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William J. Browning (January 31, 1924 – November 9, 1997) was an American concert pianist, vocal coach and piano pedagogue.
William Browning was a concert pianist, teacher, and vocal coach of celebrated stature who was a link with great pedagogues and soloists of the 20th century. He traveled the world concertizing, was the pre-eminent representative of the Brahms - Schumann dynasty and focused mostly on teaching. A courtly virtuoso “who taught in the grand manner of the 19th century,” he possessed deep familiarity with piano literature, extraordinary concert technic at the piano and personal relationships with a vast array of personalities in music. As a world-renowned performer, both live and via broadcast, Browning was electrifying, with total mastery of the keyboard and its literature. He was a pianist who demonstrated that sought-after “singing tone” oft-cited in the Romantic Period as the pinnacle of concert pianist ability.
Early life
William Browning was born in Lawrence, Kansas into a musical family. His father was a concert singer who was friends with the esteemed pianist Carl Friedberg. Browning began playing at an early age, and had performed four Carnegie Hall recitals by the time he was 20 years old. He lived and studied in the both the US and Europe.
His teachers included Carl Friedberg who studied with Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms, and Will Humble, student of Leopold Godowsky who Browning said “was perhaps one of the greatest pianists in history, and was court pianist for Emperor Franz Josef.” Later, Browning studied with Hans Levy Heniot, and Gui Mombaerts, who studied with Franz Liszt’s student Arthur de Greef.
Pittsburgh (Kansas) State University
At age 17, Browning first came to Pittsburgh State University (PSU) in 1941. Here, he studied with Will Humble, and later stated “I’ve performed across the world, in England and Europe and so many people I’ve met knew who he was. I’ve had other very fine teachers as well, and they’ve all asked me how I did something or worked out something difficult. It was always because of what I have been taught by Will Humble.” At PSU, he earned an undergraduate degree in music.
United States Army
Browning’s musical career was interrupted during World War II and he spent three years in Army Special Services with General George Patton’s 3rd Army Division. “It was not good for the fingers,” he said. Explaining further, he related this story: ”General Patton demanded I play the Chopin A Flat Polonaise over and over again late at night, sometimes night after night, when he was distressed. The piano was dreadful, black keys were so worn out, they were pointed sharp, and my fingers would bleed.”
American Conservatory of Music
Following military service, Browning desired to study with conductor Hans Levy Heniot who was close to Godowsky and who had recently come to Chicago following several years as music director of the Utah Symphony Orchestra. He gave credit to the quality of education at PSU for his solid foundation in music theory: The American Conservatory had notoriously difficult requirements in the area of music theory, and Browning said, “Students from PSU were the only ones accepted at the Conservatory without remedial work… the School’s credentials were good all over the country.” At American Conservatory he earned a Masters Degree in Musical Performance. Following receipt of his masters degree, he continued to teach at the American Conservatory for 32 years. During this period he maintained close affiliation with Juilliard’s Adele Marcus and many other prominent pedagogues. Of his students, it was said “You can always identify those pianists who were Browning’s students by the extraordinary quality of their playing.”
Subsequent to his tenure at American Conservatory of Music, Browning was on faculty at Sherwood Conservatory and the Chicago Musical College of Roosevelt University. His studio was at the Fine Arts Building (Chicago).
Teaching
Browning was viewed as a “Teacher of Teachers” by his students and peers. His personal familiarity with figures such as Vladimir Horowitz, Rudolph Serkin, Arthur Rubinstein, Leon Fleisher, Vaughn Williams, Francis Poulenc, Joseph Marx and Alfred Brendel among others created an atmosphere of great authority. From his dynamic studio in the Fine Arts Building (Chicago) he offered a glimpse of the past and future of music. He first introduced Seiji Ozawa to Chicago’s Ravinia Festival, where Ozawa served as its music director from 1964-1971. Like Josef Lhévinne he preferred a behind-the-scenes role in classical music performance and piano pedagogy, as well as live studio broadcasts via WGN. He also frequently served as a judge and accompanist in piano and vocal competitions. He was known to say, in paraphrase: “My first love is teaching… I prefer to teach, rather than to tour playing the same repertory on a repetitive basis. This way, I remain involved in all sorts of music, and that is much more refreshing.” In addition to his enthusiastic performance of traditional repertory, Browning held a strong interest in 20th century music and premiered new music with frequency.
