Outstanding pianist
University of Music mourns the loss of its honorary doctor Alfred Brendel
The FRANZ LISZT University of Music in Weimar mourns the loss of its honorary doctor Alfred Brendel. The world-renowned pianist, author and linguist died at the age of 94 in his adopted home of Great Britain.
‘It was a great honour for the University of Music to have this intelligent and outstanding pianist as an honorary doctor,’ said University President Prof. Anne-Kathrin Lindig. ‘We mourn his passing deeply and are grateful for what he did for the world of music and for the memory of Franz Liszt.’
In recognition of his outstanding services to Liszt's work, Alfred Brendel was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Weimar Music University during the Dies Academicus on 24 June 2009. The certificate was presented to the then 78-year-old musician by (former) Rector Prof. Rolf-Dieter Arens in a ceremony.
Brendel had already included Franz Liszt in the programme of his first solo concert at the age of 17. In 1961, he dedicated his essay ‘The Misunderstood Liszt’ to him, which heralded a renaissance of Liszt's playing among pianists worldwide.
Born in 1931, pianist Alfred Brendel, who came from an Austrian-German-Italian-Slavic family, was a virtuoso in his field. After studying piano, composition and conducting in Zagreb and Graz, he decided to continue his piano studies with Edwin Fischer.
His repertoire ranged from Bach to Schoenberg. He was the first to record Beethoven's complete piano works and was instrumental in establishing Schubert's sonatas in the concert repertoire and rehabilitating Liszt's piano works.
In his last active years as a concert pianist (until 2008), Alfred Brendel's repertoire in concerts and recordings included the sonatas of Haydn, Mozart and Schubert, as well as Beethoven's cello works (with his son Adrian). As a writer, he made a name for himself with musical essays and several volumes of poetry. A book of conversations (‘Ausgerechnet ich’) and a collection of his essays and speeches entitled ‘Über Musik’ have also been published.
Alfred Brendel is an honorary doctor of the universities of London, Oxford and Yale, an honorary member of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra and a recipient of the Hans von Bülow Medal of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2002, he was awarded the Leonie Sonning Prize and in 2004 the Ernst von Siemens Prize.
[18 June 2025]