English & Literature

Who is Harold Bauer from The Great Pianists and what is their importance?

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Harold Bauer was one of the few great pianists that did not begin as a piano prodigy. Born in 1873, he played violin as a child prodigy on that instrument until Paderewski discovered him at the age of twenty playing piano. As a child he learned to read music and play piano without a teacher. Bauer attributed his piano interest to contemporary dancer Isadora Duncan. Her translation of music into motion with dance motivated him to translate motion with his piano technique into music. Bauer was an accomplished pianist by 1900 when he debuted in America where he eventually settled. The Englishman Bauer combined old and new playing style in the modern school that interested him. He called composer marking "superficially related to the music" and even after consulting with composers found it of little benefit. He was thoroughly a modernist pianist shown by his sensitive interpretations devoid of musical egocentricity and exaggeration.