Pianist, Composer, Teacher. Also known as Pavel Pabst. He was influential in developing the late romantic style of piano playing in Russia. Christian George Paul Pabst was born in Königsberg, Eastern Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia), the son of a professional musician. After making his performing debut at age 11, he studied at the Dresden Academy of Music and with Franz Liszt in Weimar. In 1878 he received an invitation from Anton Rubinstein to teach at the Moscow Conservatory, and was named professor of piano there in 1881. His most famous pupils were Sergei Lyapunov and Nikolai Medtner, while eight others became piano professors at the Moscow and St. Petersburg Conservatories. At the time of his death, from a heart attack at 43, he was one of the most respected figures of the Russian music scene. Tchaikovsky called him "a pianist of divine elegance" and sought his advice while writing his First Piano Concerto. Pabst returned the compliment by arranging several fine concert paraphrases of Tchaikovsky's music, including "Eugen Onegin", "The Queen of Spades", and "Sleeping Beauty". Sergei Rachmaninoff would later include these in his repertoire. Of Pabst's 90 compositions the most ambitious is the Piano Concerto in E-flat major (1885). The score was considered lost for decades before it resurfaced in the 1990s. It was recorded in 2005.
Pianist, Composer, Teacher. Also known as Pavel Pabst. He was influential in developing the late romantic style of piano playing in Russia. Christian George Paul Pabst was born in Königsberg, Eastern Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia), the son of a professional musician. After making his performing debut at age 11, he studied at the Dresden Academy of Music and with Franz Liszt in Weimar. In 1878 he received an invitation from Anton Rubinstein to teach at the Moscow Conservatory, and was named professor of piano there in 1881. His most famous pupils were Sergei Lyapunov and Nikolai Medtner, while eight others became piano professors at the Moscow and St. Petersburg Conservatories. At the time of his death, from a heart attack at 43, he was one of the most respected figures of the Russian music scene. Tchaikovsky called him "a pianist of divine elegance" and sought his advice while writing his First Piano Concerto. Pabst returned the compliment by arranging several fine concert paraphrases of Tchaikovsky's music, including "Eugen Onegin", "The Queen of Spades", and "Sleeping Beauty". Sergei Rachmaninoff would later include these in his repertoire. Of Pabst's 90 compositions the most ambitious is the Piano Concerto in E-flat major (1885). The score was considered lost for decades before it resurfaced in the 1990s. It was recorded in 2005.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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