Horszowski, American pianist Lee Luvisi and his own father before graduating in 1964. Two years later, his
recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations earned him a Grammy award for most promising new classical
recording artist. In 1967, at the age of 19, he made his grand-scale New York debut, performing Beethoven’s
notoriously difficult Diabelli Variations at Philharmonic Hall.
He angered some members of the music establishment with his modern attire and unconventional music
selections before gaining widespread recognition as a bridge between old and new musical traditions.
Through the Tashi Quartet, formed in 1973 and named for the Tibetan word for good fortune, he also
helped to bring younger audiences to the repertoire.
Serkin’s recitals often featured a mix of old and new, surveying hundreds of years of musical tradition in less
than 90 minutes. But he dismissed suggestions that he was trying to update old works, saying he aimed “to
project the up-to-date-ness that already exists in the music”.
Composers like Bach and Beethoven “were so infamous in their own day for being outlandish, outrageous”,
he continued. “That’s expressed in the music in a very healthy way. Like crazy sanity. Wild discipline. I try
to relate to these pieces now as part of our own lives, in a very personal way, with feeling and emotion, but
never with a concern that I want to show the listener how deep my feelings are.”
He was married twice, to Wendy Spinner and Regina Touhey, and is survived by five children.
Peter Serkin, musician, born 24 July 1947, died 1 February 2020
© Washington Post