Editing Artur Schnabel (section)

==Repertoire==
{{See also|Artur Schnabel's recordings of Beethoven's piano sonatas}}
Schnabel was best known for his devotion to the core German composers, especially the Viennese classics of [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]], Beethoven and Schubert. He was also renowned for his playing of works by [[Johannes Brahms|Brahms]] and [[Robert Schumann|Schumann]], and he played and recorded works by [[Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach]].

However, his repertoire was wider than that. During his young virtuosic years in Berlin, he played works by other composers including [[Franz Liszt|Liszt]], [[Frédéric Chopin|Chopin]] and [[Carl Maria von Weber|Weber]]. On his early American tours, he programmed works such as the Chopin [[Preludes (Chopin)|Preludes]] and Schumann's [[Fantasie in C (Schumann)|Fantasie in C]].<ref>{{cite book
|pages=426
|first=Harold C.
|last=Schonberg
|title=The Great Pianists
|location=New York
|publisher=Simon & Schuster
|year=1963
}}</ref> Among other works that he played, as recalled by those such as [[Claudio Arrau]] and [[Vladimir Horowitz]], who had heard Schnabel in the 1920s, were Chopin's [[Piano Concerto No. 1 (Chopin)|E minor Piano Concerto]] and the [[Piano Sonata No. 2 (Chopin)|Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat minor]], and Weber's ''[[Konzertstück in F minor (Weber)|Konzertstück in F minor]]'', Piano Sonata No. 2, and ''[[Invitation to the Dance (Weber)|Invitation to the Dance]]''.<ref>{{cite book
|first=Harold C.
|last=Schonberg
|title=Horowitz: His Life and Music
|url=https://archive.org/details/horowitzhislifem00scho
|url-access=registration
|location=New York
|publisher=Simon & Schuster
|year=1992
}}</ref><ref name=arrau>Arrau in conversation with Peter Warwick, 31 July 1976</ref> Schnabel himself mentioned that he had played the Liszt [[Piano Sonata (Liszt)|Sonata in B minor]] "very often", as well as the Liszt [[Piano Concerto No. 1 (Liszt)|E-flat Piano Concerto]].<ref name=mylifeandmusic/>

It is not clear why Schnabel dropped those from his performing repertoire in the 1930s, after his final departure from Germany. He claimed that it was because he decided that he wanted to play only "music which is better than it could be performed".<ref name=mylifeandmusic/> However, it has been suggested by some that "Schnabel, uprooted from his native heritage, may have been clinging to the great German composers in an attempt to keep his cultural origins alive".<ref>Harris Goldsmith, ''Artur Schnabel: Paradigm or Paradox?'', ''Keynote'' 3, March 1982</ref>

Schnabel was known for championing the then-neglected sonatas of Schubert and, even more so, Beethoven, including his more challenging late works. While on a tour of Spain, Schnabel wrote to his wife saying that during a performance of Beethoven's ''[[Diabelli Variations]]'' he had begun to feel sorry for the audience. "I am the only person here who is enjoying this, and I get the money; they pay and have to suffer," he wrote.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Beethoven: Diabelli Variations, Op. 120, Bagatelles, Op. 126 & Rondo a capriccio, Op. 129 Classical Instrumental Naxos |url=https://www.chandos.net/products/catalogue/HH%200765 |access-date=2024-06-20 |website=Chandos Records |at=Notes}}</ref> Schnabel did much to popularize Beethoven's piano music, making the first complete recording of the sonatas, completing the set for the British label [[His Master's Voice (British record label)|His Master's Voice]] in 1935. In March 2018, it was one of 25 recordings that the Library of Congress selected to be placed in the National Recording Registry, for its cultural and historical significance.<ref name=LOC1 /> This set of recordings has never been out of print and is considered by many to be the touchstone of Beethoven sonata interpretations, though shortcomings in finger technique mar many performances of fast movements ([[Sergei Rachmaninoff]] is supposed to have referred to him as "the great [[Tempo#Italian tempo markings|adagio]] pianist"). It has been said that he suffered greatly from nerves when recording; in a more private setting, his technique was impeccable. [[Claudio Arrau]] has said that Schnabel's live performances during the 1920s were technically "flawless."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h3TQeUPNjWgC&dq=claudio+arrau&pg=PA90|title=Arrau on Music and Performance|first1=Joseph|last1=Horowitz|first2=Claudio|last2=Arrau|date=17 April 1999|page=90|publisher=Dover Publications|isbn=978-0-486-40846-0 |via=Google Books}}</ref>  He also recorded all the Beethoven [[piano concerto]]s.