Emánuel Moór

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Emánuel Moór (February 19, 1863, Kecskemét, Hungary - October 20, 1931, Chardonne, Switzerland) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and inventor of musical instruments.

Moór studied in Prague, Vienna, and Budapest. Between 1885 and 1897 he toured Europe as a soloist and ventured as far afield as the United States. Besides five operas and eight symphonies his output also included: concertos for piano (4), violin (4), cello (2), viola, and harp; a triple concerto for violin, cello, and piano; chamber music; a requiem; and numerous lieder. His best-known invention was the Duplex-Coupler Grand Pianoforte, which consisted of two keyboards lying one above each other and allowed, by means of a tracking device, one hand to play a spread of two octaves [1]. The double keyboard pianoforte was promoted extensively in concerts throughout Europe and the United States by Moór's second wife, the British pianist Winifred Christie. The two also collaborated on a book of technical exercises for the instrument.