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Edwin Fischer

For the American tennis player, see Edwin P. Fischer.

Edwin Fischer   (October 6, 1886 – January 24, 1960)

was a Swiss classical pianist and conductor. He is widely

regarded as one of the greatest interpreters of traditional

Germanic repertoire of the twentieth century, and one of

the finest piano pedagogues of the modern era.

1 Biography

Fischer was born in Basel and studied music first there,

and later in Berlin at the Stern conservatory under Martin

Krause. He first came to prominence as a pianist fol-

lowing World War I. In 1926, he became conductor of

the Lübeck Musikverein and later conducted in Munich.

In 1932 he formed his own chamber orchestra, and was

one of the first to be interested in presenting music of

the Baroque and Classical periods in an historically accu-

rate way. Though his performances were not particularly

historically accurate by present-day standards, they were

for his time; e.g., he did conduct concertos by the likes ofBach and Mozart from the keyboard, which at the time

was most unusual. His interpretations, even of Bach and

Handel, were Romantically conceived, with a wide use of

dynamics, and extremely compelling.

In 1932 he returned once again to Berlin, succeeding

his great contemporary Artur Schnabel in a teaching role

at the Berlin Hochschule für Musik after Schnabel’s de-

parture from Nazi Germany. In 1942 he moved back

to Switzerland, temporarily putting his career on hold

through World War II. After the war, he began to perform

again, as well as giving master classes in Lucerne, which

were attended by a number of later prominent pianists,Alfred Brendel, Helena Sá e Costa, Paul Badura-Skoda,

Mario Feninger and Daniel Barenboim among them.

As well as solo recitals, concerto performances and con-

ducting of orchestral concerts, Fischer was also engaged

in chamber music. Particularly highly regarded was the

piano trio he formed with the cellist Enrico Mainardi and

the violinist Georg Kulenkampff   (who was replaced by

Wolfgang Schneiderhan after Kulenkampff’s death).

Fischer published a number of books on teaching, and

one on the  piano sonatas  of Beethoven. He also made

a number of recordings, including the first complete

traversal of Bach’s  The Well-Tempered Clavier  for EMI,recorded between 1933 and 1936. Other classic record-

ings by Fischer include Bach keyboard concertos, mis-

Two drawings of Fischer by the Germanartist and musician Fritz

Tennigkeit (1892–1949)

cellaneous solo Bach works, such as the  Chromatic Fan-

tasy and Fugue, various concertos and sonatas by Mozart

and Beethoven, Schubert’s “Wanderer” Fantasie and Im-

promptus, and Brahms’ Second Concerto, conducted by

Wilhelm Furtwängler. Fischer’s historically important

recordings have been reissued on CD by EMI and by spe-

cialty labels such as APR, Music & Arts, Pearl, andTesta-

ment. Those of the Mozart Concertos K. 453, 466, 482,

491, & 503  (G major, D minor, E-flat major, C minor,

and C major) are particularly outstanding, especially the

last three with the inspired, powerful conducting of John

Barbirolli,  Lawrance Collingwood, and  Josef Krips   re-

spectively, in 1935, 1937, & 1947.

Fischer also accompanied   Elisabeth Schwarzkopf   in

a renowned early-to-mid-1950s EMI LP of Schubert

Lieder. His last musical collaboration was with the vi-

olinist Gioconda de Vito. During their recording sessions

for the  Brahms  violin sonatas Nos.   1 and 3, he had to

go to London for medical treatment; there he was told he

was seriously ill. He died shortly afterwards in Zurich.

2 Pupils of Edwin Fischer

For Fischer’s notable students, see List of music students

by teacher: C to F#Edwin Fischer.

3 Bibliography

•   Fischer, Edwin, Musikalische Betrachtungen, Im In-

fel 1949 (Reflections on Music ) (French Edition:

1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_music_students_by_teacher:_C_to_F#Edwin_Fischerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_music_students_by_teacher:_C_to_F#Edwin_Fischerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zurichhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violin_Sonata_No._3_(Brahms)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violin_Sonata_No._1_(Brahms)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Brahmshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gioconda_de_Vitohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisabeth_Schwarzkopfhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josef_Kripshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrance_Collingwoodhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Barbirollihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Barbirollihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Concerto_No._25_(Mozart)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Concerto_No._24_(Mozart)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Concerto_No._22_(Mozart)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Concerto_No._20_(Mozart)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_Concerto_No._17_(Mozart)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Furtw%C3%A4nglerhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMIhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Well-Tempered_Clavierhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_van_Beethovenhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_sonatahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolfgang_Schneiderhan_(violinist)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Kulenkampffhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrico_Mainardihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_triohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamber_musichttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recitalhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Barenboimhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Badura-Skodahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helena_S%C3%A1_e_Costahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Brendelhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucernehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_IIhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlin_Hochschule_f%C3%BCr_Musikhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artur_Schnabelhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piano_concertohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authentic_performancehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baroque_musichttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Munichhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%BCbeckhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_Ihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Krausehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Krausehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stern_conservatoryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berlinhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musichttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baselhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conductinghttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pianisthttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_classical_musichttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switzerlandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edwin_P._Fischer

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2   5 EXTERNAL LINKS 

Considérations sur la musique, Editions du Coudrier,

1951)

•   Fischer, Edwin, Ludwig van Beethovens Klavierson-

aten: Ein Begleiter für Studierende und Liebhaber ,

1954 (Beethoven’s Piano Sonatas: A Guide for Stu-

dents and Amateurs , 1959)

•   Fischer, Edwin, Johann Sebastian Bach: Eine Studie

4 Sources

•   Bredow, Moritz von. 2012. “Rebellische Pianistin.

Das Leben der Grete Sultan zwischen Berlin und

New York.” (Biography on Edwin Fischer’s student,

Grete Sultan. Many details referring to Fischer and

another student, Katja Andy. In German.). Schott

Music, Mainz, Germany.ISBN 978-3-7957-0800-9

•  Gavoty, Bernard, Edwin Fischer  (in French)

•   (collective)   Dank an Edwin Fischer , Brockhaus

1962 (Tribute to Edwin Fischer )

5 External links

•   Excerpts from two essays by Alfred Brendel on Fis-

cher at the Wayback Machine (archived October 27,

2009)

•  Youngrok Lee’s Classical Music page

http://fischer.hosting.paran.com/music/Fischer/FischerE.htmhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayback_Machinehttps://web.archive.org/web/20091027151317/http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/2192/essays3.htmlhttps://web.archive.org/web/20091027151317/http://www.geocities.com/Vienna/2192/essays3.htmlhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9783795708009

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6 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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6.2 Images

•   File:Fritz_Tennigkeit_Edwin_Fischer,_1939.jpg   Source:    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Fritz_Tennigkeit_

Edwin_Fischer%2C_1939.jpg License:  CC BY-SA 3.0 de  Contributors:  photographed by Peter Michael Haas  Original artist:   Else Haas

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6.3 Content license

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