Friedrich Gulda: Biography

• Overview
• Discography
• Biography
• Related Artists

• Allez Allez
• Walt J
• David Thomas
• Elbee Bad

• Delza Agricola

• Dizzy Gillespie
• Joe Zawinul

• Ursula Anders

• Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
• Pierre Fournier
• Anthony Collins
• Nikolaus Harnoncourt
• London Symphony Orchestra
• Claudio Abbado
• Klaus Weiss

Born:

May 16, 1930 in Vienna, Austria

Died:

Jan 27, 2000 in Vienna, Austria

Genres:

Music, Jazz Music, Classical Music

Decades Active:

1950's|1960's|1970's|1980's

Artistic Quality

Low

Cultural Impact

Medium

Popularity

Low

Ratings Guide

Classical and jazz pianist and composer, Friedrich Gulda was one of Austria's premiere pianists. Born in Vienna, 1930, Gulda started piano lessons at the age of seven. When he was 12, he enrolled in the Vienna Music Academy, and four years later received first place in ~the Geneva International Music Festival. In 1949, Gulda toured Europe and South America, earning international acclaim for his treatments of Bach, Mozart and Beethoven, and the following year he successfully debuted at ~Carnegie Hall. Gulda became more involved in jazz from 1951 on, when he improvised with Dizzy Gillespie following a performance with the Chicago Symphony. Five years later, Gulda played his first American jazz concert at ~Birdland (NYC), followed by a performance at ~the Newport Jazz Festival. After this, Gulda formed the Eurojazz Orchestra, a jazz combo and big band which drew from both jazz and classical compositions. In 1966, ten years after his ~Birdland appearance, Gulda organized a modern jazz competition in his native city. He was awarded the Vienna Academy's Beethoven Ring in 1970, but later returned it to protest what he regarded as a constricting educational system. This only reinforced the public's perception of Gulda as an eccentric. This reputation was not helped when he abruptly called off major performances more than once. A 1988 incidence occurred in reaction to objections to his program for a Salzburg music festival that included jazz musician Joe Zawinul; he achieved another last minute cancellation by faking his own obituary only days before a scheduled performance of Mozart. On January 27, 2000, Friedrich Gulda died of an apparent heart attack in Vienna, the city of his birth.

- Joslyn Layne, All Music Guide