Von Sauer

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Copyright
by
M aria Eugenia Tapia
1995
Angelica Morales von Sauer:
A n A ccount o f H er Perform ing and Teaching Career
A pproved by
Supervisory Com m ittee:
An Account o f Her Performing and Teaching Career
by
M aria Eugenia Tapia, B.M ., M.M .
Treatise
Presented to the Faculty o f the Graduate School o f
The University of Texas at Austin
in Partial Fulfillm ent
o f the Requirements
for the Degree o f
Doctor of M usical Arts
The University of Texas at Austin
May 1995
UMI Number: 9534702
Copyright 1995 by
Tapia, Maria Eugenia
All rights reserved.
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am indebted to Angelica M orales for the countless hours she spent
rem iniscing about her career; her willingness to cooperate with me made this study
possible. I would like to thank Dr. Karl M iller, Audio Visual Librarian of the Fine
Arts Library o f the University o f Texas at Austin, for making possible my initial
contact w ith M aestra M orales, and for providing my first encounter with her playing,
through a taped performance. I am also grateful to my sister Claudia Gabriela for
sharing with me her archival expertise during my research in M exico City.
I would like to express my appreciation to my advisor, Dr. Michael C. Tusa,
whose guidance has been extremely helpful. His complete dedication to his work
has been a true source o f inspiration, not only during my work on this treatise, but
throughout my doctoral studies. I am also very grateful to Professor Gregory Allen
for his support and keen editorial suggestions, and to Dr. Kirsten Belgum for her
insightful ideas on expanding this work into a full-fledged biography.
Finally, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my husband,
Fernando Torre, whose computer expertise facilitated my work tremendously. His
patience, loving encouragement, and sense o f humor have meant so much during my
musical studies in general and during the work on this treatise in particular.
The research for this treatise was partially funded by a grant from the
M exican Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes.
iv
An Account o f H er Performing and Teaching Career
Publication N o .___________________
M aria Eugenia Tapia, D.M .A

The University of Texas at Austin, 1995
Supervisors: Michael C. Tusa

Gregory D. Allen
This treatise is the first account o f the career o f M exican pianist Angelica
M orales von Sauer (b. 1911), who was a student of Egon Petri, Isidor Philipp,
Ricardo Vines, Josef Hofmann, Josef Lhevinne and Emil von Sauer. Apart from a
distinguished concert career in W estern Europe and M exico, Morales also taught at
the Akadem ie fur M usik und Darstellende Kunst in Vienna, at the University of
Kansas in Lawrence, and at the Conservatorio Nacional de M usica in M exico City.
This study draws on personal interviews and telephone conversations with Morales
von Sauer during the past three years. Her reminiscences were corroborated,
whenever possible, w ith the analysis of primary sources, namely professional
correspondence, concert and recital programs, and newspaper reviews. Though
m uch documentation was supplied by Morales, newspapers at the Benson Latin
Am erican Collection o f the University o f Texas at Austin, and documents at the
Archivo Histdrico de la Secretarfa de Educacidn Publica and the Archivo General de
la Nacidn in M exico City, also brought forth relevant information.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 1
CH APTER I: The Early Years (1911-1931) 6
CHAPTER II: The Years in Vienna (1931-1946) 35
CHAPTER III: M exico and the United States (1946- ) 46
CHAPTER IV : Pedagogical Career (1942-1985) 75
CHAPTER V: Conclusion 83
APPENDIX A : List o f Performances 89
APPEND IX B: Discography 99
BIBLIO GRA PH Y 101
VITA 105
vi
INTRODUCTION
Angelica M orales von Sauer is well known in M exico as one o f the country’s
leading pianists; however, a complete account o f her career has yet to appear. It was
this void that prompted me to write about her, so that people like m yself, who did not
have the opportunity to hear her in concert, can discover her extensive performing
career, which lasted over six decades. Even in Mexico, where many have had the
privilege o f witnessing her performances, misinformation seem s to prevail over
objective knowledge about her and her achievements. Therefore, it seems absolutely
necessary to give an account o f her accomplishments, and the purpose o f this treatise
is to do ju st that.
Although M orales did not achieve the worldwide success that Teresa Carreno
and Claudio Arrau did, she belongs, like them, to a breed o f Latin Am erican artists
who w ere educated abroad from a very early age, achieved as much recognition
abroad as in their native lands, and did not restrict their recital program s "to more
colorful, less intellectually demanding repertoire,"1 which is an often-made
assum ption about Latin American musicians. M orales’s program s were invariably
built around a large, "intellectual" work, and "more colorful, less intellectually
dem anding pieces o f repertoire" were only included to balance what otherwise
^'A s a pianist [Arrau] was somehow expected to devote him self to m ore colorful,
less intellectually demanding repertoire." In Jasper Parrott and V ladim ir Ashkenazy,
Bevond Frontiers (New York: Atheneum, 1985), p. 180.
2
would becom e programs entirely made out of big, serious works.
The m ain features o f M orales’s career are that she had a very extensive
repertoire, w hich kept growing until the end, a prodigious m emory -ev id e n t in her
program m ing o f the complete W ell-Tempered Clavier from the age o f 18—am azing
stamina, which was reflected in her hefty programs, and great power and strength.
Even as early as 1926, when she was only 15 years old, she had a large enough
repertoire to allow her to give five consecutive recitals without repeating any work.
Short biographical profiles about M orales m ay be found in various reference
sources, such as George Kehler’s The Piano in Concert.2 Esperanza Pulido’s La
M uier M exicana en la M usica.3 periodical articles such as The Musical Woman:
an International Perspective.4 and M aria Teresa Castrilldn’s "Angelica
M orales,"5 as well as in other varied sources, such as J. Bunker Clark’s M usic at
KU: a H istory o f the University of Kansas Music Departm ent.6 and Helia de
A costa’s Veinte M uieres.7 Most o f these writings, however, continue to propagate
2George Kehler, The Piano in Concert (Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1982),
pp. 870-872.
3Esperanza Pulido, La M ujer Mexicana en la M usica (Mexico: Ediciones de la
Revista Bellas Artes, 1958), pp. 112-113.
4Esperanza Pulido, "National Survey, M exico’s W omen Musicians: Outstanding
W omen Pianists," T he Musical Woman: An International Perspective 2 (1984-1985),
pp. 320-321.
5M aria Teresa Castrill6n, "Angelica Morales," Pauta (January 1990), pp. 56-58.
6J. Bunker Clark, M usic at KU: a History o f the University o f Kansas M usic
Departm ent (Lawrence, Kansas: Department o f M usic and Dance, University of
Kansas, c l 986), pp. 129-130.
7H elia de Acosta, Veinte Mujeres (Mexico, 1971), pp. 133-143.
previously disseminated incorrect information, and the ones that do contain accurate
data do not shed any new light on M orales or her career. She fails to appear in
David Dubai’s T he Art o f the Piano.8 and in W ilson Lyle’s Dictionary o f Pianists
she is only mentioned in passing in the entry on Emil von Sauer.9
Biographical data about her in concert programs and articles in M exican
newspapers and magazines vary significantly. In particular, her place o f birth is
mistakenly given as Aguascalientes or M exico City, and she is also thought to be a
Puerto Rican citizen. M orales herself may have given those places as her place o f
birth, in order to avoid confusion regarding her citizenship. Although she has only
lived in M exico for a very lim ited tim e since her childhood, she has retained her
M exican citizenship, and, in m any ways, she is closer to M exican culture than to any
other. Another issue that repeatedly is erroneously given is her age a t the tim e of
significant performances early in her career, e.g. the first time that she played the
entire W ell-Tem pered C lavier, her Carnegie Hall debut, etc. It is obvious that these
were attempts to portray her as younger, so that her achievements would seem all the
more remarkable.
This treatise is divided into four chapters, each o f which concentrates on a
particular period in M orales’s life. Chapter 1 deals with her musical studies in
M exico, Berlin, Paris, Philadelphia and New York. Chapter 2 describes her first
years o f concertizing in Europe until her return to Mexico at the end o f W orld W ar
8David Dubai. The Art o f the Piano ( London: I. B. Tauris & Co. Inc., 1990).
9W ilson Lyle. Dictionary o f Pianists (London: Hale, 1985), s.v. "Sauer, Emil von."
II. Chapter 3 examines her continuing performing career until the present time.
Chapter 4 considers her teaching at the Akademie fur M usik und Darstellende Kunst
in Vienna, Conservatorio Nacional de M usica and other institutions in M exico, and
at the University o f Kansas.
The point of departure for my research was my contact with Angelica
M orales herself. She agreed to cooperate with me, and invited me to visit her in
M arch 1992. I had the opportunity to examine her various scrapbooks, and to
conduct several interviews w ith her. I visited her again in M arch of 1993,1994 and
1995. Collecting m ore information each tim e allowed me to form a m ore coherent
picture. M orales was thoroughly open to discuss any issue concerning her career,
but she was not as forthcoming about personal issues. But I must acknowledge that
without her help I would have had no place to start. Although M orales’s scrapbooks
are quite complete, I have augmented her collection o f reviews by consulting a
num ber of newspapers o f the period.
M eanwhile, I also conducted research at the Archivo Histdrico de la
Secretaria de Educacidn Publica and at the Archivo General de la N ation in M exico
City. The first archive, the AHSEP, has an extensive file on M orales, since she was
the recipient o f a grant from the M exican Government for almost a decade. This file
gathers m any documents, including letters that her teachers, namely Egon Petri and
Em il von Sauer, wrote to appeal for the continuing support o f M orales by the
M exican authorities. R elevant information in the second archive, the AGN, was not
with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
5
neatly contained in one place. Documents w ere dispersed over various presidential
files, from Alvaro Obreg6n (1920-1924) to M iguel Alemdn (1946-1952).
Though the main purpose of this study is to give as accurate a chronicle as
possible of M orales’s performing career, her life raises a number o f issues o f
broader cultural and social relevance: the question o f identity of a young Mexican
artist living in Austria and performing throughout Europe; the problems of a female
perform er in the face o f strong gender prejudice in society in general and in the
world o f classical music; the problematic role o f the arts in Austria during the
turbulent era o f the 1930s and 1940s; the paradoxical relationship that Morales
seemed to have with her country o f citizenship, manifest in her reluctance to
establish herself there permanently and the am bivalent reception accorded her as a
"European" musician by her native land at a tim e o f strong national self-
consciousness; and the relationship of twentieth-century pianism to nineteenth-
century traditions. No pretense is made o f having explored these issues in any depth
here, but the reader will note the recurrence o f these them es as her life unfolds in the
following pages.
CHAPTER I
THE EARLY YEARS (1911-1931)
A ngelica M orales’s parents were musicians. H er mother, M aria Dolores
M artinez Vel&zquez, was a native o f the city o f Aguascalientes, the capital o f the
state with the same name in Mexico. M aria Dolores was one o f four children of
Soledad Veldzquez de M artinez and Jesus M artinez Arellano. The M artinez family
owned several "haciendas" in the state o f Aguascalientes, and was considered
wealthy. They were very strict and set very high standards for their children. After
some early signs that she was interested in playing the piano, M aria Dolores was
sent to M exico City to study with Carlos M eneses.10 Angelica’s father, Angel
Celestino M orales M arcano, was a native o f Gurabo, Puerto Rico, a very small town
southeast of San Juan, who studied violin at the M adrid Conservatory. Angel and
M aria Dolores m et when she was asked to accompany him in a recital in
Aguascalientes during a conceit tour he was doing throughout Mexico. During the
rehearsals they fell in love, but had to wait for a whole year to be married: that is
how long it took them to obtain Don Jesus’s blessing for their wedding. After the
wedding the young couple went to Puerto Rico, where Angel had some concert
engagements. Subsequently, he was engaged to play the violin in an orchestra in
10M exican pianist and conductor, (1863-1929). M eneses was the conductor o f the
National Conservatory Orchestra from 1902 to 1915, and was responsible for
prem iering in M exico m ajor works o f the nineteenth century.
the New York City area, but he insisted that they return to his native land for the
birth o f their first bom , because he wanted his parents to be present for the occasion.
Thus, A ngelica Euterpe was bom on January 22,1911 in Gurabo, Puerto Rico. Her
m iddle name, Euterpe, was given to her after one o f the nine muses in Greek
religion, patron of tragedy and flute playing, and according to her this was a sign that
she was destined to become a musician from birth. W hen Angelica was only 8
m onths old and her m other was pregnant with her second child, the Moraleses went
to C uba where Angel w as to have a concert tour. At age 33, however, he died in the
city o f Cienfuegos, leaving his wife with a baby and an unborn daughter, Estela.
Immediately after the death o f her husband, Dolores went back to her native city
and to her parents. During the Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) the family suffered
a great deal: they had to flee Aguascalientes, because their property was confiscated.
D olores and her extended family then moved to M exico City. Because her father
and brother returned to Aguascalientes to try to rebuild what they had, Dolores
needed to contribute to the fam ily’s economy. She was able to help her family and
support her tw o daughters by playing the piano and teaching privately. One o f her
various musical activities was to play the piano at m ovie theatres during silent films:
she played as part o f a string and piano ensem ble.11
A ngelica showed much enthusiasm and talent for the piano very early in life,
and at the age o f six already knew she would become a concert pianist. When asked
n In giving her family background, I am relying entirely on Angelica M orales’s

recollections and unpublished memoirs.
8
about the earliest remembrances o f her playing, she sees herself playing the piano
and placing her dolls around her as if they were her public. She took her first piano
lessons from her m other, and later studied with M iguel Cortazar, a M exican
aristocrat. A fter only eight months o f study under him, she gave her first public
recital at the Escuela Nacional Preparatoria in M exico City on January 26,1921.
The program included Beethoven’s Sonata in G m ajor, Op. 49, No. 2, Schum ann’s
Arabesque. Op. 18, Chopin’s W altz in C-sharp minor, Op. 64, No. 2 and Nocturne in
B major, Op. 62, No. 1, and other shorter works by J.S. Bach, Handel, Liadoff,
Schubert, and Cortazar. This performance w as given enthusiastic reviews by the
press. In a newspaper review that appeared following this performance, the critic —
using the pseudonym Judex—predicted for her an auspicious future, and commended
her teacher for his efforts in leading Angelica on the right path. He further described
her performance:
[Angelica Morales] has an excellent memory; her use o f the pedals is

admirable, and her piano sound is very rich in color; . . . she has a lot o f
pow er, and knows very well how to bring out a melodic turn. Additionally,
w e heard from her some trills that m any so-called pianists would love to be
able to accomplish. But what caught our attention the most, was the intuition
that she exhibited, and her ability to imitate. W hoever has seen and heard her
teacher will find in Angelica an exact replica.12
T he music firm W agner y Levien w as responsible for bringing world-class
virtuosos to M exico, such as Paderewski, Carreiio, Kreisler, Friedheim, and
Hofm ann,13 and during April 1921 it brought Joseph Lhevinne, who gave six
1U n id e n tifie d newspaper, [1921], in M orales’s scrapbooks.
R eprodu ced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
9
recitals in less than tw o weeks. Cortazar arranged for Angelica to play for Lhevinne,
and he spent over an hour listening to her. He was told of the precarious financial
situation o f the fam ily, and he offered to take Angelica to Chicago, where she would
be treated as part o f his family and he would teach her at no cost.14 Mrs. Morales
was very touched by this offer, but told him that she could not accept it. She knew
she could not endure separating from her daughter. Instead, she asked that he write a
letter to the M exican governm ent appealing for Angelica to receive a grant to study
abroad. Lhevinne graciously agreed to write it. Mrs. M orales was clearly
determined that A ngelica be given the opportunity to study in Europe. It is apparent
that they did not find the musical scene in Mexico in the least alluring.
During the first few decades o f this century music education and musical
research in M exico were advancing rather slowly. By 1921 there were several
institutions in M exico C ity that provided professional music instruction: the
Conservatorio N acional de M usica, founded in 1866, the Conservatorio Libre,
founded in 1917, and various private academies directed by competent musicians
who had been educated both at the Conservatorio Nacional and in Europe, such as
Carlos M eneses, Pedro Luis Ogazdn, and Carlos del C astillo.15 This was a tim e of
^ G lo ria Carmona, La M usica de M exico I. Historia 3. Perfodo de la Independencia

a la Revolucidn (1810-1910) (Mexico: Universidad Nacional Aut6noma de Mexico,
1984), pp. 160-162.
14Although Lhevinne lived in Kew Gardens, New York at the time, he spent the
summers in the 1920’s teaching at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago.
15Rubdn M. Cam pos, El Folklore v la M usica Mexicana (Mexico: Talleres Graficos
de laN acidn, 1928), p. 187.
10
instability, however, and the main institution - th e Conservatorio N acional- had not
yet found its own identity. The political uncertainty during the revolutionary years
was directly reflected in the conservatory, since it was and is a federal institution,
and its director was designated by politicians in high office; between 1907 and 1923
the conservatory had eleven directors. Many of them took tim e to visit Europe while
in office to study plans and programs o f various musical conservatories there, and
later try to adopt them in Mexico. Their critics asserted that these educators did not
try to analyze the M exican situation, but rather accepted anything that came from
Europe.16 Since the mid-19th century many serious musicians in M exico pursued
studies in Europe - m o s t o f them sponsored by the governm ent- and came back to
their native country to teach and perform: pianists Antonio Gomezanda, Salvador
Ordonez, and Esperanza Cruz are but ju st a few examples o f this trend. Foreign
study was clearly a highly desirable asset, and success abroad meant immediate
recognition at home.
M rs. M orales had originally approached the government of Puerto Rico, the
country where A ngelica was bom , but when she was told that it was only interested
in financing studies in the sciences, she decided to appeal to the Mexican
government.
She first w ent to Josd Vasconcelos, then minister of education, who listened
to A ngelica and was instantly taken by her ability and charm. From this time he
16Julio Estrada et al., La M usica de M exico. 1. Historia. 4. Periodo Nacionalista

