Alexander Siloti (zih-LOW-tee) (1863–1945)  

is not a name Western pianists

often hear (or use) in conversation when discussing the great Romantic
virtuosos. Moreover, his vast accomplishments and contributions to the musical
world — both tangible and intangible — are hardly known among musicians. But
Steinway Artist Vladimir Ashkenazy recalls that “during my student days at the
Moscow Conservatory the name Alexander Siloti was spoken with the utmost
reverence.” Thus, this seemingly obscure virtuoso pianist, conductor,
impresario, and mentor may have had more influence on our musical traditions
than most ever imagined.

For pianists, it is difficult to consider a musical landscape without the influence

of Rachmaninoff. The joy and excitement in his etudes and the grandeur and
majesty displayed in his concertos are glorious to listeners and performers alike.
Even popular culture has absorbed his Prelude in C-sharp minoruntil it has
become a “favorite” among the general public. But such devotion to
Rachmaninoff and the esteem for this most popular of his works find their roots
in one of Rachmaninoff’s Moscow Conservatory professors, Alexander Siloti.

Siloti, who was ten years Rachmaninoff’s senior, did as much as any one person
to contribute to his success. Nearly everything Siloti did for Rachmaninoff had
been done for himself once before. Alexander Siloti never failed to recognize the
kindness shown to him by the masters of the previous generation. And along
with that acknowledgement, he understood the importance of a strong work
ethic, marketing abilities, and networking at every opportunity, all while
maintaining a healthy respect for those around him.

An early biography of Alexander Siloti reads akin to many virtuoso pianists in

the nineteenth century. He was raised in a household where the arts were valued
and the children were given the same opportunities afforded to most who
belonged to the upper-middle class and above. But for all these opportunities, it
seems that Siloti never failed to recognize the requirement on his part: the need
to foster and take advantage of what was before him. And that is just what he
did. As a pupil of Nikolai Rubinstein (the younger brother of Anton) at the
Moscow Conservatory, his work ethic and subsequent musical abilities gained
him prominence among his peers (and Rubinstein himself). In addition, Siloti
found himself studying composition with Tchaikovsky, who he always credited as
one of his most influential teachers and mentors. It was the relationships
formed and developed while a student at the Conservatory that would prove vital
to his success as a pianist and all-around musician.

By the 1880s, the paradigm of professional musicians relying on benefactors had

been the norm for nearly a century. Siloti was aware of this and worked to
network even as a student. In February 1880, the teenage pianist performed for
an audience including none other than Madame von Meck, the well-known
financial sponsor of Tchaikovsky, who was “deeply impressed” by the artist.
Following Rubinstein’s unexpected passing in March, 1881, Siloti’s connections
formed during these years provided him with the chance to study in Weimar
with fellow Steinway Immortal Franz Liszt.

Initially, the developing pianist took it upon himself to study with the famous
Polish pedagogue Theodor Leschetizky, a resident of Vienna. When Siloti’s letter
of proposition went unanswered by Leschetizky, he was given a grant by the
Imperial Russian Musical Society to fully fund private study with Liszt (who,
actually, charged nothing to his students based on his philosophical principles)
and his living costs in Weimar. (Hilariously, the Russian government also gave
him 10,000 rubles for gambling.) After performing Totentanzas his audition
piece for the aging Maestro in 1883, Liszt replied to Siloti, “You are an honor to
your teacher.” He began lessons the following day and continued studies with
the master-teacher until Liszt’s death in 1886.

Similar to Siloti’s preferential treatment by faculty at the Conservatory, Liszt,

too, seems to have respected (if not blatantly favored) Siloti among his late
students. Liszt wrote several recommendation letters for Siloti — something he
rarely did — sharing with his esteemed European colleagues his intrigue and
support for this rising star Alexander Siloti. Writing in December, 1883, Liszt
mentions a “young and remarkably talented Russian pianist [who] possesses
everything necessary to succeed as a celebrated pianist.” Another letter was
penned by Liszt shortly thereafter addressed to Madame Tardieu. In it, the
Maestro writes “I abstain from writing letters of recommendation. I make an
exception for a quite remarkable and certainly exceptional young pianist, Mr.
Siloti.” But with Liszt’s death in July, 1886, Siloti found himself confused and
devasted for the budding pianist had thus far found his identity in Liszt. Now, it
was time for the twenty-two-year-old to define himself based on his merits — not
those of his revered teacher’s.

