Isidor Philipp facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Isidor Philipp
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Isidor Philipp ca. 1910
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| Born | 2 September 1863 |
| Died | 20 February 1958 (aged 94) |
| Nationality | French |
| Occupation | Composer |
Isidor Edmond Philipp (born September 2, 1863 – died February 20, 1958) was a famous French pianist, composer, and teacher. He was born in Budapest, Hungary, and passed away in Paris, France. Isidor Philipp was known for his amazing piano skills and for teaching many great musicians.
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Isidor Philipp's Life Story
Isidor Philipp was a child piano genius in his home country of Hungary. When he was old enough, his friends and family helped him raise money. This allowed him to study piano at the famous Conservatoire de Paris in France. This school was considered the best music conservatory in Europe.
At the Conservatoire, he studied piano with Georges Mathias. Mathias was a student of the famous composer Frédéric Chopin. Isidor Philipp graduated in 1883 and won the First Prize for piano performance. He also learned from other great teachers like Camille Saint-Saëns and Stephen Heller. Heller was a student of Carl Czerny, who had learned from Ludwig van Beethoven. Philipp also studied with Théodore Ritter, a student of Franz Liszt.
While at the Conservatoire, Philipp became lifelong friends with another student, Claude Debussy. Philipp often played Debussy's piano music in public. He also helped Debussy write down his music so other pianists could understand it. Because of this, Philipp became the top expert on Debussy's piano music after Debussy died.
After finishing school, Philipp started a career playing concerts across Europe. He performed regularly in Paris. He also got to hear many famous pianists like Liszt and Anton Rubinstein. He even knew Charles-Valentin Alkan, a close friend of Chopin. Philipp helped publish many of Alkan's musical works.
Around 1890, Philipp formed a music group with a violinist and a cellist. They toured together for about ten years. However, he eventually focused more on teaching, which he loved. From 1893 to 1934, he was a very important piano professor at the Conservatoire de Paris. He was one of the youngest teachers ever hired there. He led the piano department for many years. From 1921 to 1933, Philipp also led the piano section at the American Conservatory of Fontainebleau. This school helped many famous American composers start their careers.
Isidor Philipp had a home in Paris filled with old and unusual musical instruments. During World War II, when a difficult group of people took over Paris, Philipp had to leave for the United States in 1940. Sadly, his apartment was emptied, and his musical treasures were never found again.
He moved to the United States in 1941. He taught piano in New York City and in Quebec, Canada. While in New York, he performed concerts with the violinist John Corigliano Sr.. After the war, he divided his time between New York City and Paris.
Philipp was married once, but he got a divorce soon after.
Even at 91 years old, in 1955, he still played the piano in concerts in New York. He returned to Paris a year later. He gave his last concert in Paris when he was 92. He died in 1958 after falling on the Paris metro. He is buried in Père Lachaise Cemetery.
In 1977, many of Isidor Philipp's musical works and papers were given to the University of Louisville. These include his piano compositions, exercises, and his notes on other composers' works. There are also recordings, letters, and photos.
Carrying on the Chopin Tradition
Isidor Philipp started piano lessons with George Mathias when he was 16. Mathias was a student of Frédéric Chopin. According to Harold Bradley, who studied with Philipp for over 30 years, Mathias was the only student who truly understood Chopin's way of teaching piano.
Chopin was famous as a composer, but he was also a great piano teacher. He created a new way of thinking about music. He was the first musician to deeply understand the ideas of earlier piano composers. This helped him expand how piano was taught.
Most of Chopin's students were not professional musicians or died young. So, Mathias was the only one who could pass on Chopin's special teaching ideas. Mathias trained young pianists, but Isidor Philipp was the best person to continue Chopin's teaching style. Philipp worked with Mathias just as Mathias had worked with Chopin. By the time he was 30, Philipp was known as the top expert on the piano and its music.
Isidor Philipp's Teaching Style
Students remembered Isidor Philipp as a kind and patient teacher. They said he focused on making their hands flexible and strong. He also taught them to play with exact rhythm and clear notes. He always told students to practice with a metronome. They should start slowly and then gradually get faster.
Philipp taught that playing octaves should come from the wrist, keeping the arm still. He also believed that each finger should be able to move on its own. Like other great teachers, he didn't have one strict "system." Instead, he taught each student what they needed at that moment. He believed in playing fast, with clear expression, and a "pearly" sound. For interpreting music, he said students must know a piece very well before playing it. But he didn't force his own ideas on them.