(1910-1958) (M exico: Universidad Nacional Autdnoma de Mexico, 1984), p. 22.
11
becam e her steadfast supporter. Vasconcelos sought the advice o f Julian Carrillo, at
the tim e the director o f the Conservatorio Nacional de Musica, but Carrillo believed
that Angelica was much too young for such an endeavor. Vasconcelos, nevertheless,
decided that he was going to help her, and on June 1,1921 Angelica M orales was
awarded a "pension" to study in France by the Universidad Nacional. The next few
years her pension was awarded by the Secretana de Education Publica. In 1922
sixty-six students were granted pensions by the Universidad Nacional to study in the
U.S.A. or Canada, 5 in France, and 51 in various other European countries. At this
tim e Angelica M orales appears in the list o f students in France, but this is due to a
bureaucratic error: Paris had been her original destination, but she moved to Berlin
four weeks later, because she was advised by a M exican student then living in Paris
to go to Berlin instead. According to that young man, the most famous pianists o f
the day lived and taught there, and it would be the best possible environm ent for
Angelica. All o f the M exican students studying in France were living in Paris. Four
o f the five were specializing in music. One o f them received 60 pesos per m onth,
and two o f them received 50 pesos per month; Angelica Morales received 400 pesos
per month. Although the age o f the other students does not appear in the records at
the Archivo Histdrico de la Secretana de Educacidn Publica, it is most likely that
they were older than Angelica, and were studying abroad on their own. Thus, the
divergence in awards. Even in 1927, when Carlos Chdvez was awarded a grant o f
150 pesos per month for a year, Angelica M orales was receiving 600 pesos per
12
month. A t this tim e both o f them were living and studying in New York City.
From the records it is clear that the M inistry o f Public Education awarded
grants for study abroad on a regular basis. It is likely that people like Angelica, who
came to request a grant with a letter of recom m endation by Josef Lhevinne, had a
m uch easier tim e o f obtaining one. The recipients, however, were responsible for
providing quarterly reports on their program o f study, which were reviewed
annually. W hen the report was found satisfactory, the grant was renewed for the
following year. To this day the M inistry o f Public Education uses the same system.
D uring the month o f July 1921, M rs. M orales and her two daughters traveled
towards Veracruz, whence they would sail to Europe. Angdlica played in various
cities on her way there, among them Puebla, San Luis Potosf and Veracruz in order
to procure som e funds for their journey.17 She wanted to make herself known
outside o f M exico City before she departed for E urope.18
Upon arrival in Berlin, on August 18 o f the same year, Angelica played for
several leading teachers who taught at various music schools in Berlin, such as the
Stem and the Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatories (am ong them James Kwast,
the celebrated D utch pianist and teacher). Although she w as accepted as a student,
Mrs. M orales was not convinced that any o f these teachers fulfilled the high
expectations she had for Angelica’s mentor. Therefore, she decided she would seek
17She played at the auditorium o f the Cfrculo Espafiol in Puebla. Program, 7 [July
1921].
18Typewritten letter to governors o f M exican states, AGN, Grupo documental
Obregdn-Calles, file 604-M-7.
13
Ferruccio Busoni’s advice in this matter. According to A ngelica’s recollection,
som etim e in Septem ber a representative o f the M exican legation accompanied them
to see Busoni, despite the fact that they had been told that he did not accept any
visitors. They knocked at his door w ith m uch trepidation, and Gerda Busoni told
them abruptly that he could not receive anyone. M rs. M orales, however, pushed her
aside and walked into the apartment. A t first, Busoni was outraged at her audacity,
but after reading Lhevinne’s letter, and learning how much emphasis they placed on
his advice, he agreed to listen to Angelica. He was very impressed with her playing,
and told her that she should apply to the Hochschule fiir Musik, and that upon her
acceptance to the school, he would recom mend her to Egon Petri, who had just been
appointed professor o f piano at this institution, and whom he considered his most
notable piano student and heir.
Angelica presented her entrance audition to the Hochschule on October 4.
Because she was only 10 years old, an exception had to be made, and she was
accepted to this institution as a special student. She was excused from having to
follow the regular curriculum, and only took piano, harm ony, and rhythmic
gymnastics. Egon Petri taught Angelica twice a week: one lesson at the school, and
another at his house. For the first six months Mrs. M orales also took lessons from
Petri. H e wanted her to know how he worked so that she would be able to supervise
Angelica’s practice.
From the beginning o f her studies with Petri, Angelica undertook the study o f
Bach, and she owes her devotion and affinity for this com poser to Petri. At first, she
studied all the inventions, then all the sinfonias, in preparation for the Well-
Tem pered Clavier. She was able to study the first volum e of the W ell-Tempered
C lavier in its entirety with Petri. The second volume she studied under the
supervision o f Josef Lhevinne years later. She played both volumes o f the Well-
Tem pered Clavier for the first time in M exico City when she was only eighteen
years old. She performed it again in Vienna in 1936 at the Staatsakademie fur Musik
(now the Hochschule fur M usik und Darstellende Kunst) and performed it for the
last tim e in 1980, again in M exico City, just prior to her recording o f the same work
for Orion.
W hile they lived in Berlin Angelica and her family resided in family-run
pensions, which m ade their existence much easier than if they had rented an
apartment. Even Angelica’s sister, Estela, profited from Berlin’s rich musical
environm ent. For a few m onths she studied piano with M ichael von Zadora, who
w as also a student o f Busoni. Mrs. Morales was able to rent a Schiedm ayer piano
for Angelica, but this was precisely the reason that forced them to move fourteen
tim es during their 4 years in Berlin. Although their neighbors were thrilled to have
around such a gifted young pianist, they were not as tolerant o f the fact that Angelica
practiced at least four hours a day. It became a routine that the neighbors would
complain, and the M orales family would have to start looking for a new pension.
Apart from her school activities, Angelica was tutored at home in German
15
and French. Petri suggested that she also take some harmony lessons privately, and
recom mended Kurt W eill as a tutor. Petri and Weill were friends, because they both
belonged to Busoni’s circle o f students. For about eight months Weill cam e to
A ngelica’s apartm ent once a week for an hour, and she candidly acknowledges that
these lessons did not arouse her interest. At the end o f her first school year
A ngelica was selected to perform M ozart’s Piano Concerto in A Major, K. 488, in a
recital o f Petri students on July 15,1922. Petri him self accompanied her at the
piano.
As early as a year after arriving in Berlin Mrs. Morales was already
contem plating the idea that A ngelica should play for other pianists. In a letter to
Jose Vasconcelos dated August 11,1922, she wrote "I think that it would be very
useful if A ngelica could receive advice from as many distinguished musicians as
possible," and she suggested Emil Sauer as someone from whom Angelica could
benefit enormously. They had attended several performances o f Sauer in Berlin, and
had been most im pressed with his playing. But Dolores did not want to offend Petri
by going to som eone else, so she asked that Jose Vasconcelos send a letter in which
the M exican Governm ent suggested that Angelica should play for as many
distinguished professors as possible, so that she might be able to broaden her musical
experience. It is clear, however, that Dolores did not wait for the letter from
M exico before approaching Sauer. The response from the government dates from
January 8 ,1 9 2 3 ; but in a letter dated O ctober 1,1922 Sauer already attests to
A ngelica’s "prom inent talent for music . . . and endowed with exceptional qualities,
she seem s to have been bom to play the piano." He continued "during part o f 1922,
in which 1 have supervised her studies, she has made such outstanding progress, that
I can predict, in m ost probability, that she w ill have a brilliant future." From 1922
until 1925 Angelica spent her summ er and Christm as vacations in Dresden with the
Sauer family. She not only benefited from her piano lessons: she was also able to
listen to Sauer practicing, and was thus acquainted with a very large repertoire from
a very early age.
T he same initiative and vision that m ade Mrs. Morales go to Busoni, and
later to Sauer, m ade her arrange a meeting for Angelica to play for Eugene D ’Albert
at the Bechstein Hall on M arch 22,1922. Angelica played for him B ach’s Italian
Concerto. M oscheles’ Etude in E-flat minor, Op. 70, No. 8, and Liszt’s Consolation
No. 6. H e liked her playing enough to arrange another meeting so that his wife
G ilda could also hear her. On this occasion D ’Albert wrote:
I attest here that I heard little A ngelica Morales play, and that she is
extrem ely talented. W ith the right guidance she will undoubtedly become an
excellent pianist. I believe that under the supervision o f Egon Petri she has
found the right guidance, and it would be best for her to continue her studies
w ith him .19
From various letters o f Petri and Sauer, which Angelica and her m other sent
to the Universidad Nacional, the agency that awarded the grant to Angelica, it is
19Autograph note written by D ’Albert in possession o f Angelica M orales von Sauer.
17
clear that she was m aking outstanding progress. Apart from her participation in
student recitals at the Hochschule, she was also taking part in other concerts. During
the late Sum m er o f 1922 she was asked to participate in a popular concert as part o f
the German-Spanish-South Am erican W eek in Dresden. For this occasion she
performed M ozart’s Concerto in A m ajor, K. 488 with orchestra. This was
Angelica’s first appearance with an orchestra. Antonio Gomezanda, who later
becam e professor and m entor o f M aria Teresa Rodriguez, also participated in this
Dresden performance.20
At the end o f the following school year Angelica performed Bach’s Italian
Concerto in a recital on July 11,1923; Petri commended her progress and attitude in
a letter o f October o f the same year. M ost probably at the urging o f Mrs. M orales,
Petri’s letter appealed to the M exican Government to allow Angelica to continue her
studies without the pressure o f giving public performances. He praised her
perform ance o f the Italian Concerto at his students’ recital:
. . . she has becom e mature in the playing o f Bach’s music, and her
performance o f the Italian Concerto at [one of] the school recitalfs] was an
outstanding achievem ent. . .21
O n Novem ber 9 ,1 9 2 4 she appeared in a concert of local talent in Berlin, at
which she was presented as the "13 year-old pianist from Mexico."22 She
20Antonio G om ezanda (1894-1961). Notable M exican pianist.

21M anuscript letter o f Egon Petri, 28 O ctober 1923, AHSEP, Depto. Administrativo,
Serie Pensiones, Caja 1632, Expediente Angelica Morales.
22Program given by Berlin Lokal-A nzeiger at the Philharmonie Hall.
perform ed two works by Liszt: Jeux d’Eau a la Ville d'E ste and the Rieoletto
paraphrase. Just over a m onth later, on December 12, she gave her first full solo
recital in Berlin at the Beethoven-Saal. Her program was: Bach-Liszt’s Organ
Prelude and Fugue in A minor; M ozart’s Sonata in A major, K. 331; Chopin’s
Sonata in B-flat minor, Op. 35; Busoni’s Album blatt: A lbeniz’s N avarra: Sauer’s
Spieluhr and W indesfliistem (Concert Etude No. 3), as well as the two Liszt pieces
performed on Novem ber 9. This program is no easy feat for a 13-year-old, but that
does not even begin to tell the story: ju st two days later she appeared with the Berlin
Philharmonic Orchestra, under conductor Richard Hagel, performing Mozart’s
Concerto in A major, K. 488, Sauer’s First Piano Concerto in E minor, and Liszt’s
Fantasia on Hungarian Folk Them es. This concert was arranged and sponsored by
the M exican legation in Berlin.
In a letter o f November 4 ,1 9 2 4 , a Mexican foreign minister in Berlin states
that before these performances Angelica had finished her studies at the Hochschule.
However, she appeared in a recital o f Petri students at the Hochschule dedicated to
Johann Sebastian Bach on February 27,1925. She performed two preludes and
fugues from W ell-Tempered Clavier. Book 1 (D-flat, and A-major) and the Organ
Prelude and Fugue in A m ajor transcribed for piano by Franz Liszt. Less than a
m onth before, on January 18, she had performed again in a concert o f local talent at
the Philharmonie. For this occasion she chose to play H um m el’s Rondo in E-flat,
Op. 11, a w altz by Chopin, and the Bohemian Polka by Sauer.
19
O n February 11,1925 Egon Petri wrote:
A ngelica is one o f my most talented pupils --perhaps the most talented. She
is extremely industrious, and through very hard work during the last few
years, she has made such progress, that in spite o f her few years, she has
already appeared in public w ith m uch success, and deserves to be called ’a
pianist.’ Her expression and style o f interpretation have something
w hich is so rare: true charm and the ability to captivate and persuade the
public. I predict for her a brilliant future.23
H e requested that her sponsor allow her to continue her studies in Europe for
at least tw o m ore years. But the early months o f 1925 marked the end o f their
form al association. Petri toured Russia extensively, and was to be gone from Berlin
for months. H e left an assistant to supervise his students in his absence, but Mrs.
M orales would not accept such an arrangement. Sauer was not available either,
since he was concertizing throughout Europe. Consequently, it was decided -
presum ably w ith Petri’s endorsement24-- that they should go to Paris, where the
m usical scene was ju st as rich as in Berlin, yet it had new things to offer Angelica:
she was to concentrate in the study o f "modem" music. The association between
A ngelica M orales and Petri, however, was a very long one, and lasted until his death
in 1962. He rem ained a mentor to her: when she needed pianistic advice, she sought
his opinion and guidance. Later in her life, during the 1950’s, she experienced some
23Spanish translation by the Mexican Legation o f letter o f Egon Petri, 11 February

