Schnabel Music Foundation

Schnabel Music Foundation Schnabel Music Foundation celebrates and preserves the musical legacy of the entire Schnabel family.

Old Vic Theatre, London, 1934.Stefan and Artur Schnabel backstage.A few years later, Stefan moved to the United States, ...
06/02/2026

Old Vic Theatre, London, 1934.
Stefan and Artur Schnabel backstage.
A few years later, Stefan moved to the United States, where he built a career across theatre, radio, film, and television, and became one of the original members of Orson Welles’s Mercury Theatre repertory company.

A joyful afternoon at Villa Ginetta, Tremezzo — September 14, 1936.Therese Behr-Schnabel surrounded by family and friend...
05/28/2026

A joyful afternoon at Villa Ginetta, Tremezzo — September 14, 1936.

Therese Behr-Schnabel surrounded by family and friends, celebrating her birthday in the garden.

05/26/2026

Claude Mottier held a rare place within the Schnabel legacy.

Born in Zurich in 1972 and raised in the United States, he grew up close to a tradition that reached directly back to Artur Schnabel. Although he never formally studied with his grandfather, Karl Ulrich Schnabel, their encounters deeply shaped his musical thinking through conversations, artistic guidance, and reflections on expression and interpretation. Karl Ulrich also helped organize Claude’s musical education.

Music remained Claude’s greatest passion throughout his life. Alongside his studies, he took part in numerous music festivals, including the Aspen Music Festival and School in Colorado between 1993 and 1995, as well as festivals in Girona, Sion, Oderzo, Blonay, and Putney during the early 1990s.

His passion for music and his heritage inspired his parents, Ann and François Mottier, to share the Schnabel legacy with the world.

A quiet moment in Sharon, Massachusetts, 1944.Artur, Helen, and Ann Schnabel — a simple family scene, far from the conce...
05/21/2026

A quiet moment in Sharon, Massachusetts, 1944.

Artur, Helen, and Ann Schnabel — a simple family scene, far from the concert stage, yet full of presence and connection.

05/19/2026

When the Schnabel family came to Tremezzina

In this excerpt from the video created for the 2021 exhibition "Artur Schnabel and Family: A Musical Legacy in Tremezzina, Lake Como", we look back to 1932 — the year the Schnabel family’s story in Tremezzina began.

After visiting the area and falling immediately in love with it, Artur and Therese Schnabel chose Villa Ginetta as their summer residence from the following year onward. Soon, those summers became something truly remarkable: Artur, Therese, Karl Ulrich Schnabel, and violinist Simon Goldberg gave lessons to students who came from around the world.

In some years, the group grew to nearly forty people — musicians and singers filling Tremezzina with music, turning the village into a place where melody seemed to echo from every corner.

In the video, this story is told by Ann Mottier, daughter of Helen and Karl Ulrich Schnabel, and by Carlotta Schnabel, daughter of her cousin, Peter Schnabel.

Listen to the audio to discover how Lake Como became such a special part of the Schnabel family’s life.

05/13/2026

Therese Behr-Schnabel could not be recorded during the height of her career because recording equipment was not yet perfected, nor widely available. There are only a few recordings from 1904 where she sang a few lieder in a private circle. She nevertheless recorded a collection of lieder for His Master’s Voice in November of 1932, at age 56. Although her voice lacked the power of her youth, her ability to use it was undiminished

🎼 Erlkönig, D. 328 · Artur Schnabel
Schubert: Piano Works, Trout Quintet, Lieder

Claude Mottier with Karl Ulrich Schnabel, in 1986, 1987, and 1994These photographs preserve moments of closeness across ...
05/05/2026

Claude Mottier with Karl Ulrich Schnabel, in 1986, 1987, and 1994

These photographs preserve moments of closeness across the years — a tender record of the bond between grandfather and grandson.

Helen, Ann, and Karl Ulrich Schnabel at Lake Como, 1948.A quiet family moment by the lake.
04/30/2026

Helen, Ann, and Karl Ulrich Schnabel at Lake Como, 1948.
A quiet family moment by the lake.

04/28/2026

The Beauty of Proportion

What makes beauty in art? For Karl Ulrich Schnabel, the answer was clear: proportion.

In this mini master class from Con Brio, he reflects on one of the most important lessons he learned — the beauty of proportioning notes, bars, and voices so that music gains not only emotion, but also structure, balance, and integrity.

Whether horizontal, from one note to the next, or vertical, in the balance between voices, proportion gives shape to expression and transforms sound into beauty. As Schnabel suggests, this is true not only in music but in all art.

Listen to this excerpt to discover a remarkable insight into interpretation, balance, and artistic form.

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1515 Summer Street, Unit 705
Stamford, CT
06905

Telephone

+12039686988

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