Students
The following is a limited selection of Browning’s Students:
- Dan Saunders – Conductor, Pianist & Vocal Coach, The Metropolitan Opera, Virginia Opera, Salzburg Festival
- Matthew Ward – Broadway composer, pianist, vocalist, performer, teacher
- Frederick Ravid – Pianist, composer, producer & recording artist
- Steven Esko - Pianist
- Robert Vanderschaaf – Founder of William Browning Society, Pianist, on Faculty at Sherwood Music School and Chicago Musical College of Roosevelt University
- Stephanie Quinn – Pianist, violinist, recording artist, performer: [1] web page [2] BIO
- Larry Dieffenbach – Pianist, teacher at Elgin College, Kindermusic Instructor, Founder of St. Charles International Piano Competition
- MaryAnn Krupa – Pianist, performer, teacher
- Bette Coulson – Pianist, lecturer, coordinator at Columbia College Chicago [3] web page
- Barry Rifkin - Pianist, Teacher, Piano Technician, Browning Discographer
Performances and recordings
Throughout his career Browning soloed, performed with many symphonies and actively provided vocal accompaniment and coaching. As a recitalist, chamber music player and soloist with symphony orchestras, Browning performed extensively throughout North America, the UK, China and South Korea. During the 1960s he founded and led the Flancel Quartet, which premiered many American works. Under the auspices of Exxon, the National Music Council and the National Federation of Music Clubs, Browning premiered the William Ferris “Piano Sonata.” This work had been commissioned for him and was premiered at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington DC as part of the Center’s Bicentennial Parade of American Music.
Browning began live radio broadcasts working for WOAK FM Radio He was the official accompanist for WGN’s Illinois Opera Guild Auditions of the Air, a vocal competition whose winners included many who went on to the Metropolitan Opera and recording careers. He also worked on other WGN projects including Essays in Music and for WFMT which was the successor to WGN on the FM Dial. His many years of recording and broadcast gave him a special affinity for broadcast and recording, and was said to have an uncanny ability to project the emotion and scope of a performance into a microphone.
Late in his career, Yale University commissioned Browning to record the entire Schumann Opus, given his historic position as a Schumann interpreter. It is not known whether these recordings were ever digitized, or whether they survive in any form to this day. A demonstration of his high degree of sensitivity to the music is found in his comments about the undertaking of this project. His sympathetic nature, which served him so well as an interpreter, was particularly keen around Robert Schumann's emotional imbalances which showed through in the late Schumann Opus. In empathy for Schumann, Browning described playing of works from this period as "arduous."
Few recordings of Browning survive to this day because many of the early recordings were done on magnetic tape which was subject to deterioration. What survived had to be painstakingly hand-washed and lubricated with silicone prior to digitizing by producer Barry Rifkin in a project entitled “William Browning – A Legacy of Recordings”
Death
Browning died of a Stroke on Sunday November 9 1997 at Hinsdale Hospital at age 73.
Notes
References
- von Rhein, John. "William J. Browning, Pianist, Teacher". Obituaries – Chicago Tribune Music Critic. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved on February 16, 2008.
- Anonymous. "William J. Browning, Pianist, Teacher". Obituaries – Chicago Sun Times. Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved on February 16, 2008.
- Patrick, Nikki. "Pianist returns to PSU for benefit recital". The Morning Sun, Pittsburg, Kan Tues Oct 17, 1989. Retrieved on February 16, 2008.
- Rifkin, Barry. "Biography in Memoriam". William Browning – A Legacy of Recordings. Big Dreams Studio. Retrieved on February 16, 2008.
External links
- [4] Web page from Browning Student Stephanie Quinn with quotes, obituary, album jacket and other information.
- http://library Copies of Obituaries from Chicago Newspapers, plus 1989 article from Pittsburg, KS Morning Sun Pianist Returns to PSU for Recital Concert by Nikki Patrick.
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