Menasce, Jacques de

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Menasce, Jacques de

Menasce, Jacques de, Austrian-born American pianist and composer; b. Bad Ischi (of a French-Egyptian father and a German mother), Aug. 19, 1905; d. Gstaad, Switzerland, Jan. 28, 1960. He studied in Vienna with Sauer (piano) and with J. Marx, Paul Pisk, and Berg (composition). From 1932 to 1940 he gave concerts in Europe as a pianist; in 1941 he went to America, living mostly in N.Y., but continued his concert career in Europe. He became a naturalized American citizen.

Works

dramatic: ballet:The Fate of My People (1945); Status Quo (1947). orch.: 2 piano concertos (1935, 1939); Divertimento for Piano and Strings (1940). chamber: Violin Sonata (1940); Viola Sonata (1950); piano pieces. vocal: Choruses; songs.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire