# Julius Isserlis
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{{Short description|Russian pianist and composer}}
thumb|upright|Julius Isserlis c. 1920
'''Julius Isserlis''' (26 October [(OS)](/source/Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates) / 7 November 1888 – 23 July 1968) was a pianist and composer.
He was born in Kishinev, [Russian Empire](/source/Russian_Empire) (now [Chișinău](/source/Chi%C8%99in%C4%83u), [Republic of Moldova](/source/Moldova)), to a Jewish family. His father was [cantor](/source/Hazzan) in a synagogue, and also worked as an itinerant dentist; his mother was a midwife. He started playing the piano at the age of four, and showed such precocity that he was entered into the [Kiev Conservatory](/source/Petro_Tchaikovsky_National_Music_Academy_of_Ukraine) when he was nine; but his professor there, Włodzimierz Puchalski, soon sent him to Moscow to study with [Vasily Safonov](/source/Vasily_Safonov) at the [Moscow Conservatory](/source/Moscow_Conservatory). Here he also studied composition, under [Sergei Taneyev](/source/Sergei_Taneyev). He graduated at the age of sixteen, winning the gold medal of the Conservatory.[Rachel Isserlis, Notes accompanying
[https://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/notes/68025-B.pdf ''Julius Isserlis: Piano Music''], Sam Haywood (piano), Hyperion Records, CDA68025, 2014.]
In 1907 Isserlis travelled to Paris to take lessons from [Charles-Marie Widor](/source/Charles-Marie_Widor). He made a brief trip to the United States, playing a concert in the [Carnegie Hall](/source/Carnegie_Hall), New York (having been recommended as a soloist by [Alexander Scriabin](/source/Alexander_Scriabin)). Returning to the Russian Empire, he was appointed as a professor at the College of the Imperial Philharmonic Society.[Peter Aspden,
[https://www.ft.com/content/6d6f74e0-778f-11e3-afc5-00144feabdc0 ''Cellist Steven Isserlis on his pianist grandfather and his compositions''], Financial Times, 10 January 2014] In 1922 Isserlis was one of twelve musicians chosen by [Lenin](/source/Vladimir_Lenin), who would be permitted to travel abroad as musical ambassadors for the newly-formed [Soviet Union](/source/Soviet_Union); none of the twelve returned to Russia.[Steven Isserlis,
[https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/2014/02/what-it-come-intensely-musical-family ''What is it like to come from an intensely musical family?''], New Statesman, 6 February 2014]
Isserlis arrived in Vienna in 1923 with his wife and son, never to return to the Soviet Union again. Vienna had a very active musical scene, and he was able to build a career there as pianist, composer and teacher. He was in touch with other Russian émigrés; [Nathan Milstein](/source/Nathan_Milstein) and [Josef Lhévinne](/source/Josef_Lh%C3%A9vinne) are among those known to have visited him during this time.[Steven Isserlis,
[https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2012/jul/24/george-isserlis-obituary ''George Isserlis obituary''], The Guardian, 24 July 2012]
At the [Anschluss](/source/Anschluss) in 1938, Isserlis, fortuitously, was on tour in Britain. He was granted British residency, and was soon joined there by his wife and son. Other Russian émigrés in London included [Nicolai Medtner](/source/Nicolai_Medtner) and [Benno Moiseiwitsch](/source/Benno_Moiseiwitsch), with both of whom Isserlis was on friendly terms.[[https://pianomagazine.online/en/beyond-the-score-a-conversation-with-gerald-kingsley ''Beyond the Score: A Conversation with Gerald Kingsley''], PianoMagazine.online, 22 October 2021] Now in his fifties, he worked hard to rebuild his career as a pianist once more; he frequently featured on the [BBC Third Programme](/source/BBC_Third_Programme),[Steven Isserlis, [https://www.thejc.com/how-music-saved-the-isserlis-family-1.51872 ''How music saved the Isserlis family''], The Jewish Chronicle, January 9 2014] and he toured the country with the Wessex Philharmonic. In 1963 he developed [Parkinson's disease](/source/Parkinson's_disease), and he died in 1968 in London, at the age of 79.[[https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/49822272/julius-isserlis Grave of Julius Isserlis]]
Isserlis recorded very little; his one commercial recording, of Scriabin's [24 Preludes, Op. 11](/source/24_Preludes%2C_Op._11_(Scriabin)), was made after the effects of Parkinson's disease had started to affect his pianism. However, some recordings made in Poland before the War survive, as do several BBC tapes.