1925, AH SEP, Depto. Administrative, Serie Pensiones, Caja 1632, Expediente
A ngelica M orales.
24It is not certain whether Petri indeed endorsed this move or not. Mrs. Morales
wrote that they had moved to Paris at the suggestion o f Petri. Letter o f Mrs. Morales
to M inister o f Education, AHSEP, Depto. Administrativo, Serie Pensiones, Caja
1632, Expediente Angelica Morales. However, M orales’ file at the AHSEP does not
include a letter o f Petri after February, 1925.
20
pain in h er hand, and she w ent to Petri for counsel.
In Paris Angelica studied with Ricardo Vines and Isidor Philipp. Vines was a
Spanish pianist living in Paris, who specialized in the music o f Debussy, Ravel,
Severac, de Falla, Albdniz, and Granados.25 Although Philipp was a professor at
the Paris Conservatoire, Angelica studied with him privately. She studied with both
pianists concurrently, since she and her m other felt that their teaching was very
contrasting, and com plem ented each other: Philipp concentrated on technical
exercises, for which he is best known today, while Vines was acknowledged as a
notable exponent o f French and Spanish music. Morales studied m ajor works of the
literature w ith Philipp, such as Chopin’s B-m inor Sonata; however, he did not
discuss m atters o f interpretation much. Instead, he concentrated the most on
stretching exercises. Looking back, she considers these the greatest benefit from his
teaching. H er hands are rather small, yet she has been able to play the most
dem anding works in the repertoire, and she believes Philipp’s exercises enabled her
to do it.
Although she studied with V ines for less than a year, Angelica learned a
great deal o f m usic w ith him : Ravel’s Sonatine and Jeux d ’Eau. de Falla’s
Andaluza and Noches en los Jardines de Espafia. Albdniz’s "El Puerto" and "Triana"
25Vines (1874-1943) was the dedicatee o f Ravel’s Menuet Antique and "Oiseaux
tristes" from M iroirs. Debussy’s "Poissons d ’or" from Images. Book II, and de
Falla’s N oches en los Jardines de Espana am ong other pieces. He prem iered many
works by Ravel and Debussy, and introduced m any Russian works to French
audiences, including M ussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, and Balakirev’s
Islam ev.
21
from Iberia, and N avarra Turina’s M ujeres Espafiolas Op. 17, and Manuel Infante’s
Gitanerias. am ong other works. Vines gave Angelica much encouragement, and she
feels indebted to him for having enlightened her in the poetry o f French music, and
the color and vitality o f Spanish music.
During 1926 Angelica made her debut in Paris at the Salle Gaveau. Her
program included the Bach-Liszt Prelude and Fugue in A minor, Chopin’s Sonata in
B minor, op. 35, and some French and Spanish pieces. The distinguished Mexican
com poser M anuel M. Ponce, w ho was at this time also studying in Paris, was present
at this performance, and he was very supportive of her.26
In O ctober o f 1925 Angelica requested travel expenses to return to M exico
with her family. H er pension had been renewed until the end o f that year, and she
w anted to go back when the pension lapsed. The M inistry of Public Education,
however, was unable to comply with her wishes at that tim e due to budgetary
constraints. It was not until January o f 1926 that she was given 1800 pesos to return
to Mexico.
A ngelica M orales arrived in M exico City in the first days o f May 1926, and
her first performance took place on May 20. Within tw o weeks she gave five recitals
and appeared as soloist with the National Conservatory Orchestra in M exico City,
playing the sam e works that she had performed with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1924
(M ozart, Sauer, and Liszt). T he recital of June 1 at the Sala W agner was devoted to
26This information was provided by M orales. No printed program has been found.
22
works by W .F. and J.S. Bach. These works were the only ones that Angelica
repeated in M exico City. The program o f M ay 20 is representative o f the other three
solo recitals: the W .F. Bach-Philipp Concerto for Organ, Chopin’s Sonata in B
minor, Op. 58, G ranados’s La M aia o el Ruisenor from G ovescas. de Falla’s
Andaluza. Albdniz’s N avarra R avel’s Jeux d ’Eau. and Liszt’s Tarantella: Venezia e
Napoli. The repertoire that she performed on the rest of her performances included:
M ozart’s Sonata in A major, K. 331, Schum ann’s Camaval. Op. 9, Brahm s’s Sonata
in F# minor, Op. 2, tw o sonatas by Scarlatti-Sauer, Rondo in E-flat by Hummel, La
Cathgdrale engloutie by Debussy, Albdniz’s Rondeiia Turina’s La Andaluza
Sentim ental Sauer’s M urmure du Vent and Bohemian Polka, and Liszt’s Rigoletto-
Paraphrase and Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6. Som e of the performances were
arranged by the M inistry o f Public Education to showcase the young pianist. All of
these performances were given m ost complim entary reviews in the newspaper
Excelsior. A t the recital o f July 7 at the Teatro Esperanza Iris she performed the
following works: B ach’s Italian Concerto. Schum ann’s Fantasy in C, Op. 17,
Chopin’s Etudes Op. 25, No. 5 and No. 11, W altz Op. 42, Nocturne in E-flat Major,
Op. 9, No. 2, and Polonaise in F # minor, Op. 44, and Liszt’s Sonetto del Petrarca
No. 47 and M azeppa. The public ovation after the group o f Chopin pieces was so
clamorous that Angelica added the Etude in F minor, Op. 25, No. 2. At the end o f
the recital she offered "Triana" by Albdniz. One o f the salient aspects o f Manuel
Casares M artinez’s commentary is how impressed he was with A ngelica’s ability for
23
bravura playing.
To finish [the recital] Angelica undertook the defying M azeppa . . the

composer has included in this etude all of the most difficult elements of
pianistic technique, and it is exceptional that such a young artist was able to
come forth triumphantly at such a high level, without ever decaying in power
and bravura. The Steinway roared as if it had been handled by a Titan. The
ovation exploded enthusiastically, and Angelica offered Triana, [ ...]
exhibiting her prodigious endurance. This work is abundant in technical
difficulties, which she arrogantly conquered, as if it had been one of the first
works in the program .27
In late July she gave two recitals in Guadalajara: these were repeats o f two of
her programs in M exico City. In an invitation to one of the recitals at a private piano
academy in Guadalajara in July, A ngelica is already referred as "the eminent
artist."28
President Plutarco Elias Calles attended the orchestral performance and at
least the first recital on May 20.29 He was very supportive o f Angelica, and as
early as May 22 he seems to have suggested that she should return to Europe to
continue her studies. Ang61ica and her m other met privately with President Calles
on August 3, and it was decided then that she would go back to Europe. At this
tim e, a pension o f six hundred pesos per month was awarded and paid directly by the
Office of the Presidency from October until the end of 1926. Starting in 1927 the
pension was paid by the M inistry o f Public Education.
27Excelsior (Mexico City), 9 July 1926.

28Invitation by M aria Guadalupe and Ram6n Serratos to a recital at the Sala de
Conciertos of the Academia Serratos, Guadalajara, Jalisco, 27 July 1926.
29From several letters and telegram s at AGN, Grupo documental Obregdn-Calles,
file 205-M-807.
24
In October 1926 the M orales family em barked back to Europe. All archival
docum ents show that Angelica was in Germany: some o f her correspondence was
sent to Ham burg, some to Berlin. But M orales asserts that she was in Paris at that
time. She maintains she did not return to Germany after 1925 to study, since both
Petri and Sauer were unavailable to teach her. She claim s to have studied with
Philipp again for the few m onths she was back in Paris. But on February 10, 1927
the M exican Consulate in Ham burg reported that A ngelica was going to New York
to continue her studies there.30 However, the fam ily’s actual destination was
Philadelphia rather than New York.
W hile in Paris the M orales family had become acquainted with Leopold
Godow sky. They had spotted him at a recital, and had undauntedly approached him.
After he listened to Angelica, he became very fond o f her, and began including her
(and her mother) at small gatherings at his house for his circle of friends and
colleagues. Angelica and her m other tried to persuade Godowsky to teach her, but
he did not want to teach anymore. He had previously taught in Berlin and in Vienna
until 1914.31 Ultimately Godowsky suggested that Angelica go to Josef Hofmann,
who w as then director of the Curtis Institute o f M usic in Philadelphia. Godowsky
w rote to Hofmann recom m ending Angelica, and Hofmann accepted her as his pupil.
30Letter from M inister o f Foreign Relations to M inister o f Public Education.

AHSEP, Depto. Administrativo, Serie Pensiones, Caja 1632, Expediente Angelica
M orales.
31Harold Schonberg, The Great Pianists (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987), p.
340.
25
As a student at the Curtis Institute o f M usic, Angelica received one lesson every
week, and had a grand piano at her disposal for practice.32 Among her fellow
students at Curtis were Shura Cherkassky, Abram Chasins and Jeanne Behrend. At
one time, and with only a few days notice, Hofmann asked Angelica to prepare
Sauer’s First Concerto to perform w ith the student orchestra at Curtis. Since she had
perform ed this work the previous year in Mexico, she was able to bring it back
quickly. In spite of the benefits Angelica received from him, there seemed to be a
m ajor disagreem ent between the M oraleses and Hofmann. He liked to teach his
students for a couple of years before presenting them in concert, but Angelica and
her m other had a different agenda. They had always been able to persuade
Angelica’s form er teachers whenever mother and daughter thought Angelica should
perform. And not only was Angelica convinced that Hofmann was not the right
teacher for her, but she also found Philadelphia’s musical atmosphere rather cold.
Thus, after scarcely a year o f studies at the famed musical institution, Angelica left
Philadelphia still searching for a teacher with whom she would feel completely
comfortable.
Angelica and her m other decided to contact Josef Lhevinne again. They had
heard that he was hurt when he realized she was studying with Hofmann in
Philadelphia. After all, Lhevinne had offered to teach Angelica six years before,
32During the 1927-1928 school year Hofmann had thirteen students at the Curtis
Institute. N ine o f them, including M orales, had a weekly lesson. The other four
students received a lesson every other week. University of M aryland/International
Piano Archives, Josef Hofmann Collection.
26
when they first m et in M exico City. Fortunately, Josef and Rosina Lhevinne were
still interested in helping her. W ith much excitem ent Angelica and her family
moved to New York early i n i 928. She was lodged at a small convent, where other
students lived; it was a very suitable arrangement for a young woman, and most
economical. O ther students of Lhevinne at the time included Lillian Steuber, Sascha
Gorodnitzky, and Adele Marcus.
Lhevinne spent the sum m er o f 1928 in Chicago, teaching at the American
Conservatory o f M usic, and Angelica followed him there. From Chicago she wrote
a letter to President Calles requesting that the M exican Government sponsor her
recital debut in New York. Once again, her request was approved, and she gave a
recital in Carnegie Hall on February 20,1929.
H er Carnegie Hall program was:
Prelude and Fugue in B-flat minor Bach

from The W ell-Tempered Clavier, Book I
II
Sonata Op. 106, "Hammerklavier" Beethoven
III
Nocturne in C minor, Op. 48, No. 1 Chopin

Three Preludes
Etude
Toccata (Study, first version, based on Chopi n-Godowsky
Etude Op. 10, No. 7)
27
IV
Jeux d’Eau Ravel

Kaleidoscope Josef Hofmann
from Characterskizzen, Op. 40
La M aja y el Ruisefior Granados
from Goyescas
Rhapsodie Espagnole Liszt
She received very favorable reviews. Even her form er teacher Josef
Hofmann did not seem offended that Angelica had gone to the Lhevinnes. He sent a
telegram wishing her success for this important event.33 On February 21, the
following comm entary appeared in The New York Tim es: "To the instant
comparison o f ‘a new C arreno’ she brought considerable gifts o f power, with a
perhaps rarer youthful grace o f elastic rhythm, flexible phrase, changing tone-color
and vividly imaginative reading o f her music as a living force."34 On the same
day, The Evening W orld wrote:
The newcom er was not long in disclosing a flow o f fingers as smooth as

finest oil, a tone bewitching in glow and roundness and which lost no whit of
its beauty when subjected to pressure, and a pace which, however brilliant its
speed, never appeared other than unhurried. Certain extravagances o f the
latin tem peram ent were expected and condoned in advance - b u t they failed
to make appearance. M iss Morales, as she proved when the moment came,
possesses energy and flame o f that stampeding sort known as "brio." Mostly
she preferred to restrain them under the sway o f a reticence and poise to be
envied by not a few o f her sisters in colder climes . . . Later came numbers by
Ravel, Hofm ann, Granados and Liszt, concluding one of the most significant
and pleasuring revelations o f the season.35
33Telegram o f Hofmann to M orales, 20 February 1929.

34"Angelica M orales, Discovered by Lhevinne, Makes Good Impression" The New
York Tim es. 21 February 1929.
35The Evening W orld (New York), 21 February 1929.
28
Although A ngelica was barely eighteen years o f age, this review is very
characteristic o f som e she received in later years. The words "reticence" and
"poise," although not necessarily literally used, are qualities with which she was
often associated.
A fter her successful Carnegie Hall recital, Ang61ica was engaged to perform
in Europe in April 1929 at Aeolian Hall in London, at the Zaal Pulchri in The Hague,
and at the Singakadem ie in Berlin. At these recitals she played her Carnegie Hall
program , with the exception o f the piece by Hofmann, which was omitted. Again,
the reviews o f these recitals were excellent, which a critique o f her London
perform ance shows:
M iss M orales . . . preceded the Hammerklavier only by a prelude and fugue

o f Bach, ju st to get the m easure o f the hall and o f her audience. The sonata
was her piece de resistance, and she proved her right to play it. But the
impression of her perform ance deepened with her reflective playing of the
wonderful slow m ovement, sustained with a certainty which showed her to be
more than a brilliant technician, and her control o f the stupendous three-part
fugue was admirable. She brought out the incisiveness of the subject and
made all its ram ifications clear without allowing it to become laborious, and,
above all, she m ade the hearer feel that he was in the presence o f a great piece
o f music, and not merely listening to a display o f piano playing. Afterwards
she added som e well-played Chopin and other things, but it was the
Ham m erklavier which assured us that here was a player o f distinction.36
On May 31, she sent a telegram to President Emilio Portes Gil requesting
travel expenses to return to M exico after her successful performances.37
36The Tirnes (London), 15 April 1929.

37Telegram at AGN, G rupo documental Portes Gil, file 1/942/826.
She returned to M exico in July, and gave four recitals at the Teatro Regis
between A ugust 8-18. These program s included some repertoire from her 1926
concerts, but she also added som e new works: the Bach-Busoni Chaconne in D,
Liszt’s Transcendental Etude No. 7, "Eroica" and Sonata in B minor, two Schubert-
Liszt song transcriptions, Balakirev’s Islamev. Franck’s Prelude. Chorale and Fugue.
and Tcherepnin’s 10 Bagatelles, Op. 5. The recital on August 18 was an all-Chopin
program ; the m ajor pieces were: Ballade in G minor, Op. 23, Impromptu in F#, Op.
36, Polonaise in E-flat m inor, Op. 26, No. 2, Fantasy in F minor. Op. 49, and Sonata
in B minor, Op. 58. The m iddle section o f the program comprised five etudes, two
o f them G odow sky’s arrangem ents o f Chopin’s Etude Op. 10, No. 7.
The following m onth Angelica embarked on a complete performance of
B ach’s W ell-Tem pered Clavier in four evenings, September 7 ,9 ,1 0 and 13. This
event was not as throughly covered by Excelsior as some o f her previous recitals:
only the recital o f Septem ber 9 was publicized beforehand. Apart from 12 preludes
and fugues from Volum e I, she performed the Bach-Busoni Chrom atic Fantasy and
Fugue on this program .38 Tw o days after the last Bach recital, on Septem ber 15,
Angelica appeared as the soloist o f the Orquesta Sinfdnica de M exico under the
direction o f Carlos Chdvez in a special concert. She performed Chopin’s F-minor
Concerto and L iszt’s E-flat Concerto. M anuel Casares commented on the
38Since no printed program s have yet been found, and the newspaper articles make
no reference to the particular works performed on each recital, except for the one on
Septem ber 9, it m ay be inferred that each recital included another work o f Bach apart
from the corresponding 12 preludes and fugues. See Excelsior (Mexico City) 9 and
15 Septem ber 1929.
with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
30
performance o f the Chopin Concerto:
Angelica revealed herself as a faithful interpreter o f the poet o f the piano.

