Alexander Raab

Who was Alexander Raab?

Alexander Raab was a Hungarian-American pianist and distinguished piano teacher.

Alexander Raab was born in Győr, Hungary. He studied at the Vienna Conservatory under Hans Schmitt, Robert Fuchs and Theodor Leschetizky and became acquainted with Johannes Brahms. He presented recitals with the violinist Jan Kubelík in England, Russia, Germany and France.

He emigrated to the USA in 1915, and became Head of the Piano Department at Chicago Musical College, before moving to Berkeley, California, where he became esteemed as one of the best piano teachers on the West Coast.

He performed concertos with the Tonkünstler Orchestra of Vienna, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, and London Symphony Orchestra. Leopold Godowsky dedicated his 1931 transcription of Adolf von Henselt’s Etude in F-sharp major, Op. 2, No. 6, to Raab.

Alexander Raab’s piano students included Ernst Bacon, Vera Bradford, George J. Buelow, Muriel Kerr, Wanda Krasoff, Mortimer Markoff, Sumner Marshall, Robert Owens, and Allan Willman. His pupils also studied under teachers such as Alfred Cortot, Nadia Boulanger, Rudolph Ganz, Percy Grainger, Ernest Hutcheson, and Paul Wells.