August Stradal (17 May 1860 – 13 March 1930) was a Czech
virtuoso pianist,
arranger, composer, author and
music teacher.
Career
Stradal was born on 17 May 1860 in
Teplice,
Bohemia,
Austrian Empire (now the Czech Republic), attended the grammar school in Litoměřice and then to the Vienna Conservatory, where he studied piano with
Anton Door. He also became a composition student of
Anton Bruckner[ Anton Bruckner (1824-1896) and Viennese Musicians of 19th century, accessed April 8, 2008] and took further piano studies with Theodor Leschetizky and (from late 1884) with
Franz Liszt, appearing in the latter's master classes in Weimar, Rome, and Pest, where he played some of Liszt's most difficult works.
['Obituary: August Stradal. The Musical Times, Vol. 71, No. 1947 (May 1930), p. 463]
Returning to Teplice Stradal was active as a teacher until 1890. For some years he travelled widely as a recitalist on the Continent and in London, particularly admired as a Liszt interpreter. He married Rosa Zweigelt from Krásná Lípa. Then he devoted himself to making piano transcriptions. He arranged music from Bach (most of the organ works and concertos, including the six Brandenburgs),[Harry Hodge. 'Bach's Brandenburg Concertos', The Musical Times, Vol. 72, No. 1060 (June, 1931), p. 548: "Stradal's arrangement is much better than that of Max Reger's for four hands"] Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner (Symphonies 1, 2, 5, 6, and 8),[ Anton Bruckner Symphony Versions Discography Compiled and Maintained by John F. Berky, accessed April 8, 2008] Buxtehude, Handel (the organ concertos), Liszt (the 13 Symphonic Poems and the Dante Symphony), Mozart, Paganini, Purcell, Reubke, Strauss, Wagner and Antonio Vivaldi.[
]
Stradal also composed some original works, including piano pieces (such as the Ungarische Rhapsodie) and songs.[Nicolas Slonimsky. Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Music, 7th. ed. (1984), p. 2220] He received the Czechoslovakia in 1928. The following year he published his Reminiscences of Liszt.[Von August Stradal. Serinnerungen an Franz Liszt., Bern/Leipsic: Verlag Paul Haupt] Stradal died in Krásná Lípa on 13 March 1930, aged 69.[
]
Selected works (solo piano)
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Bach – Organ sonata in E minor
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Bach – Second Organ Concerto
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Bach – Brandenburg Concertos nos.3 and 4
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Bach – Piano Concerto in F major
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Bach W.F. – Fantasy and Fugue in A minor
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Beethoven – String Quartet, Op.131
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Brahms – 3 Caprices after the Waltzes, Op.39
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Bruckner – String Quintet in F major
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Buxtehude – Passacaglia in D minor
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Buxtehude – Prelude and fugue in A minor
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Buxtehude – Prelude and fugue in D minor
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Buxtehude – Prelude and fugue in E minor (no.2)
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Buxtehude – Prelude and fugue in F major
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Buxtehude – Prelude and fugue in F♯ minor
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Buxtehude – Prelude and fugue in G minor
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Buxtehude – Prelude in E minor
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Liszt – Dante Symphony
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Transcriptions of all 13 of Liszt's Symphonic Poems
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Liszt – Faust Symphony
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Liszt – Es muss ein Wunderbares sein
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Mozart – Symphony no.40
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Mozart – Canzone on The Marriage of Figaro
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Paganini – Bravoure Study on Caprices
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Purcell – Chaconne
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Reubke – Sonata on the 94th Psalm
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Stradal – Abenddämmerung
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Strauss J – Concert paraphrase on the waltz "Dorfschwalben aus Österreich"
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Wagner – Winterstürme wichen dem Wonnemond (from Die Walküre); Der Ritt der Walküren (from Die Walküre); Schluss des letzten Aufzuges (from Die Walküre) Waldweben (from Siegfried); Rheinfahrt aus dem Vorspiel (from Götterdämmerung); Trauermusik aus dem letzten Aufzug (from Götterdämmerung); Wesendonck-Lieder.
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Vivaldi / J.S. Bach – Organ Concerto in D minor
External links
