Paul de Conne
born Russia, 1874; died Vienna, 1959
Documents associated with this person:
Russian concert pianist and piano teacher, pupil of Anton Rubinstein.
From 1901 to 1915 De Conne taught in the piano Ausbildungsklasse at the Akademie für Musik und darstellende Kunst (=Vienna Conservatory--but according to Schenker (OJ 8/3, [67]), he tried to resume his teaching there in 1919, at the resignation of the President, Karl von Wiener). Among his students were Zbigniew Drzewiecki and Marie Emilie Freiin Bach (who dedicated her composition Negroid to him in 1926).
De Conne and Schenker
First reference to De Conne in Schenker's diary is on December 17, 1906: Evening: concert [by] Paul de Conne: good technique, now and again some beautiful playing. But unfortunately, so to speak, physiologically immature; boyish presentation of the pathos of Rubinstein (Sonata in A minor, Op. 100), too childishly wooden, under-declaimed, too simple, too hasty, without respite. (diary OJ 1/5, p. 30).
On January 13, 1911, at a concert in the Bösendorfersaal, De Conne and Moriz Violin were the soloists in the first performance of C. P. E. Bach's Concerto in F major for two keyboards in Schenker's arrangement. Schenker was present at this concert, and recorded his reactions in his diary (OJ 1/10, p. 125).
From Schenker's diary for 1919, the two men were evidently personally acquainted by then.
Correspondence with Schenker
The only correspondence between De Conne and Schenker known to survive is one undated calling card (OJ 9/30a).
Sources:
- Federhofer, Hellmut, Heinrich Schenker nach Tagebüchern und Briefen... (Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1985), p. 19
- Heller, Lynne, "Vom Nebenfach zur Meisterschule: Klavierunterricht am Konservatorium für Musik in Wien," in Studia Musicologica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 42/1-2 [Franz Liszt and Advanced Musical Education in Europe: International Conference 2001], pp. 47-64
Contributor:
- Marko Deisinger