To date, Siloti had performed successfully but only sporadically. He was a

cautious performer, preferring to premiere a recital in front of a “safe” and
selective crowd before taking it to the general public. (The irony of this
preference in light of his former teachers and jury panels should not be lost to
the reader.) Now with his formal training complete, it was time to start reaping
from his years of practice and professional networking. His reasoning, however,
was more honorable than simply wanting to jump-start his career as a virtuoso:
he wanted to start a family and understood the importance of providing the
necessary means to do so. By 1886 he was ready to announce his engagement to
Vera Tretyakova, daughter of Pavel Tretyakova. The Tretyakova family, a
household name during Russia at the time, was known for their wealth earned in
the textile industry. Adding pressure to Siloti was Vera’s father who worked to
prevent the marriage. For Pavel, the marriage was already doomed solely
because of Siloti’s chosen profession: that of a musician. His simple complaint,
while premature, was not unfounded: “[Artists] don’t know how to earn a
living.” Eventually, however, Pavel gave up in his pursuit of ending the
engagement, and the two were married in February, 1887.

Fortunately for the new couple, the groom’s connections and relationships were
ready and willing to help promote the artist. They immediately moved to Leipzig
where Siloti had previously co-founded the Liszt-Verein. The security of this
organization provided Sasha (as Siloti was known to his friends) and Vera a
healthy financial start to their marriage. Moreover, it was at this time that Siloti
began to work as Tchaikovsky’s manager for his upcoming tour of Germany.
Siloti arranged several concerts in Germany for the honored Russian
conductor/composer, and Tchaikovsky returned the favor by reaching out to his
own contacts in places like Berlin—an important cultural center at the time—to
secure performance opportunities for Sasha. These series of concerts in
Germany were the first concerts to feature Tchaikovsky as conductor and
included Siloti as soloist in the famous Piano Concerto No. 1 in Bminor, a work
that Siloti himself had much influence over. As their friendship and professional
admiration continued to grow, Tchaikovsky began to utilize Siloti as the editor —
and later amanuensis—of his compositions, starting first with his Symphony No.
5.Soon after, Siloti began editing many of his works, including the first piano
concerto. Siloti’s edits in this specific work—notably those grand opening chords
— ultimately became the standard performing edition of this great masterpiece.
Yet when Tchaikovsky disagreed with Siloti’s ideas, their admiration and respect
for each other went unscathed. After reviewing Siloti’s proposed edits in the
second piano concerto, the master wrote to his former pupil that “Your plan to
move the cadenza to the end makes my stomach turn over and my hair stand on
end. For God’s sake forgive me and don’t get angry.” Neither saw this as
anything more than artistic preference, and their relationship never did
deteriorate. This privileged and symbiotic relationship between the two
musicians would continue to flourish until Tchaikovsky’s death in 1893.

For a short three years, Siloti was on the piano faculty of the Moscow
Conservatory. Although his time there ended abruptly after citing differences
with Director Vasily Safonoff, it is perhaps this period that would prove so
influential to the rest of the Western musical world. One of Siloti’s students at
the Conservatory was none other than his maternal-first-cousin and fellow
Steinway Immortal, Serge Rachmaninoff. Rachmaninoff, who was still a
teenager, had been composing for a few years already. His Morceaux de
fantaisie(Op. 3), composed in the autumn of 1892, includes one of, if not the,
most popular piano works by Rachmaninoff: his Prelude in C-sharp minor, often
referred to (erroneously, according to the composer) as “The Bells of Moscow.”
This piece, which became Rachmaninoff’s signature encore, owes its popularity
to Sasha Siloti.
Upon Siloti’s resignation from the Conservatory, international concertizing
became his primary focus. Living in Paris, the artist toured Western Europe to
much acclaim. In 1898, he toured the United States, still with much success. It
was on these tours that Siloti premiered his cousin’s Prelude, first introducing
the composition, and more importantly the composer, to Western audiences. The
Musical Timeswrote about this “artistically successful” concert which occurred
on February 26, 1895, and appears to have been the European debut of the work.
The American premiere came on March 3, 1898, in Chicago’s Steinway Hall. A
Chicago Tribunecritic wrote the following day that the program, although
“unusual in selection…of Russian compositions,” included a prelude by
Rachmaninoff which was brilliant and effective. It was on these tours as well
that Siloti performed Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 1, a work dedicated to
him.

