Hans Leygraf (7 September 1920 – 12 February 2011[1]) was a Swedish pianist, music educator, conductor and composer.
Life
Born in Stockholm, Leygraf studied piano with
Gottfrid Boon [
sv] in
Stockholm and
Anna Hirzel-Langenhan in Switzerland. He was one of Sweden's most internationally renowned musicians and also a famous educator. He taught at
Edsbergs musical institute outside Stockholm, in Darmstadt, Hanover, Berlin and Salzburg. In Salzburg he was professor of piano at the
Mozarteum between 1972 and 1990, [2] but continued until 2007 to give lessons for particularly talented students. He gave concerts back in 2010 (80 years after his debut) and was probably best known for his interpretations of
Mozart and
Schubert.
As a composer, Leygraf was a member of
The Monday Group, but he stopped composing as early as the 1940s.
Leygrat died in Stockholm at the age of 90.
Recordings
Stenhammar Piano Concerto No. 2, Gothenburg Radio Orchestra / Sixten Eckerberg. Radiotjänst 1946
Blomdahl: Chamber Concerto. London Symphony Orchestra, Sixten Ehrling. DECCA 1965
Mozart: Piano Concerto K.414, Fantasia K.475, Sonata K.457. The Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra, Stig Westerberg. EMI 1976
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 2, Nationalmusei Chamber Orchestra, Claude Genetay. Polar 1980
Mozart: Piano Sonatas. SR Records vol. 1 1982, vol. 2 1984
Three Schubert Recitals. Caprice Records 1994
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: The Complete Piano Sonatas. dB Productions 2002
Claude Debussy: The Preludes. dB Productions 2006
Joseph Haydn: Piano Sonatas, The 1960 and 2007 recordings, 2CD. dB Productions 2008
Mozart: The Complete Piano Sonata Box. dB Productions Jan. 2006
Beethoven: Opus 111 A Tribute to Pianist Hans Leygraf (1920–2011). dB Productions Sep. 2011 (Beethoven op. 110, recorded 1973 & Beethoven op. 111, recorded 1980)