Evelina [Eveline, Ewelina] Pairamall (née Silberstein; formerly Birnbaum)
born Lodz, Poland, February 27, 1870; died Lodz, April 9, 1939
Documents associated with this person:
Long-term pupil of Schenker’s.
Life
Evelina Pairamall was the daughter of Markus Silberstein and Teresa (née Cohn). According to Schenker, she was a wealthy Polish Jew and owned "twenty-seven or twenty-nine [...] properties and houses in and around Lodz" (diary, August 26, 1914), and also factories that were demolished by the Germans at the end of World War I (diary, March 23, 1918). A widow by the time she knew Schenker, she had first married in 1888 Henryk Rafal Birnbaum (1833–99), with whom she had one daughter, Aniela [Angèle] Birnbaum, and secondly Hinda Pairamall (dates unknown). It is unclear when she established her home in Vienna, from where she traveled widely. After some illness in Vienna, she returned to Lodz in 1938, where she died in 1939 aged 71.
Lessons: with Schenker
Mrs. Pairamall’s period of study with Schenker spanned probably October 1911 to May 1931, but with multi-year-long absences. The lessonbooks record her attendance for the seasons 1911/12 through 1921/22 and 1924/25 through 1926/27, a total of fourteen full seasons. Although scheduled for lessons in 1927/28, she in fact missed that entire season and the following two. She returned briefly in April/May 1931, then disappeared from the lessonbooks, although Schenker had prepared for her in 1931/32 (OC 16/38). She took no part in Schenker’s seminar of 1931 to 1934. Over the seasons 1911/12 to 1916/17, her work took in courses on instrumentation, continuo, thoroughbass, and chorale writing, with brief reference to counterpoint, while also working on repertory by Brahms, Chopin, and Schubert. From Spring 1919 through Summer 1922, she concentrated on chamber works: violin sonatas, cello sonatas, and piano trios by Handel, Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms, playing with violinists Schiffer and Pullman, and cellist Lewin.
Schenker’s antipathy toward the rich in society caused him frequently to voice harsh criticism of her (as of other rich pupils of his), reporting in his diaries her slowness to pay, and reluctance to accept fee increases. She was, however, useful to Schenker on occasions in drawing his attention to items of interest, sending him bundles of newspapers, giving him useful presents such as books, editions, and facsimiles of sources, and using her contacts to pass on information to him. In December 1920 and spring 1921, she was helpful to the Schenkers in finding a new apartment for them, and on February 14 identified Keilgasse 8, which became their home from May 21, 1921 until after Heinrich’s death. Subsequently, there was a distinct warming of the relationship. She introduced him to the gramophone in February 1927, briefly loaning her equipment with several 78rpm records, as a result of which Schenker later acquired one himself.
Lessons: with others
At some date before 1913 (probably 1910 or earlier), Mrs Pairamall took lessons with the harpsichordist Wanda Landowska in Vienna and Munich, and around 1913 became involved in the feud between Joachín Nin and Landowska over the greater suitability of harpsichord or piano for early keyboard music, supplying Nin with information from German-language sources (Delgado, 189–91). She also took some lessons from Hans Weisse in 1921 (OJ 15/16, [45]). She was enrolled at the newly-founded Schenker Insitute at the Neues Wiener Konservatorium in 1935/36, at which time she was living at Vienna III, Neulinggasse 16/6 (very close to Schenker's Reisnerstraße apartment).
Correspondence with Schenker
There are three letters from Schenker to Pairamall: OJ 5/27, [1]-[3] (1911, 1916) and one, OC 1B/5 (April 9, 1916), which is written by Jeanette in a system of shorthand known as "Gabelsberger" Kurzschrift).
Sources
- Delgado, Sonia Gonzalo, "‘Piano our Clavecin?’ Joaquín Nin’s Feud with Wanda Landowska’s Harpsichord," Journal of the Royal Musical Association 147, Part I (2022), 171–92
- Fink, Evelyn, ed., Rebell und Visionär: Heinrich Schenker in Wien (Vienna: Lafite, 2003), pp. 22-23
- geni.com
- jewishgen.com
Contributor
- Ian Bent