Eduard Steuermann
Illustration — Eduard Steuermann at the 12th Internationale Ferienkurse für neue Musik, Darmstadt 1957 Eduard Steuermann (June 18, 1892, in Sambor, Austria-Hungary – November 11, 1964, in New York City) was an Austrian-born American pianist and composer. Steuermann studied piano with Vilém Kurz at the Lemberg Conservatory and Ferruccio Busoni in Berlin, and studied composition with Engelbert Humperdinck and Arnold Schoenberg. He played the piano part in the first performance of Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire and premiered his Piano Concerto.
Also recorded as Edward Steuermann
Eduard Steuermann

Unterberg, Rolf · Bundesarchiv, B 145 Bild-F004565-0007 / Unterberg, Rolf / CC-BY-SA · This image was provided to Wikimedia Commons by the German Federal Archive (Deutsches Bundesarchiv) as part of a cooperation project. The German Federal Archive guarantees an authentic representation · CC BY-SA 3.0 de
- Born
- 1892 · Sambir.
- Died
- 1964 · New York City.
- Nationality
- United States
- Occupation
- pianist · composer · music educator · university teacher · editor · music arranger · musician
- Fields
- classical music
- Movements
- 20th-century classical music
- Education
- Lviv Conservatory
- Teachers
- Arnold Schoenberg · Vilém Kurz · Ferruccio Busoni
- Languages
- German · English
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Illustration — Eduard Steuermann at the 12th Internationale Ferienkurse für neue Musik, Darmstadt 1957 Eduard Steuermann (June 18, 1892, in Sambor, Austria-Hungary – November 11, 1964, in New York City) was an Austrian-born American pianist and composer. Steuermann studied piano with Vilém Kurz at the Lemberg Conservatory and Ferruccio Busoni in Berlin, and studied composition with Engelbert Humperdinck and Arnold Schoenberg. He played the piano part in the first performance of Schoenberg's Pierrot Lunaire and premiered his Piano Concerto.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
No house-authored Note is published until its assertions and sources pass the VALÉORINE evidence contract. The documentary article remains available in full while that enrichment is being consolidated.
Documentary enrichment in progress · no unsupported statement published
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Eduard Steuermann. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Evidence Panel
wikipedia incomplete · checked 25 September 2026
- Identity
- resolved
- Independent source families
- 0
- Admitted assertions
- 0
- Open conflicts
- 0
Authority files
gnd · 1258296780 · wikidata · Q214108 · wikipedia · Eduard Steuermann
In this article
Biography
Biography
He continued his association with Schoenberg as a pianist for the composer's Society for Private Musical Performances in Vienna, and made an arrangement for piano trio of Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht. He performed in the radio premiere of Schoenberg's "Ode to Napoleon Bonaparte" with the New York Philharmonic under Artur Rodziński on November 26, 1944. In 1952, he was awarded the Schoenberg Medal by the International Society for Contemporary Music. He taught at the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik at Darmstadt. Steuermann, whose parents were non-practising Jews, emigrated to the United States in 1938 to escape the antisemitic policies of Nazi Germany. He was famed for his Beethoven recitals of the 1950s and was a distinguished teacher, teaching at the Juilliard School from 1952 to 1964 and the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music from 1948 to 1963. In the US, he was known as Edward Steuermann. Among the prominent performers who studied with Steuermann were Alfred Brendel, Jakob Gimpel, Jerome Lowenthal, Moura Lympany, Menahem Pressler, Stephen Pruslin, Russell Sherman, Jacob Maxin, and Beatrice Witkin. He also taught philosopher Theodor W. Adorno, composers Gunther Schuller and Paavo Heininen, and theorists Edward T. Cone and David Lewin. In 1964, he died of leukemia in New York City. In 1989, the University of Nebraska Press published a collection of Steuermann's writings entitled, The Not Quite Innocent Bystander: Writings of Edward Steuermann. The book was co-edited by Eduard's wife Clara Steuermann, David H. Porter and Gunther Schuller. A major work by Steuermann, Variations for Orchestra, is published by Philharmusica Co., New York. The actress and screenwriter Salka Viertel was his sister. The conductor Michael Gielen was his nephew. The footballer Zygmunt Steuermann was his younger brother. Steuermann married Clara Silvers, a pianist and music librarian, in 1949.
Eduard Steuermann studied at Lviv Conservatory. Training under Arnold Schoenberg, Vilém Kurz and Ferruccio Busoni is recorded. The recorded working language is German and English. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are classical music. Employment is recorded with University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna and Juilliard School.

Ensemble der Uraufführung des Pierrot Lunaire von Arnold Schönberg am 16. Oktober 1912 im Berliner Choralion-Saal. Hans W. de Vries (Flöte),?; Karl Essberger (Klarinette), links; Jakob Malinjak (Geige),?; Arnold Schönberg; Albertine Zehme (Rezitation); Eduard Steuermann (Klavier), 2. von rechts; Hans Kindler (Cello), rechts
Austellung: »100 Jahre Pierrot lunaire« Hommage à Schönberg mit Auftragswerken des Arnold Schoenberg Institute L. A. zum 100. Geburtstag der Uraufführung von Schönbergs „Pierrot lunaire“
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1892
Eduard Steuermann born at Sambir.
1964
Eduard Steuermann died at New York City.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Sambir.
Birth place
New York City.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q214108: Eduard Steuermann
Reputable secondary · Wikidata
- “Eduard Steuermann”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
authority file
- Gemeinsame Normdatei 1258296780, Mehr als Schönbergs Pianist: Eduard Steuermann und die Aufführungspraxis der Wiener Schule (Veranstaltung : 2018 : Linz).
Unverified · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
authority file
Gemeinsame Normdatei 1258296780, Mehr als Schönbergs Pianist: Eduard Steuermann und die Aufführungspraxis der Wiener Schule (Veranstaltung : 2018 : Linz).Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Music memorabilia
42,108 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Eduard ShafranskyPerson
- Eduard SobolewskiPerson
- Eduard SõrmusPerson
- Eduard SteinPerson
- Eduard StraussPerson
- Eduard ToldràPerson
- Eduard TubinPerson
- Eduard ZuckmayerPerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Eduard Steuermann?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.