Consequently, Siloti’s “advertising” caused Rachmaninoff’s popularity to

increase exponentially which led to Rachmaninoff’s first concert outside of
Russia. Siloti’s fame, however, began to wane. But the significance of this
relationship is not which artist shined brighter, but rather the reputation of
Siloti as a promoter of all musicians. He is treasured as an advocate for the arts
when one considers that he never failed to remember all those titans — Liszt,
Tchaikovsky, Rubinstein, colleagues in Leipzig and Moscow, even his father-in-
law’s business contacts — who supported and encouraged him earlier in his life.
It was this same activism that he passed on to so many other promising artists
beyond Rachmaninoff. His sponsorship of the Siloti Concertsin St. Petersburg
presented and supported a number of “greats” and their talents to the world;
examples include Pablo Casals, George Enescu, Josef Hofmann, Wanda
Landowska, Arnold Schönberg, Claude Debussy, Edward Elgar, and a young,
unknown modernist composer named Igor Stravinsky (whose music was first
heard by Diaghilev in this series). Following his departure from Soviet Russia in
1919, Siloti continued to pursue music for himself as a concert artist in Western
Europe and the U.S. in addition to helping those who crossed his path, such as
the students he taught at Juilliard between 1925—1942. And for musicians today,
there stands a large canon of 205 piano arrangements and transcriptions, much
in the Romantic lineage of Liszt and Busoni.

Today, Sasha Siloti is not remembered on par with his teachers Liszt,
Rubinstein, or Tchaikovsky, but he continues to stand out among many of his
artist-colleagues as a wise, helpful, and compassionate fellow-human.
Throughout his life he constantly placed others’ needs and prospects above his
own personal gains. And although his name is not readily preserved in historical
textbooks, his abilities and accomplishments warrant merit, acknowledgement,
and appreciation among the current generation of musicians who must always be
searching for renewed inspiration from those who have gone before us. Steinway
artist Evgeny Kissin points out that Siloti’s “star always shone brightly for us [in
Russia]. I hope we will always find inspiration in its beautiful and mysterious
radiance.”
—Jason Terry

Biography: Siloti was born on his father’s estate near Kharkiv, Ukraine (then part of
Imperial Russia). He studied piano at the Moscow Conservatory with Nikolai Zverev from
1871, then from 1875 under Nikolai Rubinstein; from that year he also studied
counterpoint under Sergei Taneyev,[1] harmony under Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, and
theory under Nikolai Hubert.[2] He graduated with the Gold Medal in Piano in 1881. He
worked with Franz Liszt in Weimar (1883-1886), co-founded the Liszt-Verein in Leipzig,
and there made his professional debut on 19 November 1883. Returning in 1887, Siloti
taught at the Moscow Conservatory, where his students included Alexander
Goldenweiser, Leonid Maximov, and his first cousin Sergei Rachmaninoff. In this period
he began work as editor for Tchaikovsky, particularly on the First and Second piano
concertos.

He quit the Conservatory in May 1891, and from 1892-1900 lived and toured in Europe.
He also toured New York, Boston, Cincinnati and Chicago in 1898. It was on these tours
that he first introduced Rachmaninoff’s famous C-sharp Minor Prelude to the West. He
was the conductor for the world premiere of Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in
1901. From 1901-1903, Siloti led the Moscow Philharmonic; from 1903-1917, he
organized, financed, and conducted the influential Siloti Concerts in St Petersburg, in
which much of work had been done by famous critic and musicologist Alexander
Ossovsky. He presented Leopold Auer, Pablo Casals, Feodor Chaliapin, George
Enescu, Josef Hofmann, Wanda Landowska, Willem Mengelberg, Felix Mottl, Arthur
Nikisch, Arnold Schoenberg and Felix Weingartner, and local and world premieres
by Debussy, Elgar, Glazunov, Prokofiev, Rachmaninoff, Rimsky-Korsakov, Scriabin, Sibel
ius, Stravinsky and others. Sergei Diaghilev first heard Stravinsky at a Siloti Concert.