Philipp taught a wide range of music, from very old keyboard pieces to new ones. He believed every pianist should know all styles of piano music. He thought pianists should play music exactly as the composer intended. Finding out what the composer intended can be a lifelong journey. However, he also believed each pianist should have their own ideas about the music.
Philipp wrote that the most important quality in piano playing is the "tone." Tone means the sound you make. He said pianists should listen carefully to their tone from the very beginning. He also said it's important to keep your arms, wrists, and hands relaxed.
When his friend Claude Debussy was writing new piano pieces, he often asked Philipp for advice. They talked about how to write the music so pianists would understand Debussy's ideas. After much thought, they decided not to put many pedal markings in the published music. They reasoned that every piano, room, and pianist is different. They wanted pianists to decide how to use the pedal to get the best sound.
Harold Bradley (pianist) said that Philipp didn't always choose the "best" students. Sometimes he would teach a student who was just starting out. Other times, he would refuse to teach even top pianists. For Philipp, the most important thing was whether a student was "teachable." Bradley said Philipp could often tell a pianist's personality just by listening to them play. Bradley later created a music institute based on Philipp's teaching ideas.
Students and Friends
Isidor Philipp allowed his name to be connected with the Bradley Institute for Music Education Research. This institute was founded in Paris in 1930. It later moved to Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, led by his student Harold Bradley (pianist). The Institute taught music and also kept track of Philipp's vast knowledge of teaching. Philipp's friend, violinist John Corigliano Sr., was on the first board of directors.
Many of Isidor Philipp's students became famous pianists, composers, or conductors. Some of them include Aaron Copland, Jeanne-Marie Darré, Ania Dorfmann, Jean Françaix, Guiomar Novaes, Albert Schweitzer (who was also a famous philosopher), and Soulima Stravinsky.
Many well-known pianists also asked Philipp for advice, especially on playing French composers like Claude Debussy. Philipp often supported new music throughout his long life. He frequently helped edit the works of modern composers like Sergei Prokofiev and Maurice Ravel. He was close friends with many leading musicians of his time, including Leopold Godowsky, Ferruccio Busoni, Josef Hofmann, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, and Nadia Boulanger.
Philipp was also friends with Igor Stravinsky. Stravinsky practiced exercises from Philipp's "Complete School of Technique" almost every day. People have noticed that these exercises clearly influenced Stravinsky's own music.
The famous pianist Rudolf Serkin later said that not studying with Philipp was one of his life's regrets. He knew several of Philipp's students and said "all of them were brilliant."
The University of Louisville in Louisville, Kentucky, holds the Isidor Philipp Archive.
Music and Recordings
Isidor Philipp wrote many musical pieces. These include Rêverie mélancolique and Sérénade humoristique for orchestra. He also wrote a concertino for three pianos and a suite for two pianos. He created six concert studies based on Chopin's Études. He also arranged and transcribed many works by other composers, like Johann Sebastian Bach, for one or two pianos. His piece "Feux-Follets" was recorded by his student Guiomar Novaes. He also wrote many pieces for the left hand only. Philipp's music often requires very fast and light finger work.
Leopold Godowsky and Pierre Augiéras dedicated some of their left-hand piano pieces to Isidor Philipp. Philipp is most famous for his technical exercises and educational books. He also published a collection of French music from the 17th to 19th centuries. He wrote for music magazines and published short books on piano technique, like "Some Thoughts on Piano Playing." His most famous book is "The Complete School of Piano Technique."
He also edited music by many other composers, including Isaac Albéniz, Charles-Valentin Alkan, Claude Debussy, Gabriel Fauré, César Franck, Sergei Prokofiev, Maurice Ravel, and Camille Saint-Saëns. Many of his edited works, especially the piano concertos, are still used today.
Philipp recorded several pieces by his teacher Saint-Saëns. These include chamber music and a Scherzo for two pianos. He also recorded Saint-Saëns' Violin Sonata No. 1 and Cello Sonatas. There is a recording of Philipp playing the piano in Bach's 5th Brandenburg Concerto. This was a radio broadcast from the 1930s. He also played Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 19.
You can hear Philipp playing Saint-Saëns' Violin Sonata in D minor, Op. 75 online. You can also hear the first movement of Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 19 in F major, K. 459. This recording was likely from a radio show when he was 90 years old. He also recorded Saint-Saëns' Scherzo for Two Pianos, Op. 87 with Marcelle Herrenschmidt.
See also
In Spanish: Isidor Philipp para niños
