Emil von Sauer

Emil Georg Conrad von Sauer was a German composer, pianist, score editor, and music (piano) teacher. He was a student of Franz Liszt and one of the most distinguished pianists of his generation. Josef Hofmann called von Sauer “a truly great virtuoso.” Martin Krause, another Liszt pupil, called von Sauer “the legitimate heir of Liszt; he has more of his charm and geniality than any other Liszt pupil.”

Adapted from the Wikipedia article on Emil von Sauer.

From the period sources

Emil Sauer, born in Hamburg in 1862, was a pianist of “wonderful technique,” according to the Dictionary of Music (1896, 1908). He studied with Nicolas Rubinstein at the Moscow Conservatorium from 1876 to 1881, and later with Liszt and Deppe (Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 1908). Indeed, A History of Pianoforte-Playing and Pianoforte-Literature (1897) identifies him as “one of the most eminent among the younger pianists of the Liszt school,” noting that he, like Alexander von Siloti, had previously studied under Nicolas Rubinstein. Sauer began his concert tours as a virtuoso-pianist in 1882, making his English debut with eight recitals in November 1894, where he quickly achieved great success (Grove’s Dictionary, 1908). His playing, though “occasionally rather wanting in breadth,” was “always agreeable,” and his technique “wonderfully neat and accurate” (Grove’s Dictionary, 1908). In 1901, he became head of a pianoforte department at the Vienna Conservatorium, a post he relinquished in April 1907 to reside in Dresden (Grove’s Dictionary, 1908). Sauer published a volume of reminiscences, Meine Welt, in 1901, and his compositions include a “suite moderne,” a Concerto in E minor, and many “slighter pieces for the pianoforte” (Grove’s Dictionary, 1908; Dictionary of Music, 1908). His “highly finished style” earned him honors in Austria, France, and Saxony, where he was ennobled in 1917, according to The New Encyclopedia of Music and Musicians (1924).