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editor musician pianist teacher
Rafael Joseffy was born on July 3, 1852 in Hunfalu (present-day Huncovce), in Szepes County (present-day Slovakia), but in early childhood was taken by his parents to Miskolcz, not far from Budapest. He was the only child of Vilmos and Cecilia (Lang) Joseffy, both Hungarian Jews. The father was a learned rabbi, a man of culture, and a teacher of Oriental and European languages. He early recognized his son's talent for music.
When Rafael was eight years old his father took him to Budapest and placed him under Brauer, who had been the teacher of Stephen Heller, and when he was fourteen he entered the Leipzig Conservatorium. Here he became a student of E. F. Wenzel, though he also had some lessons from Moscheles. He remained in Leipzig for two years, after which, in 1868, he went to Berlin for further study under Tausig. The last-named teacher was by far the most potent influence in shaping the young pianist's ideas and in developing his brilliant technique. While Joseffy spent two summers (1870 and 1871) at Weimar with Liszt, who doubtless developed his artistic side, Liszt's influence upon him was by no means as great as was that of Tausig.
Joseffy made his début in Berlin in 1872 and won immediate recognition. There followed concerts in Vienna and other large music centers with similar success. He made concert tours through Holland, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Russia, everywhere meeting with marked success. After several years spent in touring Europe, he came to America in 1879, making his first appearance in New York soon after his arrival with an orchestra conducted by Dr. Leopold Damrosch. He was immediately hailed as one of the greatest concert pianists. Soon afterward he played with the Philharmonic Orchestra and subsequently appeared in New York and elsewhere with the Theodore Thomas Orchestra.
Notwithstanding his sensational success, Joseffy withdrew from the concert stage and for five years studied intensively to discover the deeper meaning of his art and to make his splendid technique the vehicle for the expression of the poetic, imaginative content of music. When he returned to the concert platform there appeared a mature Joseffy, his old superb technical skill now enriched with a new depth and warmth of tone-quality.
While he excelled as a player of Bach and Mozart, he was equally impressive in presenting the impassioned works of Beethoven, Schumann, Chopin, Liszt, and Brahms. At the height of his success, weary of constant travel, he withdrew entirely from public performance and devoted himself thenceforth to teaching and writing, living much of the time at his summer home at Tarrytown, New York. From 1888 to 1906 he was professor of piano at the National Conservatory in New York.
His ideas on piano technique and interpretation, drawn from his experience as teacher and virtuoso, are embodied in two comprehensive and elaborate works: School of Advanced Piano Playing (1902), which was translated into German, and First Studies (1913), a work of even larger scope. In his youth he wrote some salon pieces, but his work as composer is not significant.
He died at his home in New York City and his body was cremated at Union Hill, New Jersey.
Rafael Joseffy was a pioneer in America in making known the works of Brahms; indeed, he was one of the first to give frequent renditions of the Brahms "Concerto No. 2. " He edited many standard works (some pieces by Liszt and a collection of the works of Brahms), but his largest editorial contribution was his Complete Works of Chopin (1915), in fifteen volumes.
Unlike most virtuosi, Joseffy was a deep student and possessed in a marked degree the ability of self-analysis, which enabled him to bring his own great technical and interpretative powers to the service of his pupils' needs.
His influence as a pedagog was far-reaching. He was a graceful figure at the piano and exacted from his students similar grace and simplicity. While conscious of his own value as a teacher, he was generous in acknowledging good work done by others.
He preferred the smaller income of a teacher to the glare of the footlights.
Quotes from others about the person
Hanslick acclaimed him as being an unusually brilliant performer, whose technique, quality of tone, and clean-cut phrasing showed clearly the influence of Tausig, though he had not as yet developed the poetic side of his genius. Another critic (quoted in Mathews) spoke of the "elegance and sparkle" of his runs, and added "such brilliant delicacy, such elegant fluency has not been heard since the time of Tausig and Liszt".
Joseffy was married in September 1890 to Marie Gumere, who had been his housekeeper.