W ith her exquisite touch and technical flexibility, with a deep beauty and
Romantic tem peram ent, the soloist w as able to appropriately express
Chopin’s poetry, which fits perfectly the radiant and enchanting youth o f the
attractive personality o f our p ian ist. . .39
O n October 6 ,1 9 2 9 Angelica performed Franck’s Symphonic Variations for
piano and orchestra and Sauer’s Concerto in E m inor with the Orquesta Sinfdnica del
Sindicato de Fildrmonicos del D.F., with Josd Rocabruna conducting, in a concert
billed as her farewell appearance. The review in El Universal was more a
description o f the works in the program than an account o f Angelica’s performance.
But the critic did not fail to com m ent on Angelica’s outstanding accomplishments
and prom ising future.40 It is truly remarkable that in less than two months
eighteen-year-old Angelica gave eight recitals, all o f them with different music, and
also appeared twice w ith orchestra, performing four different works.
In Decem ber Angelica was invited to play in Yucatdn by Jose Rubio Milan,
who w as a leading musical figure in the state. He and other music professors
sponsored her performances there.41 She gave three recitals in Merida; afterwards,
she and her m other had a serious talk. Mrs. M orales wanted Angelica to go back to
39M anuel Casares, "Crdnicas Musicales: Concierto Extraordinario de la Sinfdnica de

M exico — Brillante Colaboracidn de Angelica M orales," Excelsior (Mexico City), 18
Septem ber 1929.
40A lba Herrera y Ogazdn, "Crdnicas Musicales," El Universal (Mexico City), 7
October 1929.
41Angdlica Morales von Sauer, Unpublished M emoirs.
New York by herself, where her Carnegie Hall recital had been so successful, and
where she might still count on the support o f Josef and Rosina Lhevinne. Hitherto,
Mrs. M orales had accom panied Angelica everywhere, and this would be the first
opportunity for Angelica to be completely on her own. Mrs. Morales would go back
to M exico City to give piano lessons, in order to be able to help Angelica, if the need
arose. This was truly a m ajor change in Angelica’s life. Until then her long
absences from Mexico had been justified as the necessary years of foreign study for
a successful career. But if she had decided to settle in M exico in 1929, and teach
and perform there, it would have been m ost difficult to accomplish a truly
international career. The decision to return to New York shows the high
expectations that both A ngelica and her mother had for Angelica’s future.
Angelica took the m eager profits from her Yucatdn recitals, and some money
from her mother, and sailed to New York in a cargo steam er from Progreso,
V eracruz during the first days o f 1930. Her financial situation there was most
doubtful: this was the first tim e since she was 10 years old that she did not receive
her pension from the M exican Government. The Lhevinnes helped her by
organizing private concerts at the homes o f wealthy New York residents. She had
been in New York for ju st a few months, when Alexander Brailowsky suggested that
A ngelica m ight try to procure some concert dates in Spain. They had met in M exico
w hile he was on tour there, and he had always shown interest in her career and had
been very kind towards her. Brailowsky told her to contact Ernesto de Quesada,
32
owner o f the conceit agency Daniel, and gave her a letter o f introduction to Quesada.
A ngelica eagerly wrote to Quesada, who answered promptly; he suggested that she
go to Spain, because he needed his artists to be already in Europe in order to arrange
a tour. W ith this in mind Angelica tried to acquire funds for her trip in various ways.
Apart from the private performances, she w as invited to play for the class of Rubin
Goldm ark at the Juilliard School. Goldm ark had heard from Lhevinne that Angelica
knew both volum es o f the W ell-Tempered Clavier from memory, but was doubtful
that she w as truly able to accom plish this formidable task. He decided to invite her
to one o f his classes, where he would ask her to play various preludes and fugues.
After she passed this test to his satisfaction, Goldmark recom mended her to a
foundation, w hich awarded her a loan o f $200 to be able to go to Spain.42
Before she left for Spain, Angelica went to Chicago again, where she
participated in a recital o f students o f Silvio Scionti and Jo sef Lhevinne at the
Am erican Conservatory of Music on July 30,1930. At this recital in Kimball Hall
she perform ed two pieces from her seasoned repertoire: H um m el’s Rondo in E-flat
and Liszt’s Spanish Rhapsody 43
W ith some additional funds from her mother, A ngelica sailed on the
"Marqu6s de Comillas." W hen she arrived in Barcelona the M exican consul,
M anuel G. Prieto, and his wife offered Angelica accomodations at their house,
42Ibid. M orales does not remember the name o f the foundation.

43Jack G uerry, Silvio Scionti: Rem embering a M aster Pianist and Teacher
(Denton: University o f North Texas Press, 1991), p. 50.
33
which she gladly accepted. During her stay in Barcelona she gave a recital at their
residence.44 She went to see Mr. Quesada at the Agencia Daniel, but was not
received at all cordially. M r. Quesada could not believe that she had taken his letter
so seriously. H e said that it would be nearly impossible to arrange a tour for her,
when there w ere so many other artists w ho were better known than she was.
A ngelica’s despair after this interview was enormous. In Barcelona, she happened to
find A lexander Brailowsky again, and told him o f the way she had been treated by
Quesada. Brailowsky, who was in Spain concertizing, was soon to be married; he
told Q uesada to give Angelica the rem ainder o f his concert dates, which he was not
going to be able to fulfill. This arrangement enabled Angelica to make the much
anticipated tour o f Spain: she gave ten recitals in provincial cities such as Bilbao,
Granada, and Toledo. After her concerts were over, she went back to Barcelona to
the Prieto’s hom e. A t that point, Angelica thought that she had no other choice but
to go back to M exico, to obtain a teaching position to support herself. After her
experience w ith Quesada she became aware o f how difficult it would be to procure
the engagem ents that would continue to lead her in her chosen path. She had not
seen her form er teacher Emil Sauer in over five years, and decided to contact him
before she left Europe. She sent a letter to his Dresden home, and he answered from
Badgastein, a spa resort two hours away from Salzburg, where he vacationed yearly.
In his letter Sauer invited her to visit him there, where he would still be for a few
weeks with his daughter Clara. Angelica was thrilled at the invitation. It was late
^ U n id en tified Spanish newspaper, 14 M arch 1931, in M orales’s scrapbooks.
34
summer in Barcelona, where it was extremely hot, and a trip to A ustria seemed an
enticing relief from the weather. She left m ost of her belongings in Barcelona,
thinking that she would stay in Badgastein only a couple o f weeks. A t this time,
Angelica was utterly unaware o f how her encounter with Sauer would change her
life.
CHAPTER II
TH E YEARS IN VIENNA (1931-1946)
Despite the fact that Morales had already performed in various important
m usical venues to critical acclaim, both in her native M exico and abroad, the early
1930s marked the actual beginning of her professional career. Hitherto, her musical
education had taken precedence over her performing career, because her mother, as
well as her M exican sponsors, were careful not to exploit her talent at an early age.
She was allowed to give only those performances that were essential to show her
achievements to the M exican public, and those that were deemed significant
m ilestones in her pianistic career. The fact that she could fully concentrate on her
studies for an entire decade allowed her to acquire a very large repertoire, which
continued to expand until the end of her career.
Having given recitals in New York, London, Berlin, The Hague and
throughout Spain --apart from numerous performances in M exico— so successfully,
M orales was eager to continue performing and establishing herself as a concert artist,
but she did not know how to go about it. For an up-and-coming artist procuring
engagem ents is not an easy task, and it is in this capacity that Sauer was such a
pivotal figure in M orales’s career.
A fter the long and tiring trip from Barcelona to Badgastein, M orales was
35
36
ecstatic to see her teacher again. Sauer listened to her pupil play all the repertoire
that she had learned since 1925, when she w ent to Paris. He w as very happy with
the w ay she had progressed, but did not agree with her plan to return to M exico. He
thought that M orales needed a sponsor to help her career take off, and he decided to
help her. In doing so Sauer was playing the role of her patron, emulating w hat
Hercules Brabazon had done for him when Sauer was a young pianist: Brabazon
sponsored Sauer’s first concert tour, giving him the opportunity to start his concert
career. Sauer would introduce M orales to the most important musical centers in
Germany by playing with her his own two-piano transcriptions o f four of Liszt’s
solo works: "Bdnddiction de D ieu dans la Solitude" and "Fundrailles" from
Harmonies poetiques et religieuses. "Les jeux d’eau a la villa d ’Este," from Annees
de pelerinaee. 3me Annde. and "St. Francis W alking on the W aves," from Two
Legends. Although these arrangements date from as early as 1906, Sauer had never
performed them publicly; nor had he appeared in a two-piano ensemble.45
Therefore, these performances awakened m uch interest. Through the W olff concert
agency, Sauer arranged recitals at the Beethovensaal in Berlin, at the Palmengarten
in D resden and at the Konzerthaus in V ienna in November 1931. M orales’s program
for these performances was:
Chaconne Bach-Busoni
Sonata in B minor, Op. 58 Chopin
45It should be mentioned that M orales always performed the first piano part from
memory, while Sauer used the music to play the second piano part.
37
Funfrailles Liszt
Les jeux d ’eau a la villa d ’Este
Benediction de Dieu dans la Solitude
St. Francois de Paule m archant sur les flots
(transcribed for two pianos by E. von Sauer)
w ith Emil von Sauer
L a M aja y el Ruisenor Granados
Dialogo (Im promptu) premiere Sauer

Franzdsisches Standchen
M eeresleuchten (Concert etude No. 7)
Consolation No. 3 Liszt

Spanish Rhapsody
A n added interest to these recitals was the premiere o f Dialogo (Im promptu)
by Sauer, which was dedicated to M orales and published in 1931 by B. Schott’s
Sohne.
M orales’s long-lasting support by various Mexican authorities caused a deep
rooted resentment within the musical comm unity in M exico. There was —and still
e x is ts - a belief that she was generously helped by the government to a degree that
no other M exican musician has enjoyed. In September o f 1932, it was erroneously
believed that M orales had been granted a life-long pension, and several young
M exican musicians approached M rs. M orales to appeal to her daughter to relinquish
her pension in favor o f younger m usicians who needed help much more than she
did.46 It is apparent that neither M orales nor her mother hesitated to request
^ L e tte r o f Dolores M artinez to Narciso Bassols, M inister o f Public Education, 8

October 1932. AHSEP, Depto. Adm inistrative, Serie Pensiones, Caja 1632,
38
support to the highest authorities whenever needed. But it is also clear that Morales
m ade the most o f it, and she was the first M exican m usician to enjoy a long-lasting
international career solely as a performer.
In 1931 Sauer and Morales decided that she should establish her residence in
Vienna, where Sauer was in charge o f an advanced piano class at the Akademie fur
M usik und Darstellende Kunst. As soon as she arrived from Badgastein with her
m entor, arrangements were made for M orales to live at the house o f Countess
Kinsky, who had been an opera singer under her maiden name M aria Renard. It is
unclear how long M orales lived at the Kinsky residence, but in all likelihood it was
not for any length o f time. M orales’s professional correspondence dating from at
least 1938 was sent to Starhemberggasse 4, which was Sauer’s place of residence.
She had spent tim e with Sauer’s family in Dresden during Christmas and summ er
vacations in the early 1920’s, when she was only a child, and she claims that already
by that early date Sauer’s marriage had long been broken. He was teaching and
living in Vienna, while the rest o f his fam ily lived in Dresden.
During her first few years in Vienna Morales continued to study with Sauer,
and obtain the benefit of his advice. Sauer’s main m usical qualities were:
faithfulness to the written score, elegance o f style, and beautiful sound. He would
often scold his protdgd when she took particularly fast tem pi, something he never
condoned. The concept o f tempo giusto was very important to him. According to
Expediente Angelica Morales.
39
M orales, his standards were very high, and he made no concessions. Even when one
of his daughters, Dolly, once contemplated a concert career.47 She studied with
Max Pauer at the Stuttgart Hochschule, but w as dissuaded by Sauer from pursuing a
performing career.
From 1931 until the end o f 1934 M orales continued to play recitals at which
Sauer joined her at a second piano to play his own transcriptions of Liszt’s pieces,
and occasionally other works.48 But, at the same time, she had started to make a
place for herself. On February 11,1934 she performed Chopin’s Piano Concerto in
F m inor with the Lamoreux Orchestra under the direction o f Albert W olff at the
Salle Gaveau in Paris.
In 1933 M orales entered the Liszt Competition in Budapest, where Sauer
served as a judge. She acknowledges that Sauer was hesitant to let her participate,
but since she had all of the required repertoire, she was adamant about competing.
Various contestants at this competition later achieved prominent careers, among
them, the winner Annie Fischer, Louis Kentner, Gyorgy Sdndor, and M oura
Lympany. The jury was m ade up o f distinguished personalities as well: Em o
Dohnanyi, chairman o f the jury, W ilhelm Backhaus, Alfredo Casella, Alfred Cortot,
Isidor Philipp and Donald Francis Tovey, among others. According to M orales, the
jury, consisting mainly o f Hungarians, favored the Hungarian competitors, which
47Sauer had nine children with his first wife Alice, four daughters and five sons.
480 n 3 February 1933 M orales gave a recital at the Casino de Monte Carlo. For
this program Sauer joined her for Busoni’s Duettino Concertante and Saint-Saens’s
Variations on a them e by Beethoven, Op. 33.
40
caused Sauer to resign from the jury and to pull Morales from the competition.
However, Gustav A link’s book International Piano Com petitions indicates that Sauer
only judged the first stage, and that M orales made it as far as the second stage.49 It
does not specify that M orales withdrew from the contest, even when it mentions that
other contestants did so.
Between 1935 and 1936 Morales performed with several orchestras: she
played Beethoven’s C-m inor Concerto with Adolf M ennerich and the Munich
Philharmonic in Decem ber 1935; she appeared in Vienna on February 10,1936 with
Felix W eingartner and the Budapest Philharmonic performing Liszt’s A Major
Concerto in an all-Liszt program in celebration of the League o f Hungary;50 on
M arch 8 ,1 9 3 6 she was the soloist in Beethoven’s C-m inor Concerto with the
Lam oreux Orchestra, under the direction o f Eugene Bigot; and later that month she
perform ed Liszt’s A -M ajor Concerto and Hungarian Fantasy in M erano, Italy in a
com m em orative concert o f the fiftieth anniversary o f Liszt’s death.51
A m em orable event occurred in April 1936, when M orales performed both
volum es o f B ach’s W ell-Tem pered Clavier in a series o f four recitals at Vienna’s
Akadem ie fur M usik und Darstellende Kunst. Although these recitals were mainly
attended by the students and professors o f that institution, the performances were
49Gustav A. Alink, International Piano Competitions, vol. 1: Gathering the Results:

an Introduction to Books 2 and 3 (The Hague: G.A. Alink, 1990), p. 58.
50The addendum to the program o f the W iener Konzerthausgesellschaft indicates
that M orales graciously agreed to substitute for ailing pianist Agathe Schober.
51This concert took place on 20 March 1936; Franz Liszt died on 31 July 1886.
41
reviewed in at least tw o newspapers. One reviewer called M orales "an inspired
priestess o f Bach."52 On April 15, the Neues W iener Tagblatt wrote:
M iss M orales sees in these preludes and fugues the zenith o f polyphonic
m usic for piano, and the clarity o f her playing allow s the activity and
w eaving o f the voices to be appreciated . . . Hans von Biilow once played in
V ienna the whole W ell-Tempered Clavier in several evenings. As the
applause did not stop at the end of the last concert, the pianist came back on
stage, and said with genuine Bulowian [Biilowschen] sarcasm: "If you do not
stop, I am ready to play the complete fugues once more for you." As we saw
it, had Miss M orales pronounced this threat, her enthusiastic public would
have been in no way deterred.53
In 1937 M orales performed in Poland several tim es, appearing with the
W arsaw Philharmonic in M arch and October and with the Poznan Symphony
Orchestra in early April. Later that month she performed in M unich with the
Rundfunkorchester and guest conductor A dolf M ennerich. During the following
years M orales’s career in Europe continued to flourish, and she continued to receive
praise from the critics. She performed regularly in Berlin, Dresden, and Munich,
but she also appeared on the stages o f Paris, Budapest, Graz, Strassburg, and
Brussels, am ong others. In October 1937 M orales recorded Beethoven’s Triple
Concerto with Ricardo Odnoposoff, violin, and Stefan Auber, cello, and the Vienna
Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Felix W eingartner.54
On Septem ber 13,1939, Morales and Emil von Sauer were married in
V ienna at the Paulaner Kirche. Although Sauer was Protestant, towards the end of
52C.L., Unidentified newspaper clip in M orales’s scrapbooks.

53E.D., Neues W iener Tagblatt. 15 April 1936.
54This recording was reissued by Pearl in 1989 under the num ber GEM M CD 9538.
his life he had developed an appreciation for the Catholic faith, and agreed to marry
in this church because M orales was Catholic. Their witnesses were Isidro Fabela
and his wife, Josefina Eichmann, and Mr. and M rs. Carl Hutterstrasser.55 Because
o f the age difference between Sauer and M orales, they had a very intimate
ceremony. From then on she started to use the name Angelica von Sauer M orales
professionally. Am ong her m ost important appearances as a soloist from this period,
she performed Beethoven’s G-major Concerto with the Dresden Philharmonic and
W illem M engelberg on M ay 8,1941. On September 21,1942 she performed
Chopin’s Concerto in F m inor with Hans Rosbaud conducting at the Theater der
Stadt in Strassburg. During the early 1940’s M orales was consistently active,
perform ing all over Central Europe. This was one o f the most active periods o f her
professional life.
Because M orales had been Sauer’s star pupil and protdgd since the early
1930s, the transition from protegd to wife was rather smooth. For years, long before
their wedding was celebrated, Morales had been Sauer’s regular companion. She
accom panied him to many social gatherings at aristocratic homes, and even went
w ith him to the International M usic Competition Eugene Ysaye (now the Queen
Elisabeth International Competition) in Brussels in 1938, where he was a judge.
A fter her recital in February 1937 M orales did not appear on a Vienna
55Isidro Fabela was a well-known Mexican intellectual and diplomat.

Hutterstrasser was the owner o f the Bosendorfer Co., which he acquired from
Ludwig Bosendorfer in 1909. Emil von Sauer maintained a friendly affiliation with
this firm throughout his life.
43
concert stage until 1940, when she gave two recitals at the Brahms-Saal in the
M usikverein, on February 1 and March 27, with two different programs. The press
received her reappearance enthusiastically:
The greatest, but also well-deserved, compliment that one can give Angelica
von Sauer M orales is the assertion that she can stand next to her husband in
all artistic concerns . . . [On her recital o f February 1,] her com plete empathy
into Bach’s spiritual world, which culminated in a crystal clear, fully-formed
rendering o f the Goldberg Variations, aroused general approval. Another
world opened up in Chopin’s B-flat m inor Sonata. This work . . . was
wonderfully played. Above all, the artist was successful in getting past the
difficulties o f the funeral march. The cantabile scene o f the trio was stated
without falsely-sentim ental phrasing, while the main section built up into a
serious, grave and yet heart-stirring sorrow.56
Follow ing a short illness, Emil von Sauer died in Vienna on April 27,1942,
ju st a few months before his eightieth birthday, leaving M orales a young widow with
two children: Julio and Franz. She continued to perform in Austria, Germany and
Poland until 1945, when the Red Cross --at the request o f the M exican G overnm ent-
helped her to leave Austria at the end of W orld W ar II.
After leaving Austria Morales stayed in Switzerland for a couple o f months,
where she met W ilhelm Backhaus.57 He introduced her to his impresario, W alter
Schulthess, w ho was able to arrange recitals for her in Zurich and Bern.58 On
56Hans Sachs, "Aus der Konzertsalen," Volkischer Beobachter (Vienna), 3

February 1940.
57M orales and Backhaus had met years before. She has an inscribed photograph o f
him that bears the dedication: "To my kind, esteemed colleague Angelica Morales in
rem embrance o f W arsaw, M arch 1937." On 7 March 1937 Morales had performed
L iszt’s Concerto in A m ajor with the Warsaw Philharmonic under Carlo Cammarota.
58W alter Schulthess (1894-1956). Swiss conductor, pianist, composer and concert
manager.
44
Decem ber 2 ,1 9 4 5 she performed the following program in Zurich:59
Capriccio on the departure o f his beloved brother Bach
15 Variations and a Fugue, Op. 35 Beethoven
Toccata, Op. 7 Schumann
Interm ezzo Op. 118, No. 6 Brahms
Scherzo from M idsum mer N ight’s Dream M endelssohn
Sonata in B minor Liszt

W altz Op. 18 Chopin
Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise Brillante
A review in the daily Die Tat had only praise for her performance:
Angelica von Sauer Morales is equipped with an excellent technique and

with not a less endowed memory. H er accuracy borders on the marvellous.
A t the beginning,. . . [in the works o f Bach and Beethoven], one still sensed
a certain ponderousness no m atter how much she tried to give these works
powerful life. However, this disappeared in the Toccata by Schumann, where
the artist delivered with an always intense v e rv e . . . But all expectations were
surpassed in Liszt’s Sonata in B minor. And at the end she proved to be a
Chopin perform er o f the highest caliber. Angelica von Sauer Morales
intentionally chose som e of the m ost difficult works. They stood out as an
exem plary combination o f technical brilliancy and polish and warm
m usicality.60
A nother review, but one which stressed different qualities in M orales’s
59This program has been extracted from the following newspaper articles: Die T at.
6 Decem ber 1945, T ages-Anzeiger fur Stadt und Kanton Zurich. 7 Decem ber 1945,
and Excelsior. 7 February 1946. It is likely that the Chopin group included a couple
o f other pieces, but none o f the above mentioned articles give the program in its
entirety, and no printed program has been found.
60P ie Tat (Zurich), 6 Decem ber 1945.
45
playing, appeared the following day:
Out o f languishing V ie n n a . . . A ngelica Morales von Sauer brings along

something that one does not find in every pianist: personal charm , musical
intelligence and a sense for large proportions. These qualities becam e first
evident when the perform er arrived at the Romantics. Bach’s Capriccio over
the departure of the beloved brother, which left nothing to be desired as far as
limpidity and contrapuntal clarity, lapsed at times through unnecessary tonal
hardness . . . in the scherzo from M endelssohn’s M idsum m em ight’s D ream ,
. . . the M exican who w as reared in the Viennese atmosphere gave such
exquisite polish, that it was spontaneously demanded as an encore. This
ghost had hardly vanished when the performer proceeded to the main
achievement o f the rich evening: Liszt’s symphonic Sonata in B minor, and
in doing so, brought forth a broad-m indedness o f the shape, a physical
energy, and an Appassionato that seizes both muscles and nerves, as one
could hardly believe o f fem inine artistry.61
During the intermission M orales was approached by a Zurich critic, who
was notorious for being very hard to please. He mentioned that she had played a
transcription --referring to M endelssohn’s Scherzo—but she was happy to have the
music with her, and showed him that it was M endelssohn’s own arrangem ent for
piano, not R achm aninoffs transcription. Today this work is performed only in
R achm aninoffs version, but both Angelica Morales and Emil von Sauer often
included M endelssohn’s version on their programs, and it becam e a signature piece
for both o f them.
61Tages-Anzeiger fur Stadt und Kanton Zurich. 7 December 1945.
CHAPTER III
M EXICO AND TH E UNITED STATES (1946- )
After an almost seventeen-year-absence from her native land, M orales
returned to M exico with an impressive resum6 o f performances on the most
im portant European stages. She arrived at the train station in M exico City on March
2 ,1 9 4 6 , where she was eagerly greeted by her m other and sister, m usic students and
representatives from various musical institutions, such as the Conservatorio
Nacional, Ateneo M usical M exicano, and the Centro Aguascalentense, from
Aguascalientes, her m other’s native state. At the tim e of her arrival she was asked if
she had returned to establish herself in M exico, and she plainly stated that she
thought she could be o f m ore use to her m otherland abroad.62 It seems that she had
barely had enough tim e to reacquaint herself with her new environm ent, when she
reintroduced herself to audiences in M exico City with a series o f three recitals
sponsored by the Asociacidn M usical Daniel on April 2 4 ,2 8 and M ay 3. The
success o f these recitals led Conciertos M exicanos to present her in an all-Chopin
program on May 22.63 The Asociacidn M usical Daniel and Conciertos Mexicanos,
A.C. were concert agencies that competed to bring internationally acclaimed
62Guadalupe Segura, "Llegd Angelica M orales," Excelsior (M exico City), 3 M arch

1946.
63Although no reviews were forthcoming in El Universal or Excelsior, short notices
appeared in El Universal. M ay, 1946, and Excelsior. 20 May 1946 attesting to her
success in the recitals o f 24 and 28 April and 3 May.
46
47
musicians to the city. Apparently, the M exican public could not get enough o f all-
Chopin programs at this time, since Witold M alcuzynski was also concertizing in
Mexico, and one o f the three recitals he presented at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in
the capital city was devoted to the music o f this composer.64
The months after her return to M exico becam e one o f the most active periods
in M orales’s career, with over thirty concerts in just a few months. Between April
and A ugust she performed extensively throughout her native land. Among the
highlights o f this period, she appeared as the soloist in Beethoven’s C-minor
Concerto with the Orquesta Sinfdnica Nacional under the direction o f Carlos Chdvez
on M ay 17 and 19 at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in M exico City. On July 12 she
performed Chopin’s F-minor Concerto with Higinio Ruvalcaba and the Orquesta
Sinf6nica de Puebla; and on July 31 she gave a recital at the Teatro M orelos in
Aguascalientes to commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of her recital debut in
1921.
M orales undoubtedly inherited from her m other a strong determination and
resourcefulness when it came to obtaining the support she needed. During her stays
in M exico M orales always arranged to have an audience with the current President
o f M exico. The purpose of these meetings varied significantly: sometimes she
wanted the government to sponsor a concert tour in South America or Europe; on
one occasion she wished to be given a perm anent teaching position at the National
^ S e e Excelsior (Mexico City), 9 M ay 1946.
48
Conservatory on her own terms; or she simply wanted the President to attend one of
her performances, taking the trouble to invite him personally, since she owed her
education to the generous grants o f the Mexican Government.
Novem ber and D ecem ber of 1946 took M orales to Europe again, where she
gave recitals in Zurich, Bern, Porto, Barcelona, M adrid, San Sebastian and Bilbao.
In Decem ber alone she performed on the 1 ,6 ,9 ,1 2 ,1 3 ,1 5 , and 17. Although she
included some o f her tours deforce, she also performed works new to her repertoire.
The program o f December 1 in Barcelona included the following works: Bach’s
Toccata in C minor, Schum ann’s Sonata in F-sharp minor, Op. 11, Chopin’s Bolero.
Nocturne in B Major, Op. 9, No. 3 and Andante Spianato and Grande Polonaise
Brillante. Op. 22, and L iszt’s Grandes fetudes de Paganini. This last work had
appeared for the first tim e in its entirety on her program o f May 10,1941 in Berlin.
M orales’s recital in Bern on Novem ber 10 was so enthusiastically received,
that she was offered an engagem ent with Am sterdam ’s Concertgebouw Orchestra at
the Interlaken Summer Festival 1947 in Switzerland. On August 3,1947 she
performed Chopin’s Concerto in F minor, Op. 21 under the direction o f Paul Kletzki.
The Fall o f 1947 was again a very active tim e for Morales. After a recital in
G uadalajara’s Teatro Degollado, she presented a series o f recitals at the Palacio de
Bellas Artes in Mexico City on October 2 2 ,2 5 and 28, followed by the now
customary all-Chopin recital on Novem ber 9. Am ong the new works presented in
the October recitals were Brahm s’s Variations and Fugue on a them e by Haendel,
Op. 24, Schubert’s M oments Musicaux. Op. 94, M endelssohn’s Rondo Capriccioso,
Op. 14, and Joseph Jongen’s Concert Etude, Op. 65. T he Chopin recital was
certainly one o f the most taxing she had programmed, com prising the Twenty-four
Preludes, Op. 28, Twelve Etudes Op. 10, and Twelve Etudes Op. 25. Because o f the
sheer length o f the program , this recital included two interm issions. W hen realizing
the close proxim ity o f these four performances, and the variety o f demanding
repertoire that was programmed, one begins to understand the breadth o f M orales’s
accom plishments.
D uring M arch and April 1948 M orales performed in Vienna five times: she
gave three recitals and appeared as concerto soloist on tw o occasions. One of them
occurred on April 11, when Hans Rosbaud and M orales collaborated in a
perform ance o f Sauer’s First Piano Concerto in E m inor at the GroBer
M usikvereinsaal. Later in 1948 M orales returned to M exico and gave a recital at the
Teatro Rex on Novem ber 24. The program included som e works new to her
repertoire: B eethoven’s Sonata in F minor, Op. 57, and Liszt’s Concert Etude "La
Leggierezza" and the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12.
The musical scene in M exico City during this tim e was very rich. Between
M arch and N ovem ber o f 1948 many pianists appeared on the stage of the Palacio de
Bellas Artes, am ong them, R udolf Serkin, R udolf Firkusny, Nikita Magaloff,
A lexander Borovsky, Claudio Arrau, and Rosita Renard. But other instrumentalists
and singers perform ed as well: Yehudi M enuhin, Jacques Thibaud, Gregor
50
Piatigorsky, A dolf Busch and Elisabeth Schumann. In general, they would give a
series o f recitals, and then appear as soloists with an orchestra, sometimes in three
different works on the same concert.65
A special comm ittee was formed in 1949, the Comitd Nacional Mexicano del
A no Chopin, in order to observe the 100th anniversary o f C hopin’s death. On
February 23, M orales appeared as the soloist of the O rquesta Sinfdnica de la
Universidad Nacional Autdnom a de Mdxico and Josd Rocabruna performing
C hopin’s Concerti in E-m inor and F-minor. Between the concerti she played the
Andante Soianato and Grande Polonaise B rillante. She w as also invited to give three
recitals on M ay 8 ,9 , and 13. She fell ill, however, and the last performance had to
be cancelled. Again, she chose programs o f enorm ous dimensions. The first
program included the four Ballades, Twelve Etudes Op. 10, Fantasy in F minor Op.
49, Impromptu in F-sharp, Op. 3 6 ,2 Nocturnes, 3 M azurkas, Grande Valse Brillante
in A-flat, Op. 34, No. 1, and Polonaise in A-flat, Op. 53. The second one consisted
o f the Polonaise-Fantaisie Op. 61, Rondo in E-flat, Op. 1 6 ,2 Nocturnes Op. 27,
Barcarolle Op. 60, Sonata in B-flat minor, Op. 35, Scherzos in B minor, Op. 20 and
in E M ajor, Op. 54, M azurkas Op. 33, No. 4, and Op. 24, No. 4, Variations
Brillantes, Op. 12 and Tw elve Etudes Op. 25. One can only w onder what the third
recital m ight have offered.
In O ctober o f 1950 M orales performed with the O rquesta Sinfdnica Nacional
and its music director Luis Herrera de la Fuente on two different occasions: on
6sSee Excelsior (M exico City), February 1948.
51
October 6 and 8 in a regular season concert performing Sauer’s First Piano Concerto
in E minor, and on October 20 in a special concert performing Schum ann’s Concerto
and Liszt’s Concerto in E-flat.
Under the pseudonym Junius, a critic wrote:
Angelica M orales was the soloist in the Concertos o f Schumann and Liszt (E
flat) appearing as a pianist o f distinction, playing with liveliness and vigor: it
is a great accom plishm ent to execute these two works consecutively. Her
style, acquired from her late husband Sauer, is perhaps different from the one
used nowadays. But in order to compare them we would have to appeal to a
criterion o f personal opinion . .
Although the w riter did not go into detail as to what he m eant by "her style," from
other reviews it m ay be im plied that Morales’s playing was powerful (perhaps even
heavy-handed at tim es), but that she was capable o f great dynam ic control and
contrast. B ut one recurring them e in many reviews from this tim e is M orales’s lack
o f sentimentality. On M arch 6 ,1 9 4 9 Esperanza Pulido wrote:
[Morales] dom inates the technique and knows the m ost intim ate secrets o f her
instrument. If one adds a just interpretation to the virtuosic display, there is
no valid "but," not even an objection that labels her as having a "cold
tem peram ent," if one is to understand cold tem peram ent as putting a brake on
overflowing passion.67
On M onday, Novem ber 6 ,1 9 5 0 Morales presented a benefit recital for
disadvantaged neighborhoods with some o f her seasoned works. It is shocking that
^ E x c e lsio r (M exico City), 22 October 1950.

