American Pianists and Anti-Americanism in Germany and Austria-Hungary around 1900

The story of the grand tours to Germany and Austria that many American pianists undertook during the Golden Age of the Piano and the anti-American sentiments they encountered.

The story of the grand tours to Germany and Austria that many American pianists undertook during the Golden Age of the Piano and the anti-American sentiments they encountered.


The Golden Age of the Piano was a time during which thousands of Americans made grand tours to German-speaking Europe to study piano. According to their descriptions, anti-Americanism - in essence the notion that America and its inhabitants were somehow culturally, intellectually, or even biologically inert - played a significant role in this transatlantic cultural exchange. Focussing on Berlin, Weimar and Vienna, this book explores both the roles that anti-Americanism played in this transatlantic exchange and how it influenced the careers of these migrant pianists. It shows that anti-American sentiments were not a uniquely European phenomenon, but actually played a significant role in the cultural life of America at the time, and were accordingly a motivating factor for American musicians to travel to Europe in order to be seen as legitimate. Anti-Americanism also affected the later careers of these migrants after their return, when they had to appeal to the American market in order to capitalise on their European experiences. This book furthermore provides extensive information about the people and institutions involved in this exchange, how the different major piano teaching studios worked, and which American students passed through them, including full lists of Leschetizky''s and Liszt''s American students.