Earl Wild

Earl Wild earned comparisons to a “piano-centaur,” so completely did he merge with the instrument. Absolute pitch manifested when he was three, accompanied by an explosive appetite for the keyboard. By six he read scores with ease, and before turning twelve he worked with Selmar Janson, a pupil of d’Albert and Scharwenka, both of whom had studied with Liszt. Further instruction came from Busoni’s disciple Egon Petri, from Paul Doguereau who had been taught by Paderewski and Ravel, and from Elena Barère, wife of the Russian virtuoso Simon Barère. Exceptional technique and unusually large hands marked him early for the front rank of pianists, while his education and historical moment granted full access to the accumulated lore of Romantic pianism. Already in his early teens Wild was composing, arranging, and transcribing for Pittsburgh’s radio station KDKA and serving as pianist and celesta player in the Pittsburgh Symphony under Otto Klemperer. NBC engaged him as a staff pianist in 1937; the post brought appearances with Toscanini and the NBC Symphony, culminating in the celebrated 1942 broadcast of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue that established him nationwide. During World War II he served in the U.S. Navy as fourth flutist in the Navy Band, gave recitals at the White House, and often accompanied Eleanor Roosevelt in performances of “The Star-Spangled Banner” during her lecture tours. From 1945 to 1968 ABC employed him as pianist, conductor, and composer; his oratorio Revelations was aired to wide approval in 1962 and again in 1964. On 26 September 1992 he introduced his own “Doo-Dah” Variations for piano and orchestra, based on Stephen Foster’s “Camptown Races,” with the Des Moines Symphony. He also gave the first performances of Paul Creston’s Concerto No. 1 and of Marvin David Levy’s Piano Concerto No. 1, the latter written expressly for him. Yet his deepest renown rested on his command of Romantic repertoire, above all Liszt and such long-overlooked figures as Thalberg, Herz, Scharwenka, Balakirev, Paderewski, Godowsky, and Medtner. Like those masters he practiced the art of transcription, fashioning Rachmaninov and Gershwin songs anew in his own all-embracing manner. Beginning with his debut recording in 1939, Wild left an extensive discography that united scrupulous scholarship with the instinctive theatricality of a born virtuoso. He remained sought after as a teacher throughout the world.