EGON PETRI, born in Hanover, Germany of Dutch parentage on March 23, 1881, studied both the violin and the piano in his formative years. One of his early teachers was Teresa Carreño, but the major influence on his musical thinking was Ferruccio Busoni. Petri became a champion of Busoni’s piano works and assisted him in the preparation of his published edition of Bach’s keyboard music. At various times Petri taught in Manchester, Basel, and Berlin, finally settling in the U.S. in 1939. His recitals featured some of the most challenging works in the repertoire, including all the Beethoven sonatas and all the etudes of Chopin, Liszt and Alkan. Petri curtailed his concertizing activity in his later years, but held academic posts at Cornell University and, later, Mills College. He died in Oakland, California in 1962.

Listen: Gnomenreigen (Liszt)