Chapter One
Memoirs, 1933–77
My duties in Salzburg at the Mozarteum were much lighter than I chose to
make them. I think I was there to give harpsichord lessons, but I am not sure
whether I ever gave any. Nor am I sure whether the idea of giving a series of
lectures on the Vortrag alter Klaviermusik^1 was my own or that of someone else,
but I took it very seriously and worked feverishly at preparing the lectures and
their illustrations. Since I had only just turned twenty-two, fi nding that I was
addressed as Herr Professor by all Austrians without any apparent trace of
irony, even by those three times my age, made me feel that I must do some-
thing to earn that ceremonious title. The lectures were delivered in German as
planned, but before a small and completely polyglot audience which included
only a few Germans and Austrians.
The great advantage of this whole undertaking, however, was that I had
a large studio on the ground fl oor of the Mozarteum and a harpsichord on
which to practice. Into my studio during the summers of 1933 and 1934 wan-
dered friends from all parts of Europe and America. When I arrived in the
morning I never knew with what unlikely combination of persons I might be
meeting for lunch. In the two summers that I spent in Salzburg, I performed
dozens of introductions, some leading to transitory but passionate love affairs,
some never progressing beyond instantaneous hostility, and others leading
to lifelong friendships. The combination of Italians and Germans was gen-
erally destined to be fatal, and it is my impression that the Italian always got
the upper hand without the German ever becoming aware of it. Italians and
French nearly always mixed well, and Hungarians were useful because they
spoke all languages. Combinations of Anglo-Saxons with other nationalities
were always unpredictable, but sometimes they produced the most astonish-
ing results. In those two years there fl oated through my studio such people
as Clifford and Lucille Curzon, Guglielmo Alberti, Erick Hawkins, Alberto
- I believe RK is referring to Erwin Bodky, Der Vortrag alter Klaviermusik (Berlin:
Max Hesses Verlag, 1932).
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