Austrian solo pianist, accompanist and composer.

Career Summary

Franz Mittler studied piano (Leschetizky), music theory (Labor) and composition (Heuberger, Prohaska) in Vienna 1905–18, and at the Cologne Conservatory (Steinbach, Friedberg) 1918–19. He served in the army during World War I, Between 1921 and 1938 he was one of the most sought-after accompanists, working with distinguished singers such as Marie Gutheil-Schoder and Karl Kraus.

After 1938 Mittler emigrated to the America, where he was a member of the First Piano Quartet (1943–63). In 1964 he returned to Europe, where he again worked as an accompanist.

As a composer, Mittler wrote one opera, chamber music, piano pieces, and songs.

Mittler and Schenker

Mittler appears in Schenker’s lessonbook for the 1922/23 season, concentrating particularly on fugal technique in the piano literature. However, he was in correspondence with Schenker as early as 1917 when still serving in the military while working on Op. 109 and Op. 111 of Beethoven, and again in early 1919.

Seven letters from Mittler to Schenker are known to survive (OJ 12/56, [1]–[7], spanning January 1917 to January 1919.

Sources