Edwin Fischer

Edwin Fischer

b. 1886 (Basel) · d. 1960 (Zurich)

Edwin Fischer (1886–1960) was a Swiss pianist, conductor, and music educator, renowned for his recordings of Bach and Beethoven. He was born in Basel on 6 October 1886 and died in Zurich on 24 January 1960.

Fischer studied with Martin Krause, who had himself been a student of Franz Liszt.

Between 1933 and 1936, Fischer became the first pianist to record the complete Well-Tempered Clavier—J. S. Bach’s 48 Preludes and Fugues—on long-playing records. His interpretations of Beethoven’s piano sonatas are also especially significant to music connoisseurs.

On 3 March 1915, he received the Silver Order for Art and Science of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

His pupils included Peter Feuchtwanger, Géza Anda, Sequeira Costa, Helena Sá e Costa, Paul Badura-Skoda, Daniel Barenboim, Alfred Brendel, Jörg Demus, Conrad Hansen, Grete Sultan, Katja Andy, Sebastian Benda, Gernot Kahl, Rita Bouboulidi, and Harry Datyner.

Students