67Esperanza Pulido, Novedades (M exico City), 6 M arch 1949, as reprinted in
Heterofonfa 62, (Sept-Oct 1978), p. 20.
52
in an article that Carlos Ch&vez finished a m onth later entitled "50 Anos de Mtisica
en M dxico," he writes on Morales:
Pianist A ngelica Morales came to establish herself in her native country after
Central Europe’s devastation, and since then she has given intermittent proof
o f a concert career68
This writing clearly shows the conspicuous hostility towards M orales already
m entioned above, because her concert activity can in no way be considered
"intermittent."
D uring the Fall o f 1952 M orales was performing in Europe again. She gave
several recital-recordings at different radio broadcast stations in Frankfurt, Bern and
Berlin. Alongside works from the standard repertoire, such as B eethoven’s Sonata
in F-sharp major, Op. 78, these programs included Joseph M arx’s Prelude and Fugue
from Sechs Klavierstticke.69
The highlight o f the season took place on Novem ber 9 ,1 9 5 2 , when Morales
perform ed de Falla’s Noches en los Jardines de Espafia with Dr. Gustav Koslik and
the Nordosterreichisches Tonkiinstlerorchester at the GroBer M usikvereinssaal in
Vienna.
M orales finished teaching the 1952-1953 school year at the Akademie fiir
M usik und Darstellende Kunst, and once more pursued the idea o f returning to
M exico. O n July 9 ,1 9 5 3 she wrote to President Adolfo R uiz Cortines, requesting an
^ C a rlo s Ch&vez, "50 Anos de M usica en M6xico," M exico en el Arte 10-11 (1951),
p. 201-238.
69Joseph M arx (1882-1964), Austrian pianist, teacher, com poser and music critic.
53
audience. She wanted to give the President a report on her concert activities, and to
express her wish to cooperate w ith the government.70 By this tim e M orales had
decided that she did not w ant to stay in Europe, and she felt that M exico was the
logical alternative. H er family lived there, and she believed she would be able to
procure a perm anent teaching position.71
Back in M exico City M orales performed Brahms’s Second Piano Concerto in
B-flat with Clemens Krauss and the O rquesta Sinfdnica N acional at the Palacio de
Bellas Artes on May 14 and 16, 1954. By her own account, the performance on
Friday night did not go very well, but the one on Sunday afternoon was very
successful, and she felt quite pleased with her own playing. A fter the concert she
went out to dine with som e friends, and when she went back hom e she was told that
M aestro Krauss had suffered a heart attack and died that afternoon. These two
concerts had been the first instance that she performed Brahm s’s B-flat Concerto in
public, and at that m om ent she decided that it would also be the last. She never
perform ed this w ork again.
B ut M orales continued to feel professionally isolated in her native land, and
when the University o f Kansas offered her a teaching position she gladly accepted it.
She joined the K.U. m usic faculty as a visiting associate professor o f piano in the
Fall o f 1955.72 She m ade her Lawrence debut on Novem ber 30 w ith some o f her
70Telegram to Adolfo Ruiz Cortines, 9 July 1950, AGN, G rupo documental Ruiz
Cortines, 111/2841.
71There are no more documents pertaining to Morales in the G rupo documental
R uiz Cortines. Presidential archives for the subsequent presidencies are sealed.
54
seasoned works. Although her appointment entailed a heavy teaching load, she
continued to concertize regularly. She was presented in a recital at the Hall o f the
Americas in W ashington, D.C. by the Mexican Am bassador and by the Am bassador
of M exico to the Organization o f American States on January 10,1956. Her
performance was summarized as: "Her interpretation was in the grand style, with a
sweep and clarity that one would expect from a m ajor pianist. She is a pianist o f
considerable pow er and technical prowess."73 Later that month she performed
M ozart’s Concerto No. 26 in D major, K. 537 with Luis H errera de la Fuente and the
Orquesta Sinfdnica Nacional at the Palacio de Bellas Artes. D uring 1956 she gave
tw o recitals in Puerto Rico, one in Ponce, and another in San Juan. In San Juan she
received an hom age from the Parliament and was given the keys to the city by the
m ayor Felisa Rincdn de Gautier.74
Colum bia Artist M anagem ent presented M orales at Town Hall on April 28,
1957. She had not played in New York since her 1929 Carnegie Hall debut, and the
press did not fail to mention her long absence:
Angelica M orales von Sauer, who made her Carnegie Hall debut in 1929 at
the age o f 17, returned yesterday afternoon to play a Town Hall recital o f
such comm anding m usicianship and brilliance that it m ade her listeners
wonder w here she had been all this tim e . . . She played a giant’s program . . .
None o f it was beyond her technical powers or her musical in s ig h t. . . One
was m oved by the delicacy o f her playing in Bach’s First Partita in B-flat. [In
the Hammerklavier] suddenly, was a different artist, a pianist w ith a
m asculine vigor o f m ind, a big technique, and, as the w ork progressed, a
72Lawrence Daily Journal (Kansas). 25 November 1955.
73Irving Lowens, The W ashington Star. January 1956.
74E1 M undo (San Juan), June 1956.
55
m agnificent sense o f architecture. Mme. von Sauer is welcomed back to

New York.75
This review was echoed in the New York Herald Tribune:
The recital o f Angelica M orales von S a u e r. . . left only one question in mind:
why have w e not heard this remarkable pianist long ago? As a seventeen
year-old she m ade a debut at Carnegie Hall (with the H am m erklavier Sonata,
no less). But in the long interim , we have been totally deprived o f her gifts.
M iss M orales von Sauer is a musician o f noble disposition. No style is alien
to her hand. Beethoven’s "Hammerklavier" Sonata, which she again
program m ed yesterday, spoke forth with the unearthly grandeur, particularly
in its adagio, that only an artist o f the first rank can a c h ie v e . . . Brahm s’s Op.
118, No. 6, Intermezzo was revealed with sensitive, personal insight and
com plete adherence to the composer’s intentions . . . In short it was an
astounding program . Let us hope that this pianist, having returned to the New
York concert stage, will reappear frequently.76
A review by G.W . in the June issue of the Musical Courier is equally
complimentary. It is noteworthy that Morales performed Beethoven’s Sonata Op.
106, as she had in 1929. But this is a piece very close to her heart, and she always
achieved great success whenever she performed it. Apart from the works already
mentioned in the reviews, the program also included Schum ann’s Toccata Op. 7,
M endelssohn’s Scherzo from M idsum m er Night’s Dream and Prokofiev’s Sonata
No. 7.
Still under the auspices o f Colum bia Artist M anagement she was the soloist
75Edward D ow nes, "Angelica M orales von Sauer, Long Absent, Shows

Com manding Piano M usicianship," The New York Times. 29 April 1957. M orales
turned eighteen on January 22 ,1 9 2 9 , almost a month before her Carnegie Hall
recital.
76L.T., "Pianist Heard at Town Hall," New York Herald Tribune. 29 April 1957.
56
in Beethoven’s G -m ajor Concerto with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and Thor
Johnson on February 21 and 22,1958. The roster o f soloists with this orchestra
during the 1957-1958 subscription series is an impressive one: Ernst von Dohnanyi,
Eugene Istomin, R udolf Serkin, Isaac Stem , Nathan Milstein and Byron Janis,
among others.
Eleanor Bell wrote after the first concert:
There is som ething old-fashioned and wonderful about the way Angelica
Morales von Sauer plays the piano. It brings to mind M yra Hess and
Guiomar Novaes . . . Refinement, quality, beauty o f tone and a certain
reasonableness were all apparent from the piano’s opening bars in
Beethoven’s Fourth Concerto yesterday . . . Mme. M orales does not employ a
big thundering tone to arrest your attention, but accomplishes this difficult
task by subtler m eans, and by a smooth and unobtrusive technique that, even
in the m ammoth cave that is our concert hall, enunciated each note with
crystal clarity.77
Louis John Johnen did not find M orales’s performance so satisfying:
Angelica Von Sauer M orales . . . gave us a distinctly feminine Beethoven

Piano Concerto No. 4 in G m inor [sic]. It was sensitively draw n but not vital
Beethoven.78
This last review is significant in that it contradicts many others in which
critics regularly singled out "masculine" qualities in M orales’s playing.
Just a month later, on M arch 21, she gave a recital at the prestigious series at
the Grace Rainey Rogers Auditorium o f the Metropolitan M useum o f Art. The
program ’s main works were Bach’s Toccata in C minor, Beethoven’s Sonata Op.
77Eleanor Bell, "Mme. M orales: A Pianist o f Quality," Cincinnati Post. 22 February

1958.
78Louis John Johnen, M usical Courier (April, 1958), p. 37.
57
111, and Brahm s’s Variations on a T h e m e b y Paganini, Op. 35.
M orales’s association w ith Columbia A rtist M anagem ent was not a happy
one. A fter the glow ing reviews o f her Town Hall recital, she expected her agent to
be able to procure m any engagem ents for her. H er personal agent was Andre
Mertens, whose clients were mainly singers. M orales felt that he was not doing
enough for her, because he did not have the connections; thus after less than two
years o f working together, M orales broke o ff her contract with Columbia.
On N ovem ber 9 ,1 9 5 8 M orales participated with the National Symphony
Orchestra o f M exico and Luis Herrera de la Fuente in a concert at Orchestra Hall in
Chicago. Again, she perform ed Beethoven’s Concerto in G major, and was
reviewed enthusiastically by the press;
M me. Sauer, a wom an o f noble beauty and dignity, gave an understanding,

beautifully executed performance o f the m onumental Beethoven Concerto
No. 4, that absorbed her listeners completely and established her as one o f the
worthy interpreters o f this master’s larger piano works.79
Realizing the need to give more concerts, M orales took a leave o f absence
from the University o f Kansas during the 1961-1962 academic year. Her first
concert o f the season took place at the Kursaal in Badgastein, when she performed
Chopin’s F-M inor Concerto and Liszt’s E-flat Concerto with the Kurorchester
Badgastein under Hans Schneider. Although this is not one o f Austria’s leading
orchestras, the list o f soloists for that season is quite impressive, including Alfred
79Dosha Dowdy and Rend Devries, Musical Courier (Decem ber 1958), p. 27.
58
Brendel, G eza Anda, Friedrich G ulda and Paul Badura-Skoda. Prof. Cornelius
Czam iaw ski wrote:
[M orales’s] enraptured temperament, paired with a most finely balanced

technique with Sauer’s imprint, predestines her specially to represent the
world o f Romantic p ia n ism . . . She demonstrated that the beauty of Chopin’s
m usic does not lie only in the technical bravura and evidenced it through her
m ature, spiritualized playing, particularly in the soulful middle m ovem ent. . .
M rs. Morales approaches the mighty concerto [Liszt’s E-flat] w ith power.
She stands above the score’s difficulties, masters the passage-work o f the
piano part, sings the adagio, and her bravura in the finale knows no limit.
Truly a great woman after a great pianist.80
On October 21 and 22 M orales collaborated w ith Hans Swarowsky and the
Tonkiinstlerorchester in a celebration o f the 150th anniversary o f Liszt’s birth, at
which she performed Liszt’s Totentanz for tw o full houses.81 The following
month, on Novem ber 29, she gave an all-Bach recital at the Staatliche Hochschule
fur M usik in M unich, as part o f the M unchener Bach-Tage 1961. H er program
included the English Suite in D m inor, four Preludes and Fugues from the Well-
Tem pered Clavier, the Capriccio on the Departure o f his Beloved Brother, the Partita
in G major, and the Italian Concerto.
D uring the first m onths o f 1962 M orales made recordings for radio stations in
Cologne and Saarbriicken,82 but her most m eaningful accomplishments o f the
season were her performances o f Sauer’s tw o Piano Concertos with the
80Bad G asteiner Badeblatt. 30 A ugust 1961.

81Handwritten note [by Jan Chiapusso], The University o f Kansas M orales’s
Archive. Chiapusso taught at the University o f Kansas from 1934 until 1960.
82Letter o f Benita Dietrich (W estdeutscher Rundfunk) to Morales, 15 M arch 1962.
59
Norddeutscher Rundfunkorchester in Hamburg, and the Osterreichischer
Rundfunkorchester in Vienna in April and M ay 1962, respectively. These concerts
celebrated the one-hundredth anniversary of Sauer’s birth a few months before his
actual birthday, and were recorded to be broadcast on the radio.83 Robert Heger
was the conductor. Morales had performed Sauer’s First Concerto in E minor
repeatedly, ever since her Berlin debut in 1924 at the age o f thirteen. The Second
Concerto in C minor, however, she had never played before.
The conceit on May 22 in Vienna was jointly sponsored by the Akademie fur
M usik und Darstellende Kunst and the Osterreichischer Rundfunk - Radio Wien, and
received several reviews. Although Sauer was bom in Hamburg, he resided in
Vienna for half o f his life; he taught in Vienna’s Akademie fiir M usik und
Darstellende Kunst from 1901 until his death, albeit with some interruptions, and the
Viennese proudly thought o f him as their own, referring to him as one of the last
"knights o f the piano."84 The program opened with Liszt’s symphonic poem
Prometheus followed by Sauer’s works: the two piano concerti and four of his Lieder
sung by M argareta Sjoestedt.85
The Neues Osterreich wrote:
Angelika Sauer-M orales played both very difficult concerti brilliantly, with a
83Emil Sauer was bom on 8 October 1862.

