Emil von Sauer carried the torch of the Romantic piano repertoire well into the twentieth century. He won the French Legion of Honor, The Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medal, and Austrian peerage, among many other honors. He edited all of Brahms’s piano compositions, much of Liszt, Mendelssohn, Schumann, Chopin, and some Beethoven.
A brilliant pianist, prolific composer, and noted pedagogue, Sauer founded the Vienna Conservatory Piano Master School. Beloved in his adopted home of Vienna, he died two weeks after performing with the Vienna Philharmonic at their centenary celebration. Sauer’s life presents a compelling story woven through success, fame, economic adversity, two world wars, and persecution of his family by the Nazis. This is a story about honor, perseverance, and courage.