Emánuel Moór
Hungarian composer, pianist, and inventor of the double-keyboard piano.
Emánuel Moór was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and inventor of musical instruments. He is best known for his double-keyboard piano, the Emánuel Moór Pianoforte, which allowed one hand to play a spread of two octaves.
Quick Facts
- Born
- 19 February 1863
- Died
- 20 October 1931
- Birthplace
- Kecskemét, Hungary
- Place of death
- Chardonne, Switzerland
- Number of compositions
- 151
- Notable invention
- Emánuel Moór Pianoforte (double-keyboard piano)
Facts from the source article.
Life
Emánuel Moór, born in Kecskemét, Hungary, honed his craft in Prague, Vienna, and Budapest. From 1885 to 1897, he toured Europe and the United States as a soloist. He composed 151 works, including five operas, eight symphonies, and concertos for piano, violin, cello, viola, and harp, plus a triple concerto, chamber pieces, a requiem, and songs. His three Piano Trios, recorded by the Storioni Trio, reflect the influence of his friend Johannes Brahms. Moór is also known for inventing the Emánuel Moór Pianoforte, a two-keyboard instrument allowing one hand to span two octaves. He died at 68 in Chardonne, Switzerland. In 1959, pianist Max Pirani wrote his biography, with a preface by Pablo Casals.
Two new instruments
In 1921 Moór presented two revolutionary inventions. The first was a giant violin, one and a half meters long, with five to six strings to reach the length of the cello, the bow being moved by a pedal. The second was the Moór-Duplex piano, a piano with two keyboards; the lower keyboard has raised white keys to allow chromatic glissando, and a pedal intermediate coupling the two keyboards, along with a system to imitate a harpsichord. Only about 60 of the double-keyboard pianos were made, mostly by Bosendorfer, with a few by Bechstein, Chickering, and Steinway. Marie de Jarowslawska-Tutundjian helped with early trials of the Duplex-Coupler, playing it on 3 November 1921 at the Palace of Montreux and again on 16 November 1921. Moór's second wife, Winifred Christie, performed on the instrument frequently and published a manual of technical exercises for it. Other pianists who used the Moór-Duplex included Wilhelm Backhaus, Alfred Cortot, Gunnar Johansen, Max Pirani, and Christopher Taylor.
Ravel, Casals
Pablo Casals first encountered Emánuel Moór through Anatoly Brandukov, to whom Moór had dedicated his Cello Sonata No. 2 in G major, Op. 55. After hearing Moór play, Casals declared him a genius, and the two began a lasting friendship. Casals performed and premiered many of Moór’s works, several of which were written for him. In December 1905 alone, Casals played the Cello Sonata No. 2 four times. He also championed other pieces, including multiple sonatas, a concerto dedicated to him, a double cello concerto, and a triple concerto for piano trio with orchestra. Separately, Maurice Ravel remarked that the Emánuel Moór Pianoforte could produce sounds he had always intended for certain works, but which were impossible to write for two hands on a standard piano.
Timothy Baxter
Timothy Baxter, a British composer based in Denmark, wrote his Six Bagatelles for double keyboard in 1964 while a student at the Royal Academy of Music, supported by a scholarship from Winifred Christie Moór. The piece premiered at the Three Choirs Festival in Hereford on 24 August 1976, performed by Jeffery Harris, who had held the same scholarship before Baxter. The scholarship ended after Winifred Christie died in a home accident. Baxter also created arrangements for the instrument, drawn to its unusual capabilities. Later, the Bagatelles were adapted for two pianos, first heard on 17 May 2013 at the Festival Erik Satie in Arcueille, played by Elsa Sorvari and Viktor Bogino; they performed the work twice more that year, including once in Paris. The pieces have since been played in Denmark and recorded by pianists Anne Mette Stæhr and Ulrich Stærk.
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