Artist Info: Franz Schmidt

Franz Schmidt (December 22, 1874 – February 11, 1939) was an Austrian composer, cellist and pianist.

Schmidt was born in Pressburg, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire (this is now Bratislava, Slovakia). He studied piano briefly with Theodor Leschetizky, with whom he clashed. He moved to Vienna with his family in 1888, and studied at the Conservatory there (composition with Robert Fuchs, cello with Ferdinand Hellmesberger and theory with Anton Bruckner), graduating "with excellence" in 1896. [read more...]