^ D a s Kleine Volksblatt (Vienna), 25 May 1962.
85Several reviews say that four Lieder were sung. Sauer’s only w ork for solo voice
and piano is Fiinf Lieder fur eine Singstimme m it Pianoforte Begleitung. so,
presumably, one w as omitted.
60
o ir
long line, full o f verve, and finely differentiated.
A review by Fritz Skorzeny reflects the admiration and reverence that the
Viennese critics had for Emil von Sauer:
Both works, propelled by Liszt and also a little by Tchaikovsky into an

attractive, personal statement, are alive, colorful and carefully created, and
were written for the great virtuosos. M rs. Sauer-M orales carries in her
infinite charm, based upon strength and spirited tem peram ent, and in the
varieties o f her touch as well as in technique, and above all in her
cosmopolitan serenity and elegance, which rises above the matter, the legacy
o f her husband and thereby the legacy o f Liszt; perhaps she is the last one to
do so. This art today already seems to us like a fairy-tale that has come to
life. One would welcome with pleasure the recently validated performer —
through an enthusiastic success-- once again as guest o f the M usikfreunde or
the [Vienna] Philharmonic, o f whom Sauer is an honorary member.87
Das Kleine Volksblatt and the W iener Zeitung also published accounts o f the concert
in Vienna, with praise for Morales’s effort.
M orales spent the summers o f 1964 and 1965 performing in Mexico. In 1964
she gave three recitals, including an all-Chopin program, and appeared as the soloist
o f the O rquesta Sinfdnica Nacional and the Orquesta Sinfdnica de Xalapa,
performing Brahm s’s Concerto in D M inor and Liszt’s Concerto in E-flat. On July
10, 1965 she was the soloist with the New Philharmonia Orchestra under Paul
Kletzki in Beethoven’s C-minor Concerto. This performance was followed by three
recitals at the Palacio de Bellas Artes, one o f which was an all-Beethoven program.
Some o f the new works on these programs were M ozart’s Sonata in A minor, K.
86"Zum G edachtnis Emil von Sauers," Neues Oesterreich (Vienna), 25 May 1962.
87Fritz Skorzeny, "Sie tragt das Erbe Liszts m it Anm ut weiter," Osterreichische
Neue Tapeszeitung (Vienna), 25 May 1962.
61
310, and Scriabin’s Sonata No. 4 in F-sharp 88
In Novem ber o f 1967 M orales perform ed again a t the Palacio de Bellas
Artes. She presented two particularly varied recitals that included several new works
to her repertoire: B ach’s Aria with Variations in the Italian Manner. H aydn’s
V ariations in F m inor, Schumann’s Forest Scenes. Op. 82, and one o f Stravinsky’s
Etudes from Op. 7. Jaim e O’Farrill touched upon the same idea that the critic Junius
had in 1950:89
She [Morales] lets one feel in the works that integrated her program s those
rare conditions o f intellect and em otion, modem feeling and ancient tradition
(the legacy o f her teacher Emil Sauer), which are the essence o f her own
style. And she weaves her melodies . . . so intricately, that several hearings
are necessary to discover the real content of her interpretations.90
W hile Junius had just qualified M orales’s style as different, O ’Farrill actually
seem ed to appreciate it more and was able to single out tw o aspects, modem feeling
and ancient tradition, that take us a step further in understanding her unique style.
The Sum m er Olympics took place in M exico in 1968, and a cultural program
88G eorge Kehler’s The Piano in Concert erroneously gives the program of 29 July
as: B ach’s Goldberg Variations, Bartok’s Suite Op. 14, Brahm s’s Sonata Op. 5,
Chopin’s Sonata Op. 35, and Debussy’s L ’isle joveuse. The program on that day
was: B ach’s English Suite in D minor, M ozart’s Sonata K. 310, Schum ann’s
Sym phonic Etudes, Villa-Lobos’s Suite Prole do Bebe and Scriabin’s Fourth Sonata.
It is true that M orales’s programs were massive, but the program Kehler gives on that
particular day is excessively long. Information obtained from Excelsior. 29 July and
1, 3 and 7 August 1965.
89See p. 51.
90Jaim e O ’Farrill, "Musica: Angelica M orales," El Universal (M exico City), 3
D ecem ber 1967.
62
w as organized to go along w ith the games, the Program a Cultural de la XIX
Olimpiada. M orales was invited to perform Schum ann’s Piano Concerto with the
Orquesta Sinfdnica Nacional and guest conductor Dean Dixon.
U nder the m anagem ent of Ibbs &Tillett, M orales gave a recital at Wigmore
Hall in London on February 4,1 9 6 9 . Not surprisingly, her program included Bach’s
Partita in B-flat and Beethoven’s Hammerklavier Sonata, but it also contained
Brahm s’s Paganini Variations, Book 2, Prokofiev’s Sonata No. 7, and shorter works
by Debussy and Julian Carrillo.91 Joan Chissell wrote about M orales’s style, again
relating it to that o f Sauer:
Last night at W igm ore Hall, the great name o f Em il von Sauer was evoked by
his M exican-born widow, Angelica M orales von Sauer, who gave one of the
longest solo recitals ever known in this hall - o v e r tw o hours o f i t - without
the slightest strain. Emil von Sauer was renowned for a style inclining
tow ards "relaxed tem pos and exactitude o f detail rather than explosive bursts
o f tem peram ent."92 This Mme von Sauer would seem to have inherited: it
was sim ultaneously the source o f her limitless stam ina and the explanation of
her lim itations as an interpreter. W hile it would be difficult to overpraise her
mellow, disciplined, respectful musicianship in unfolding every argument,
her playing was rarely inflam m atory. . . Though in the H am m erklavier Mme.
von Sauer did not exactly portray Beethoven as storm ing either high heaven
or the rapidly evolving pianoforte (in so far as its dynam ic potential was
concerned), she showed an unerring sense o f proportion in recollecting
em otion in tra n q u ility . . . In Prokofiev’s seventh sonata, she excelled in the
slow m ovem ent’s lyrical nostalgia and in sim ilar episodes o f introspection in
the first m ovem ent.93
91JuliSn Carrillo (1876-1965). Mexican violinist and com poser who elaborated the
theory o f the "Sonido 13." This system o f composition involves the use o f intervals
sm aller than a semitone.
92Here Chissell is quoting Harold Schonberg, The Great Pianists (New York: Simon
& Schuster, 1967), p. 299. Schonberg was describing Sauer’s playing based on his
recordings o f Liszt’s concerti, recorded when he was seventy-seven.
93Joan Chissell, "Limitless Stamina," The Times (London), 4 February 1969.
63
A very sim ilar review appeared in The Daily Telegraph:
A program me [like the one given yesterday] might well be expected to daunt
even the most adventurous o f spirits. Angelica Morales von Sauer, however,
. . . never shows the slightest sign of being intimidated by so taxing an ordeal
. . . H er playing [displayed] clarity, a firm sense o f musical architecture, and a
strong alm ost lapidary quality. And yet, in spite o f its resilience and its
extrem ely positive character, it seemed to m iss at least something o f the
m usic’s essential individuality, rarely going on to explore in any depth its
changing moods and virtually inexhaustible variety of expression.94
In Septem ber 1969 Morales returned to Puerto Rico, where she had been so
enthusiastically received in 1956. She gave a recital at the Universidad de Puerto
Rico, which included Schumann’s Sonata in F-sharp minor, Brahm s’s Variations on
a theme by Paganini, and several works by Chopin.
The two hundredth anniversary o f Beethoven’s birth in 1970 was widely
celebrated in M exico as Aiio Beethoven 1770-1970. The Universidad Nacional
Autdnom a de Mdxico (UNAM) organized a series o f concerts and recitals, where the
music o f this composer was performed. Morales collaborated in this endeavor by
performing Beethoven’s C-minor Concerto with the Orquesta Sinfdnica Nacional
and Luis Herrera de la Fuente at the Palacio de Bellas Artes on October 9 and 11.
She also performed Beethoven’s Concerto in G m ajor with the Orquesta de la
Universidad and Eduardo M ata at the university’s Auditorio Justo Sierra on October
16, and at the Teatro Hidalgo on October 18. These performances were followed by
tw o recitals at the Auditorio de M edicina for a cycle entitled "Beethoven y su obra
94R.L.H. "Splendid Clarity in Daunting Programme," The Daily Telegraph

(London), 5 February 1969.
64
piamstica." This cycle consisted o f seven recitals devoted to Beethoven’s piano
music; the other pianists who participated were Claudio Arrau, Tamds Vdsdry, and
Jean-Paul Sevilla.95 M orales’s recital on December 2 comprised the Sonata Op.
106, Fifteen Variations and a Fugue, Op. 35, and the Sonata Op. 53. H er second
recital, on Decem ber 6, included the Sonatas Op. 109 and Op. 31, No. 2 and the
Thirty-three Variations on a W altz by Diabelli, Op. 120. H er performances were so
well received that she was recognized by the Uni6n M exicana de Cronistas de Teatro
y M usica on M arch 6 ,1 9 7 1 , which awarded her one o f the "Diplomas 1970" for
excellence in theatre and music. Other prominent people in the arts in M exico, such
as dancer and choreographer Gloria Contreras, pianist, teacher and music critic
Esperanza Pulido, choral conductor Jorge M edina and com poser Carlos G6m ez
Barrera, among others, were honored.96 Morales was unable to be present at the
ceremony, however, and her friend and colleague, pianist M aria Teresa Castrillon,
attended the event as her representative 97
A fter a seventeen-year absence from the Paris stage, Morales gave a recital at
the Salle Gaveau on February 24,1971. Her program included Bach’s Toccata in C
minor, Schubert’s Sonata in B-flat, Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations, Op. 120, and
shorter works by Chopin, Ravel and Liszt.
On June 7, 1972 Morales gave a recital at the Austrian Institute in London,
95See Excelsior (M exico City), 4 D ecember 1970.

96Invitation to awards ceremony, February, 1971.
97Excelsior (M exico City), 9 March 1971.
65
playing som e o f her favorite works by Bach-Petri, M endelssohn, and Liszt, including
Sauer’s C onceit Etude No. 18 Volubilitd. U nder the m anagement of W ilfrid van
W yck, she appeared at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on June 15. This program included
som e works from her recital at the Salle Gaveau, namely B ach’s Toccata in C minor
and Schubert’s Sonata in B-flat, but it also comprised Schum ann’s Symphonic
Etudes and other short works, including Benjamin Britten’s "Night" from his suite
Holiday D airy. Max Harrison seemed to be impressed with her quiet playing, but
did not believe that her dram atic playing created true excitem ent, echoing the review
o f Joan Chissell three years earlier:
Angelica M orales von Sauer’s demeanor at the keyboard is quiet, her inherent
m usicality and seemingly natural pianistic skill unassum ing, yet she reached
considerable heights in her recital. No performance has ever quite convinced
m e that J. S. Bach’s harpsichord toccatas are fully viable on the piano, but the
one in C m inor gained much from the way its virtuoso rhetoric was
understated last night. And the perfect clarity o f the tw o fugues was
adm irable, as was the manner in which the second rose to an effect o f slowly
accum ulated g ran d eu r. . . Considering her success in Schubert’s lyrical
pages, I think M iss von Sauer M orales could have chosen more wisely from
am ong Schum ann’s works . . . Here again, there was m uch fine playing, but it
usually occurred in the quieter passages; the m usic’s heroic gestures were
delivered with 61an, yet did not altogether ring true.98
In recognition o f her performing and teaching achievements, the
Oesterreichische Ehrenkreuz fur W issenschaft und Kunst was bestowed upon
Angelica M orales by the governm ent o f Austria in March o f 1 9 7 2 ."
98M ax Harrison, "Angelica von Saner [sic] M orales: Elizabeth Hall" The Times
(London), 16 June 1972.
" W iener Zeitung. 9 Septem ber 1973.
66
Personal reasons led M orales to take early retirem ent at the University of
Kansas in 1973. After a life o f total devotion to her career, she believed that her son
Franz needed her near him, and resolved to move to Stillwater, Oklahoma, where he
lived. H er eldest son, Julio, lived in Austria, in the vicinity o f Salzburg, having
stayed behind when she left Europe in 1945; thus, she considered Franz her closest
family. In Decem ber 1973 M orales performed Liszt’s Concerto in A major in
M exico City at the Palacio de Bellas Artes with the O rquesta Sinfdnica Nacional and
guest conductor Antoni R o s-M arb l
U nder the m anagement o f the Bureau de Concerts M arcel de Valmalete,
Paris, M orales appeared in a recital at the Seretean Center o f O klahom a State
U niversity in Stillw ater on February 7 ,1 9 7 5 , performing Beethoven’s Sonata Op.
111 and Balakirev’s Islamey. am ong other works. Although she has lived in
Stillw ater for over twenty years, this was to be the only perform ance she gave there.
A fter the sum m er spent at the Chautauqua Institution, M orales gave several recitals
in A rizona and Texas. At the University o f Arizona in Tucson, M orales gave a
benefit recital to create an Egon Petri M emorial Scholarship for the Pianists
Foundation o f America.
During 1976 and 1977 M orales performed twice at Benedictine College in
Atchison, Kansas, and on several occasions in M exico City. Am ong her
perform ances w ere two appearances with the Orquesta Sinfdnica Nacional,
perform ing Sauer’s First Concerto and Liszt’s Concerto in E-flat, and an all-
67
Beethoven recital at the Teatro de la Ciudad.
The Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes presented M orales in an all-Liszt
recital at the Palacio de Bellas Artes in May 1978. At this event she was given an
award —the "palmas de o ro " - by the Circulo Nacional de Periodistas de
Espectdculos. This recital was reported as an homage to M orales for her sixty years
o f international concert career and pedagogical w ork.100 H ow ever, that is
inaccurate, since M orales’s first recital took place in 1921, ju st before she left to
Europe to study.
In D ecem ber 1977 the H elen Foresman Spencer M useum of Art at the
University o f Kansas acquired a Bechstein piano used by Liszt during his visit to
England. This piano was given its inauguration on October 21, 1978, on the eve of
Liszt’s 177th birthday, in an all-Liszt recital by Angelica M orales von Sauer.101 The
program included "Funerailles" and "Benediction de Dieu dans la solitude" from
Harmonies poetiques et religieuses. "Apres une lecture du Dante, fantasia quasi
sonata" and "Sonetto 123 del Petrarca" from Anndes de Pelerinage. the
Transcendental Etude No. 9 "Ricordanza," and the Spanish Rhapsody. Arthur
Stewart, a DM A candidate in piano at the University o f Kansas at the tim e, and
student o f Sequeira Costa, wrote:
Those conversant w ith past performances o f her report that in those instances
her technical equipment was unquestionably more impressive. W hatever the
conclusion on this issue, one could hardly ignore the coherence o f her
100Esperanza Pulido, Heterofonfa 60 (May-June 1978), p. 42.
101J. Bunker Clark, "Liszt Piano at the University o f Kansas,” Journal o f the
American Liszt Society IV (1978), p. 52.
68
interpretive and conceptual formulations. Her style seems to rely, to a

rem arkable degree, on a certain ideal that has come to be associated with the
so-called "19th century style o f performance:" the prim acy o f personal
conception o f a work over obsession with details o f mechanical neatness and
textual fidelity. She tends towards slower tempos than we are accustomed to
and favors the legendary "big sound." This is not to say that Mme. von Sauer
is a sloppy pianist or a self-indulgent neophyte in her approach to the
com poser’s intentions. Q uite the contrary is true. H er conception o f each
work begins with a penetrating grasp o f the "idea" contained in each instance
and reaches maturity through a personal and highly individualistic
developm ent. . . To the degree that Mme. von Sauer delivers an artistry based
in her own highly personal conceptions o f the ideas involved she may,
perhaps, be considered a perpetuator o f 19th-century style. To the degree that
these conceptions are well-formed, coherent, and powerfully presented, she
may be considered, in the grandest sense, an artist.102
The following month, on Novem ber 19, Morales presented an all-Schubert
recital to comm emorate the 150th anniversary o f the composers’s death at the Sala
Nezahualcbyotl in M exico City. The program included Impromptus Op. 142 nos. 3
and 4, in B-flat and F minor, Sonata in B-flat major, Op. posthum ous, three Lieder
transcribed for piano by Liszt, and the Andantino Varid in B m inor Op. 84 for one
piano 4-hands, where Morales was assisted by Carlos Barajas.
In 1979 M orales was invited to participate in a series o f special concerts to
comm emorate the fiftieth anniversary o f the autonomy o f the UNAM . On April 20
and 22 she perform ed Schumann’s Concerto with the Orquesta Filarmdnica de la
UNAM and Arm ando Zayas.
On October 21 and 23 she performed M ozart’s Concerto in D minor, K. 466
102Arthur Stewart, "Bechstein and von Sauer: A Legacy that Lives," JALS IV
(1978), pp. 53-54.
69
with the Orquesta Filarm dnica de la Ciudad de Mdxico and Fernando Lozano. These
concerts received m uch attention, because Francisco Nunez’s Concierto para
Orquesta was premiered under the com poser’s baton. Eloisa R. de Baqueiro did not
care m uch for the new work, but found M orales’s performance of M ozart very
poetic, particularly in the second m ovem ent.103 Even weeks after these
performances, Eusebio Ruvalcaba was still writing about them:
H er enorm ous musicality becam e evident from the Allegro. The w hole
audience perceived it. She put her hands on the keyboard, and began to
caress the in stru m en t,. . . always limpid, clear, perfect. The Allegro
appeared, and -- as in every concert, in every recital-- Angelica appeared.
And w ith an enviable tranquility: it looked like a nine-year-old girl was
playing: com plete owner o f the stage. Angelica, being her own self, played a
rondo without rash haste, or rushing, w hich would only reflect artistic
immaturity. H er long, elegant phrases . . . shed even more light on this
beautiful concerto. In sum, Angelica M orales is now at her best. The
plurality o f em otions that she has experienced allow her to establish an
intense comm unication, unique, in a way that can only be achieved by a
goddess o f the piano.104
The fact that this review er referred to M orales as "Angelica" shows how -d e sp ite
having lived abroad m ost o f her life and the resentm ent that this seemed to c a u se -
she was still held in high esteem, at least by some. At this time she was sixty-eight
years old, and, in m ost instances, respectfully called Mme. von Sauer, particularly
abroad.
In 1980 M orales performed all-Bach program s throughout most o f the year,
103Elofsa R. de Baqueiro, "Todavia Falta Volumen de Auditorio Culto por la

