Paul Baumgartner

Who was Paul Baumgartner?

Paul Baumgartner was a Swiss pianist.

Born in Altstätten, Switzerland, he studied piano and composition with Walter Braunfels in the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München and with Eduard Erdmann in Köln where he subsequently taught. Fleeing from the rise of the Nazis he took up residence in Basel, in Switzerland again, where he taught in the conservatory.

A fine pianist, he was one of the musicians who rallied around the cellist Casals and played in the first Casals festival.

However, he is nowadays mainly remembered as a teacher, numbering among his pupils Alfred Brendel, Karl Engel, Arie Vardi, Peter Efler and the conductor Günter Wand. In 1962 he was awarded the Kunstpreis der Stadt St. Gallen. He died, in 1976, in Locarno, Switzerland.

At the age of 12, Paul Baumgartner wrote The Seven Searchers and other poems. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00089SD8O