Kurt Engel

Kurt Engel
Engel in Warsaw (1932)
Engel in Warsaw (1932)
Background information
Born(1909-01-14)January 14, 1909
Vienna, Austria-Hungary
DiedJanuary 22, 1942(1942-01-22) (aged 33)
Upper West Side, Manhattan, New York, U.S.
Years active1932–1942

Kurt Engel (January 14, 1909 – January 22, 1942) was an Austrian classical pianist and composer. He studied in Vienna with Emil von Sauer and Ignaz Friedman and won tenth prize at the II International Chopin Piano Competition in 1932. He performed as a soloist and accompanist in Vienna and across Europe.

In 1938, Engel emigrated to the United States by way of Belgium and settled in New York City as a refugee. He played benefit concerts for Jewish organizations and made his Carnegie Hall debut in 1941. He gave a Carnegie Hall recital in aid of the British War Relief Society later that year. Engel died of a heart attack in 1942 while teaching a student, shortly before another planned Carnegie Hall recital.

Biography

Early life and education

Engel was born in Vienna in the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1909. His father was Heinrich Engel. He studied piano under the German composer Emil von Sauer and Polish pianist Ignaz Friedman.

Career in Vienna

Engel (front row, far right) with competitors and jurors of the Chopin competition in Warsaw (1932)

In 1932, he entered the second edition of the International Chopin Piano Competition, where he won tenth prize. Engel performed with major European symphony orchestras, including as a soloist, in venues across Western European capitals. He was a pianist in a "subscription series" in Italy and Spain.

On November 29, 1932, he delivered a recital that included Liszt's transposition of Bach's Great Fantasia and Fugue in G minor (BWV 542), Brahms' Four Pieces for Piano, Op. 119, and Chopin's Barcarolle at the Vienna Konzerthaus. He also accompanied violinists including Ruth Posselt in November 1932 and Kurt Fuchsgelb early the following year in Vienna. In 1935, Engel performed works by Austrian and German composers with the Mildner Quartet. The Wehrmacht played a piece he composed, titled "Allen voran. Marsch" (First and Foremost, March!) at the Konzerthaus in 1941.

New York

Engel migrated to the United States through Belgium in 1938, a year before the outbreak of World War II. He settled in New York as a refugee, and on November 16, 1938, he performed a concert in Brooklyn organized by the American Palestine Music Association (MAILAMM) with Hans Heinz and Miriam Shomer Zunser, raising US$202. He also participated in a concert at the Brooklyn Jewish Center in March 1939 with Sarah Gorby.

He made his debut at Carnegie Chamber Hall on January 14, 1941, playing Chopin's Waltz in A-flat major, Op. 42. The Musical and Sewing Machine Courier remarked that he proved "a well grounded musician with notable technical equipment". Later that year, he gave a recital at Carnegie Hall as part of a charity event hosted by the Veritas Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons to raise funds for the British War Relief Society. The performance on April 22, 1941, was his last public appearance.

Death

Engel died of a heart attack on January 22, 1942, while instructing a piano student at his residence in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, aged 32 or 33. He had been programmed to deliver a recital at Carnegie Hall on February 8, which was reported by the press.

Notes

  1. ↑ Some biographies claim 1910 but do not give a precise date.

References

  1. 1 2 Current Biography; Who's News and why. H. W. Wilson. 1942. p. 248. Retrieved October 22, 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "KURT ENGEL DEAD; 0NGERT. PIANIST, 32; Prize Winner in !nternatiCnal Chopin Competition in 1932 Stricken Teaching Pupil CAME HERE 3 YEARS AGO Former Soloist in Europe Was l to HAve Given..a Recital at Carnegie Hall Feb. 8". The New York Times. January 23, 1942. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 21, 2026.
  3. ↑ Prosnak, Jan (1970). The Frederic Chopin International Piano Competitions, Warsaw, 1927-1970. Frederic Chopin Society. pp. 1934, 1937.
  4. ↑ "International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition". International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition. Retrieved October 22, 2026.
  5. ↑ Methuen-Campbell, James (1981). Chopin Playing: From the Composer to the Present Day. V. Gollancz. p. 232. ISBN 978-0-575-02884-5.
  6. ↑ Dybowski, Stanisław. "The laureates of the Chopin competitions in Warsaw by Stanisław Dybowski | Open Library". Open Library. pp. 78–79. Retrieved October 22, 2026.
  7. ↑ Konzerthaus, Wiener. "Kurt Engel, Klavier". Wiener Konzerthaus (in German). Retrieved October 22, 2026.
  8. ↑ Konzerthaus, Wiener. "Ruth Posselt, Violine". Wiener Konzerthaus (in German). Retrieved October 22, 2026.
  9. ↑ Konzerthaus, Wiener. "Margarethe Bach, Lesung". Wiener Konzerthaus (in German). Retrieved October 22, 2026.
  10. ↑ Konzerthaus, Wiener. "Mildner-Quartett / Fukar / Blümel / Engel / Vierthaler / Kuba". Wiener Konzerthaus (in German). Retrieved October 22, 2026.
  11. ↑ Konzerthaus, Wiener. "Fünftes Großkonzert der Wehrmacht". Wiener Konzerthaus (in German). Retrieved October 22, 2026.
  12. ↑ Office, Library of Congress Copyright (1961). Catalog of Copyright Entries: Third series. pp. 986, 1671.
  13. ↑ Weber, Horst; Drees, Stefan (December 22, 2011). New York (in German). Walter de Gruyter. p. 220. ISBN 978-3-11-095134-9.
  14. ↑ Musical America. Musical America Corporation. 1942. p. 338.
  15. ↑ "Mailamm, American Palestine Music Association -- Archival resources". archives.jtsa.edu. Retrieved October 22, 2026.
  16. 1 2 Bopp, Verena (2007). MAILAMM 1932-1941: die Geschichte einer Vereinigung zur Förderung jüdischer Musik in den USA (in German). Otto Harrassowitz Verlag. p. 133. ISBN 978-3-447-05596-3.
  17. ↑ Musical and Sewing Machine Courier. 1941. p. 22.
  18. ↑ "Carnegie Hall - WALTZ IN A-FLAT MAJ., OP.42". collections.carnegiehall.org. Retrieved October 22, 2026.
  19. ↑ Musical and Sewing Machine Courier. 1941. p. 25.
  20. ↑ "Kurt Engel in Piano Recital". The New York Times. January 15, 1941. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 22, 2026.
  21. 1 2 "Engel, Kurt" (PDF). Billboard. No. 6. p. 29. Retrieved October 21, 2026.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)