In the generation prior to 1917, Siloti was one of Russia’s most important artists, with
music by Arensky, Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky dedicated to him. In
1918, Siloti was appointed Intendant of the Mariinsky Theatre, but late the following year
fled Soviet Russia for England, finally settling in New York in December 1921. From 1925-
1942 he taught at the Juilliard Graduate School, performing occasionally in recital, and in
November 1930 gave a legendary all-Liszt concert with Arturo Toscanini. Siloti’s private
students included Marc Blitzstein, Gladys Ewart, and Eugene Istomin.

He wrote over 200 piano arrangements and transcriptions, and orchestral editions of
Bach, Beethoven, Liszt, Tchaikovsky and Vivaldi. Possibly his most famous transcription
is his Prelude in B minor, based on a Prelude in E minor by J. S. Bach. Siloti also made 8
piano rolls and 26 minutes of home-cut discs. In the 21st century, the art of transcription
has made a significant return. Such music from great artists of the past,
including Bach, Mozart, Chopin, Tchaikovsky and Liszt, has now resumed its formidable
importance. Alexander Siloti, one of the great exponents of that art, is also seeing his
name rapidly restored to the pantheon. Carl Fischer has published a large anthology of
Siloti piano transcriptions, and Rowman and Littlefield has published the first full-scale
biography. The first run having sold out, it will shortly be reprinted in paperback,
together with a list of nine errata from the first edition.

A cabinet card portrait of the Russian pianist, conductor and composer Alexander Ilyich Siloti (1863-
1945), one of Russia’s most important artists in the generation prior to 1917.

Siloti, whose surname is sometimes transliterated as Ziloti, was born on his father's estate near
Kharkiv, Ukraine (then part of Imperial Russia). He studied piano at the Moscow Conservatory with
Nikolai Zverev from 1871, then from 1875 under Nikolai Rubinstein, brother of the more famous
Anton Rubinstein; he also studied counterpoint under Sergei Taneyev, harmony under Pyotr Ilyich
Tchaikovsky, and theory under Nikolai Hubert. He graduated with the Gold Medal in Piano in 1881.
Siloti went to Weimar, Germany to further his studies with Franz Liszt, co-founding the Liszt-Verein in
Leipzig, and making his professional debut on 19 November 1883. Returning to Russia in 1887, Siloti
taught at the Moscow Conservatory, where his students included his first cousin Sergei Rachmaninoff.
During this period he also began work as editor for Tchaikovsky, particularly on the First and Second
piano concertos.

Siloti married Vera Tretyakova, herself a pianist and the daughter of wealthy industrialist and art
collector Pavel Tretyakov. He left his post at the Conservatory in May 1891, and from 1892-1900 lived
and toured in Europe with his wife and young children. He also toured New York, Boston, Cincinnati
and Chicago in 1898. As a conductor Siloti gave the world premiere of Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto
No. 2 with the composer as soloist in 1901. From 1901-1903, he led the Moscow Philharmonic; from
1903-1917, he organized, financed, and conducted the influential Siloti Concerts in St Petersburg,
collaborating with the critic and musicologist Alexander Ossovsky. Ballet impresario Sergei Diaghilev
first heard Stravinsky's music at one of the Siloti Concerts.

In 1918, Siloti was appointed Intendant of the Mariinsky Theatre, but late the following year fled what
had become Soviet Russia for England, finally settling in New York in December 1921. From 1925-
1942 he taught at the Juilliard Graduate School, performing occasionally in recital. In November 1930
gave a legendary all-Liszt concert with Arturo Toscanini.

Alexander Siloti died in New York on 8 December 1945. He is buried at the Russian Orthodox Convent
Novo-Diveevo Cemetery, Nanuet, New York.