It seems to me as if it were almost impossible to be a musician and at the same time a
Klawiervirtuoso. In this confession of Eduard Steuermann, uttered to Arnold Schoenberg in
1915, his central dilemma and secret motto of life is expressed early on.
Eduard Steuermann (18921964), Polish-Jewish pianist from Galicia, pupil of Busoni, teacher
and friend of Adorno, exiled American, sought-after soloist and teacher between Vienna, New
York and Darmstadt, sought throughout his life the almost impossible: to reconcile truth and
beauty in uncompromising devotion to music. The esteem in which he has been held as the
most important pianist for the establishment of new piano music, not only by the Viennese
Schönberg circle, has had a lasting effect on any appreciation of his person that goes beyond this.
In 14 contributions, which approach Steuermann from very different angles, discussing his life,
his family and artistic ties, his music-making and composing, his work as a teacher and witty
author, the view of the breadth of his oeuvre is widened on the basis of numerous previously
unexplored materials. The result is a portrait of an artist who, according to Adorno, embodied
the conscience of music itself.