September is known as the typical month to start the school year. It’s also a popular month for piano composers to be born. Here is a sampling.
September 1, 1854: Engelbert Humperdinck. Known for his opera
Hansel and Gretel, Humperdinck first composed it as a set of songs, with
piano accompaniment, for his nieces’ puppet show.
September 1, 1661: Georg Bohm. This German organist and
composer wrote for the keyboard, and is known for his improvisational style of
playing. Bohn and Bach were close friends.
September 4, 1824: Antonin Bruckner. Austrian composer Anton
Bruckner starting playing the organ as a child, and gave organ lessons as an
adult. He didn’t start composing seriously until almost in his 40s, and was not
widely recognized until his 60s. Most of his piano works were written for
teaching purposes.
September 8, 1841: Antonin Dvorak. Czech composer Antonin
Dvorak also drew on his native Slavic folk dance forms in his piano duet piece
Slavonic Dances. Moravian and other Eastern European traditional music forms
also inspired him.
September 13, 1819: Clara Schumann. Besides being an
accomplished composer, Clara Schumann was the professional pianist in the
family. She was also a great business partner and confidante for Schuman, and edited
his work after he died.
September 13, 1874: Arnold Schoenberg. Born to a Jewish
family in Austria, Schoenberg largely taught himself how to play the piano, even
though his mother was a piano teacher. Later on he too became a music teacher
even though he is more known for developing the twelve-tone method of
composition.
September 16, 1887: Nadia Boulanger. While she did not think
she was an accomplished composer, Boulanger was a gifted composer teacher.
Gershwin wanted to study under her, but she refused as she didn’t want to stifle
his more popular style. She also performed on the organ and piano.
September 25, 1906: Dmitri Shostakovich. Even as a child,
Dmitra showed a gift for the piano and music in general. At age 13 he entered
the Petrograd Music Conservatory, and he wrote his first symphony at age 19.
Much of his work was theatrical, and he was known for his film music.
Nevertheless, he also wrote for the piano, including waltzes.
September 26, 1898: George Gershwin. Like Schoenberg, Gershwin’s
family was Jewish. Interestingly, Gershwin and Schoenberg were friends and
tennis partners in the States. His first compositions were Broadway theater
works, but he composed and performed popular, jazz and classical genres.
