Emanuel Moór - Serenade for String Orchestra Op. 16

Emanuel Moór

 

(19 February 1863 – 20 October 1931) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and inventor of musical instruments.

 

Serenade for String Orchestra Op. 16

Moór was born in Kecskemét, Hungary, and studied in Prague, Vienna and Budapest. Between 1885 and 1897 he toured Europe as a soloist and ventured as far afield as the United States. Besides five operas and eight symphonies his output also included: concertos for piano (4), violin (4), cello (2), viola, and harp; a triple concerto for violin, cello, and piano; chamber music; a requiem; and numerous lieder. Moór's opuses total to 151 to his credit including eight symphonies.[1] He died, aged 68, in Chardonne, Switzerland.

 

His best-known invention was the Emánuel Moór Pianoforte,[2]

Emánuel Moór Pianoforte from around 1927 by Pleyel et Cie

 

which consisted of two keyboards lying one above each other and allowed, by means of a tracking device, one hand

to play a spread of two octaves.[3] The double keyboard pianoforte was promoted extensively in concerts throughout Europe and the United States by Moór's second wife, the British pianist Winifred Christie.