Ernst Levy
Ernst Levy (18 November 1895 – 19 April 1981) was a Swiss musicologist, composer, pianist and conductor.
Ernst Levy
- Born
- 1895 · Basel.
- Died
- 1981 · Morges.
- Nationality
- Switzerland
- Occupation
- pianist · conductor · musicologist · composer · art historian · musician
- Languages
- English
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Ernst Levy (18 November 1895 – 19 April 1981) was a Swiss musicologist, composer, pianist and conductor.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Ernst Levy. 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
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q2083381 · wikipedia · Ernst Levy
In this article
Life
Life
Born in Basel, Switzerland, Levy studied with Hans Huber, Egon Petri and Raoul Pugno. David Dubal describes him as an "unusual and powerful pianist" who made "grandly conceived" recordings of the late Beethoven sonatas and captured "the very essence of the Faustian Liszt". His work as a musicologist and teacher brought him to the United States, where he taught at colleges including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Chicago and the New England Conservatory; he also became a United States citizen. His students included the composers Anna Renfer Hazel Ghazarian Skaggs. In 1966, he retired from academia and returned to his native Switzerland where he spent the remainder of his life. He died in Morges. Levy's book A Theory of Harmony was published in 1985 and, among other modern compositional concepts, describes the composer's concept of harmonic "undertones". Levy's son was composer and cellist Frank Ezra Levy (1930–2017).
Academic works
Academic works
* * * *
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.
Basel.
Birth place
Morges.
Death place
Selected compositions
• Orchestral • Symphony No. 2 in D major (1922) • Symphony No. 3 (1922) • Symphony No. 7 (1937) • Symphony No. 8 (1937) • Symphony No. 10 "France" (1944) • Symphony No. 11 (1949) • Symphony No. 12 (1951) • Symphony No. 13 (1955) • Third Suite for orchestra (1957) • Fourth Suite for orchestra (1959) • Symphony No. 14 (1962) • Symphony No. 15 (1968) • Concertante • Concerto for cello and orchestra (1947) • Chamber music • String Quartet No. 1 (1919) • Sonata No. 1 for violin and piano (1932) • Divertimento for clarinet (or oboe) and piano (1952) • Theme and Transformations for clarinet and piano (1952) • String Trio No. 1 (1953) • Sonata for cello and piano (1953) • Sonata for horn and Piano (1953) • Fifteen Little Pieces for cello solo (1955) • Piano Quartet (1956) • Suite for viola or cello solo (1956) • Suite for violin solo (1960) • String Trio No. 2 (1960) • Sonata No. 2 for violin and piano (1961) • Sonata No. 3 for violin and piano (1963) • Sonatina No. 1 for violin and piano (1962) • Sonatina No. 2 for violin and piano (1962) • Suite for 2 violas (1963) • Trio for clarinet, cello and piano (1963) • Sonata for three violin parts (1965) • String Trio No. 3 (1966) • Trio for clarinet, viola and piano (1968) • Trio No. 2 for clarinet, violin and piano (1970) • Suite No. 2 for viola solo (1971) • Soliloquy for clarinet solo (1971) • Concerto sur "Auprès de ma blonde" for trumpet and piano (1975) • Threnodie for viola, cello and organ (1975) • Sonata for 2 violins and piano (1977) • Intermezzo idilliaco for clarinet and piano (1978) • String Trio No. 4 (1978) • String Quartet No. 4 (1978) • String Quartet No. 5 (1978) • Sonata for viola and piano (1979) • Trio for violin, cello and piano (1979) • Sonata Accompagnata for bassoon and piano or orchestra (1980) • Keyboard • Fantaisie symphonique for harpsichord (1939) • Ricercar for harpsichord (1960) • Meditation on a Hebrew Raga for organ (1961) • Study on the Whole-Tone Scales for piano (1971) • Piano Sonata No. 1 (1973) • Piano Sonata No. 2 (1974) • Piano Sonata No. 3 (1975) • Piano Sonata No. 4 (1976) • Piano Sonata No. 5 (1977) • Piano Sonata No. 6 (1979) • Piano Sonata No. 7 (1981) • Hommage romantique for piano (1977) • Fantaisie dialoguée for organ and piano (1980) • Vocal • Gaudeamus, Cantata for mixed chorus, wind orchestra and timpani (1964) • Li T'ai Po's Answer for tenor, string orchestra and flute (1979) • Eins und Alles for baritone and string orchestra (1980); words by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe * * * * * * *
Primary material
Documents and archives
authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q2083381: Ernst Levy
General reference · Wikidata
reference work
- “Ernst Levy”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
authority record
Secondary witnessreference work
Secondary witness
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 16 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Music memorabilia
42,934 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Ernst HornPerson
- Ernst JanszPerson
- Ernst KovacicPerson
- Ernst KrenekPerson
- Ernst Ludwig GerberPerson
- Ernst MahlePerson
- Ernst MärzendorferPerson
- Ernst Michael MangelPerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Ernst Levy?
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.