria, she changed her name from Blumenfeld to Bloomfield. She returned to Chicago in 1883.
Bloomfield performed in concert in Chicago in April 1884. In January 1885, she debuted in New York City. Around the turn of the century, she made piano rolls of various piano compositions, Chopin's Waltz
The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position.
History
There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the w ...
No. 11 in G minor
G minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has two flats. Its relative major is B-flat major and its parallel major is G major.
According to Paolo Pietropaolo, it is the con ...
being among them.Gerhard Dangel and Hans-W. Schmitz: ''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 ...
Reproductions. Complete Library Of European Recordings For The Welte-Mignon Reproducing Piano 1905-1932''. Stuttgart 2006. . S. 420 In 1888, she was honorably initiated into musical women's fraternity Alpha Chi Omega
Alpha Chi Omega (, also known as Alpha Chi or A Chi O) is a national women's fraternity founded on October 15, 1885.
As of 2018, there are 132 collegiate and 279 alumnae chapters represented across the United States, and the fraternity counts ...
.
Personal life
Bloomfeld married the attorney Sigmund Zeisler in 1885 and had three sons: Leonard Bloomfield Zeisler, Paul Bloomfield Zeisler, and Ernest Bloomfield Zeisler (married to Claire Zeisler
Claire Zeisler (April 18, 1903 – September 30, 1991) was an American fiber artist who expanded the expressive qualities of knotted and braided threads, pioneering large-scale freestanding sculptures in this medium. Throughout her career Zeisler ...
). In 1888, she returned to Vienna to study with Leschetizky. She also began to tour in Europe and the United States, with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) was founded by Theodore Thomas in 1891. The ensemble makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival. The music director is Riccardo Muti, who began his tenu ...
. Her last performance was in February 1925 in Chicago. She played the 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 ...
Andante Favori
The ''Andante favori'' is a work for piano solo by Ludwig van Beethoven. In catalogues of Beethoven's works, it is designated as WoO 57.
Composition and reception
The ''Andante favori'' was written between 1803 and 1804, and published in 1805. ...
and concertos by Chopin and Schumann.
Zeisler died in Chicago, Illinois on August 20, 1927.
Discography and interviews
* Caswell Collection, Vol. 3: Fannie Bloomfield Zeisler ASIN: B00005B7H6 * The Genesis Recordings of Legendary Pianists, Vol. 1 ASIN: B00000J89K * Great pianists on piano playing from James Francis Cooke, (published in 1917 republished by Dover 1999)References
*Further reading
* Dilworth, Hiram P. ''Ode on the pure art and the great achievement and the enduring name of Fannie Bloomfield-Zeisler'' (1928), ASIN: B00088ZRT8 * ''Great pianists on piano playing'', James Francis Cooke (Dover Publications
Dover Publications, also known as Dover Books, is an American book publisher founded in 1941 by Hayward and Blanche Cirker. It primarily reissues books that are out of print from their original publishers. These are often, but not always, book ...
, )
External links
Piano Rolls
The Reproducing Piano Roll Foundation
Fannie Bloomfield-Zeisler and Sigmund Zeisler Papers
at The Newberry
Jewish Encyclopedia
Article on Fannie Blumenfeld
North American Theatre Online
Alexander Street) {{DEFAULTSORT:Bloomfieldzeisler, Fannie 1863 births 1927 deaths 19th-century classical pianists 19th-century American pianists 19th-century American women pianists Austrian classical pianists Austrian Jews Austro-Hungarian emigrants to the United States American classical pianists American women classical pianists American people of Austrian-Jewish descent Jewish classical pianists Jewish American classical musicians Musicians from Chicago People from Austrian Silesia People from Bielsko Pupils of Bernhard Ziehn