Leo Ornstein was a leading American experimental composer and pianist of the early twentieth century. Ornstein completed his eighth and final piano sonata in September 1990 at the age of ninety-four. He died in New York City on February 24, 2002, exactly ninety-six years before his death.
About Leo Ornstein in brief
Leo Ornstein was a leading American experimental composer and pianist of the early twentieth century. His performances of works by avant-garde composers and his own innovative and even shocking pieces made him a cause célèbre on both sides of the Atlantic. Largely forgotten for decades, he was rediscovered in the mid-1970s. Ornstein completed his eighth and final piano sonata in September 1990 at the age of ninety-four, making him the oldest published composer in history. He died in New York City on February 24, 2002, exactly ninety-six years before his death. He was one of the best known figures in American classical music of the 20th century. He is survived by his wife, two daughters, and a son, Michael Ornstein, who died in 2011. He leaves behind a daughter, Alexandra Ornstein. He also leaves a son named Michael, who played the cello for the New York Philharmonic, and is the son of a former New York mayor and a former U.S. ambassador to Israel. He had a son and a daughter-in-law, both of whom are still living in the United States. He has a son who is a composer-pianist-conductor-musician-educator. He left a daughter who is the wife of a U.N.
official and a mother-of-two who teaches at the Juilliard School of Music. He will also be remembered for his work as a pianist and for his contributions to the music of Sergei Rachmaninoff, Sergei Schoenberg, Ravel, Debussy, and Stravinsky. His son is the conductor- pianist-composer-musicians-and-musical-improviser-turned-film-producer Michael Broyles. His grandson is the composer and director-director-actor David Ornstein; he died in 2010. He wrote the book “Ornstein: A Life in Music,” published by Simon & Schuster, with a foreword by David Weinberger. The book also includes a biography of Ornstein and a forerunner of his son Michael. The sonata is entitled “Leo: A Piano Sonata for Two Pianists, A Piano Concerto for Two Piano Ensembles, by Leo Ornstein (1906-1910) and is available on Amazon.com for $35.99. For more information on the book, go to www.samuel-weinberg.com/. For more on Ornstein’s music, visit his website: www.leo-ornstein.com. For the full list of his works, visit the website: http://www.samaritans.com/Leo-Ornstein-a-Piano-Sonata-For-Two-Pianists-A-Second.html.
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