Walter Gieseking – pianist (b. 5 November 1895 – d. 26 October 1956)
was a French-born German pianist and composer. Gieseking was renowned for his subtle touch, pedaling, and dynamic control—particularly in the music of Debussy and Ravel; he made complete recordings of all their published works which were extant during his life. He also recorded most of Mozart's solo piano works.
Born in Lyon, France, the son of a German doctor and lepidopterist, Gieseking first started playing the piano when he was four, without formal instruction. His family traveled frequently and he was privately educated.
From 1911 to early 1916, he studied at the Hanover Conservatory. There his mentor was the director Karl Leimer, with whom he later coauthored a piano method. He made his first appearance as a concert pianist in 1915, but was conscripted in 1916 and spent the remainder of World War I as a regimental bandsman. His first London piano recital took place in 1923, establishing an exceptional and lasting reputation.
Because of his gifts of a natural technique, perfect pitch, and abnormally acute faculty for memorization, Gieseking mastered unfamiliar repertoire with relatively little practice. From his early instruction in the Leimer method, he usually...
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