Julius Isserlis

Julius Davydovich Isserlis (Julius Isserlis) was a Russian, Austrian, and British pianist and music teacher, also known as a composer of romantic-style piano pieces. He was born in Chișinău on 31 October [7 November] 1888 and died in London on 23 July 1968.

He began studying music at the age of four. When he was seven, his teacher Kolesse sent him to the Kyiv Music School to study with its director, Professor V. V. Pukhalsky, who in 1900 referred him to the Moscow Conservatory to the then director V. I. Safonov. At thirteen he appeared in a symphonic memorial concert for Anton Rubinstein, performing Chopin’s “Polish Fantasy” with an orchestra conducted by Safonov.

After graduating from the conservatory with a gold medal in 1905, Isserlis continued his training in Paris with Raoul Pugno. In 1905–1907 he performed in Berlin, Paris, and Switzerland with an orchestra conducted by Safonov, and in 1907–1908, invited by Modest Altschuler, he concertized in New York in a series of appearances with Safonov and the orchestra of the Russian Symphony Society.

From 1911 he taught at the Odessa Music School, and from 1913 to 1918 he was a professor at the Music and Drama School of the Moscow Philharmonic Society. From 1922 he lived in Vienna, and from 1938 in London, where he continued teaching and toured internationally.

His concert repertoire consisted largely of works by Russian composers, and he was especially celebrated for his performances of music by Alexander Scriabin (whom he met in Paris in 1907), Sergei Rachmaninoff, Nikolai Medtner, and early Sergei Prokofiev. He was also noted for original interpretations of Romantic music (including Schumann and Liszt) and French Impressionists.

As a composer he wrote piano pieces in a Romantic spirit, including works published by Universal Edition such as “Märchen (Fairy Tale),” Op. 6, “Russischer Tanz,” Op. 7, and “Drei Klavierstücke,” Op. 8 (Moment Musical, Méditation, Le Vol d’une Hirondelle), as well as “Toccata in Quarten” and “Prélude Exotique,” Op. 10.

From 1980 the Royal Philharmonic Society in the United Kingdom has awarded a biennial Julius Isserlis scholarship. His students included Ruth Geiger (Vienna), Oskar Morawetz (Czechoslovakia–Canada), and Bernard Pinsonneault (London). His son was the pianist George Isserlis (born 1917), and his grandchildren include the British cellist Steven Isserlis, the violinist Rachel Isserlis, and the violist Annette Isserlis, a founder of the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.

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