Musica" El Nacional (M exico City), 26 October 1979.
104Eusebio Ruvalcaba, "Angelica M orales y M ozart" El Nacional (Mexico City), 18
Novem ber 1979.
70
perhaps to celebrate the 230th anniversary of the com poser’s death. Starting in
February she gave a recital in Tucson, presented by the Pianists Foundation o f
Am erica, at which she played Petri’s transcription o f B ach’s M inuet in G, the Partita
in B-flat, and the G oldberg Variations. In April she appeared in the exclusive
Festival Intem acional Cervantino in Guanajuato, M exico in the same program with
the addition o f the Chorale In D ir ist Freude. In June she gave a recital at the Sala
M anuel M. Ponce at the Palacio de Bellas Artes. But the most ambitious
undertaking occurred at the end o f August and beginning o f September when she
perform ed the W ell-Tem pered Clavier in its entirety, plus the works already
m entioned, in five evenings at the Pinacoteca Virreinal.
The following year, the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes funded M orales’s
recording o f the complete W ell-Tempered Clavier for Orion M aster Recordings, Inc.
The recording took place at Steinway Hall in Los Angeles, between July 13 and 21,
1981. The review bv Stoddard Lincoln in Stereo Review seems reminiscent of
earlier critiques:
Considering M orales von Sauer’s background (pupil o f the late Emil von
Sauer, who him self was a student o f Liszt), one would expect her to explore
the full possibilities o f the piano and to indulge in dynamics and tem pos of
the Rom antic period. N ot at all. H er playing here is neat and tidy, her
tem pos moderate, and h er dynamic range limited. H er reading o f the
ornam ents is precise and accurate, with the fugue subjects always
emphasized. H er rhythm s are metronomic; even cadential ritards are avoided.
She offers controlled pianism without excitem ent.1®5
105Stoddard Lincoln, "Disc and Tape Reviews," Stereo Review (October 1982), p.
111.
71
Jam es R. Oestreich reviewed M orales’s recording for High Fidelity, and
found all sorts o f flaws in the quality o f the recording:
Revealingly, producer Giveon Cornfield notes that the M orales "sessions

w ent smoothly, with incredibly few retakes. W hen these were done, I was
amazed by her variety o f interpretation, tone color, and nuance; no two takes
o f the same piece sounded alike." Skepticism as to the last point quickly
subsides as one hears the seemingly spontaneous shifts o f articulation,
pedaling, and even mood within a given prelude (1/2, for example). There is
also ample evidence in the performances —and this not entirely flattering-
that retakes were indeedlim ited.106
A t that point he goes into extreme detail —even giving measure numbers—to
identify the faults that he found in the splicing o f the takes. And he continues:
And so, a case could have been made for some alternative takes. Still, if
that’s part o f the price of these readings, it’s a reasonable one: though far
from note- perfect, they are -particularly in Book I— fresh, vital, and often
lovely.107
A surprising comment in this review is "M orales’ mercurial temperament
shows to best effect in the segmented preludes and shorter pieces."108 This would
seem at odds w ith someone who was consistently praised for having a sense for large
proportions, and who regularly programmed big works. As we have seen, Morales
was frequently praised for her "limitless stamina," resilience, and control of
execution.
106Jam es R. Oestreich, "Classical Reviews," High Fidelity (October 1982), pp. 67-
68 .
l07Ibid.
108Ibid.
72
On O ctober 15,1981 Morales was given Oklahoma State University’s first
award for distinguished artistic achievement. L. L. Boger, President o f Oklahoma
State University, presented M orales the award at the Southwest Cultural Heritage
Festival’s G ala Concert.109
In 1982 the main concert hall o f the Escuela Superior de M usica was named
after Angelica M orales. Francisco Nunez, the director o f this institution at the time,
announced on November 22 o f that year that the recently built concert hall would be
called Auditorio Angelica M orales.110 The event did not receive much publicity,
and one o f the reports on it mistakenly referred to M orales as a soprano.111 The lack
o f publicity notwithstanding, having a concert hall named after her was a very
significant honor for Morales. Other halls in M exico City were named either for
im portant figures in Mexican history or composers, namely, the Sala Manuel M.
Ponce, the recital hall at the Palacio de Bellas Artes; Sala Silvestre Revueltas, the
m ain auditorium o f the Conservatorio Nacional de Musica; Sala Nezahualcdyotl and
Sala Carlos Chdvez, the concert and recital hall of the UNAM at the Centro Cultural
Universitario; the Sala Julidn Carrillo o f Radio UNAM, and the Sala Huehuecoyotl
and Sala Xochipilli, the two concert halls at the Escuela Nacional de Musica.
109Theresa Snoeyenbos, "For Mrs. Von Sauer, Music is Her Life," News Press
W eekender (Stillwater), 16 October 1981.
110M exico City’s main music schools are: Conservatorio Nacional de M usica and
Escuela Superior de Musica, both branches o f the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes;
Escuela Nacional de Musica, the music department o f the UNAM ; Escuela de
Perfeccionamiento Vida y M ovimiento, a school only for the m ost advanced students
(graduate level); and the Centro Nacional de las Artes, which was only recently
inaugurated, and offers graduate instruction in the arts.
^ " H o m e n a je a Ang61ica M orales," Excelsior (Mexico City), 25 Novem ber 1982.
73
Therefore, M orales was the first performer -w h o was not also a composer—to be
recognized with a concert hall bearing her name in M exico City.
M orales was honored again in 1987 when the m ayor of Stillwater, Oklahoma,
Calvin J. Anthony, decided to name Novem ber 24 "Madame von Sauer’s day."
M orales was "recognized for her lifetime o f dedication and comm itm ent to
m usic."112
In her last public appearance M orales performed Beethoven’s Concerto in G
M ajor w ith the O rquesta Filarmdnica de la Ciudad de M exico and visiting conductor
G eorgi Dim itrov at the Sala de Conciertos Ollin Yoliztli on Novem ber 25 and 27,
1984. B ut M orales was no longer at her best. The first effects o f Parkinson’s
disease started to show, and she felt that she did not have the digital control that she
did before. At that m oment she realized she could no longer perform in public. A
lesser artist m ight have attempted to continue performing until it was absolutely
necessary to stop. M orales, however, was unwilling to go before the public with
anything less than the complete command to which she was accustomed.
In 1992 M orales was awarded a monthly stipend in recognition for lifetime
artistic achievem ent by the Mexican Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes. At
the present tim e she is professionally inactive due to frail health, but her mind is very
lucid. I have had the opportunity to go through entire pieces of music with her,
talking about details o f interpretation, technique and even fingering without the need
1^P roclam ation by the City of Stillwater, State of Oklahoma, 24 Novem ber 1987 in
the possession o f A ngelica Morales von Sauer.
74
o f the keyboard. For someone who was so active both perform ing and teaching, it is
very difficult to adjust to such a lonely existence, particularly when she still has so
m uch to offer.
CHAPTER IV
PEDAGOGICAL CAREER (1942-1985)
From 1931 until 1942 Morales concentrated on her developing concert
career. A fter Sauer’s death, however, the need to support herself and her two
children led her to com bine her performing career with a teaching appointment. Her
first teaching opportunity occurred in 1942, when she was offered Emil von Sauer’s
class in piano at Vienna’s Akademie fur M usik und Darstellende Kunst after his
death. She taught an average o f ten students, and among the students who studied
with her at this time were Alexander Jenner and Paul Badura-Skoda.113 It is
significant that she held a position o f Hauptfachprofessor (piano majors instructor).
The Akadem ie became the Hochschule fur M usik und Darstellende Kunst in 1970,
and its status was raised to that o f a university. Very few women, such as Grete
Hinterhofer, have held the title o f Hauptfachprofessor at this institution. The fact
that M orales not only was female, but also was only 31 years old shows the high
regard in w hich she m ust have been held. H er performance o f the complete Well-
Tem pered Clavier in 1937 surely earned respect for her from the faculty of this
institution. She held this position intermittently from 1942 until 1952. After the
war, she was periodically given leaves of absence to teach in M exico for a few
113N either Badura-Skoda nor Jenner mention M orales as their teacher in their bios.
It is likely that they do not consider her too influential in their careers, since they did
not study w ith her for an extended period.
75
76
months at a tim e, and, when she was in Vienna, she was allowed to be absent for
weeks at a tim e when her performances demanded it.
A fter five m onths o f extensive concertizing in Mexico during 1946, Morales
went back to Europe for concerts in Switzerland, Spain and Portugal. But she began
to consider the idea o f returning to M exico permanently. She felt compelled to teach
in one o f M exico’s conservatories, and thus repay the efforts that the M exican
Government had made to fund her own studies abroad. She believed that she had
received a privileged education, and she wanted to share it with young Mexican
musicians.
D uring the last months of 1947 she met with President M iguel Alemdn, and
at his recom m endation she was contacted by M inister o f Education Gual Vidal, and
later by Carlos Chdvez, head o f the Ministry o f Fine Arts. M orales wished to be
given two appointm ents: a permanent position as a faculty m em ber o f the
Conservatorio Nacional de Musica, and a master class in pianistic interpretation.
The m aster class was created without problem according to her wishes, but the
perm anent position was contingent on openings in the conservatory. At the time of
her appointm ent there were no such openings, but M orales was promised by Chavez
that as soon as there was one she would be given it. Morales, however, had expected
that her salary w ould proceed from the tw o appointments: six hundred pesos a month
for the m aster class, and 250 pesos a month for the permanent position. The six
hundred pesos salary was commensurate with the salaries o f foreign professors
77
teaching in M exico w ho had achieved international success, while the 250 pesos was
the salary that the average conservatory teacher received. Morales was very
unhappy about not being given what was promised to her. She conducted the master
class on pianistic interpretation at the Conservatory from Novem ber 17,1947
through February 1948. During January and February the school was officially on
vacation, but she taught through the break because she was to leave for Europe at the
end o f February for concerts there in March and A pril.114
H er course consisted o f a series o f public m aster classes, which took place
every weekday for a few hours, and it was m eant for the most advanced students of
the conservatoty. In order to obtain a bachelor’s degree and a diploma from the
Conservatorio Nacional de M usica in Mexico, one needs to go through eight years of
study divided into tw o cycles: basic and professional. In a letter to Bias Galindo,
Luis Sandi, director o f the music department o f the Instituto Nacional de Bellas
Artes, requested G alindo to advertise M orales’s course to students o f the fifth year
and beyond (which included students already in the professional cycle).115
A few months later, M orales was asked by the Escuela Nacional de Musica,
the m usic school o f the Universidad Nacional Autdnom a de Mdxico (UNAM ), to
give another series o f m aster classes from October 1 until October 22. M any o f the
participating students had been studying with her since she arrived in M exico, and
114AGN, Grupo docum ental M iguel Alemdn, 703/2/36 and 710.11/143.

115Letter from Luis Sandi to Bias Galindo, 4 Novem ber 1947, AGN, Grupo
documental Miguel Alemdn, 703/2/36.
78
she was therefore able to prepare them to perform the W ell-Tem pered Clavier in its
entirety. To close the course she performed B ach’s Goldberg Variations on October
28.
In January 1948 Josd Yves Limantour, principal conductor o f the Orquesta
Sinftinica de Jalapa, appealed to the President M iguel Alemdn to nam e Morales
director o f the Conservatorio Nacional de M usica. A ccording to Yves Limantour,
M orales had been asked by Jaim e Torres Bodet, who was then M inister o f
Education, to return to M exico to be in charge o f the conservatory.116 Although
M orales was somewhat interested in procuring this position, she opted to continue
w ith her concert career, rather than have to deal with the politics involved with such
an appointment.
Trying to avoid all the irregularities that M orales believed she would have to
continue to endure if she stayed in Mexico, she went back to Vienna to teach there
for a year or two. But her belief that her son Franz would have better educational
opportunities in the United States than in Europe prompted her to accept the position
at the University o f Kansas in 1955, where she was appointed visiting associate
professor o f piano. After her successful Town Hall recital in 1957, M orales was
prom oted to professor. H er employment at the University o f Kansas lasted eighteen
years, until 1973, when she decided to relocate to Stillwater, Oklahoma to be near
her son Franz, who is a professor o f Political Science at Oklahoma State University.
116Letter from Josd Yves Lim antour to Miguel Alemdn Valdes, 24 January 1947,
AGN, G rupo documental M iguel Alemdn, 710.11/143.
79
At the tim e o f her retirement she was named Professor Em eritus from the University
o f Kansas.
In 1958 and 1959 Rosina Lhevinne asked M orales to be her assistant at the
Aspen M usic Festival. During this time, Rosina Lhevinne had a very select class.
Am ong the students Morales taught at Aspen were Tong-11 Han and Jam es Levine.
D uring the 1961-1962 academic year Morales took a leave o f absence from
the U niversity o f Kansas and lived in Zurich for a few m onths. Because of her
isolation in Lawrence from the m ajor stages o f the world, M orales felt the need to be
in Europe, at least sporadically. At this time her son Franz was studying in Freiburg,
G erm any, and she spent at least three months visiting him. She took another leave
o f absence in 1968-1969, which she again spent in Switzerland.
From 1964 until 1967 M orales was invited to give a sum m er m aster class at
the Sala M anuel M . Ponce in the Palacio de Bellas A rtes by Jaim e Torres Bodet,
then M inister o f Education. Although M orales was no longer in M exico
perm anently, this forum gave her the opportunity to impart her knowledge in a very
suitable w ay to a large group o f people. About twelve pianists were admitted as
participants, but m any other students and teachers gathered at the hall to listen to the
pianists and the teaching. Classes took place during the months o f June and July,
and w ere held for several hours a day, three days a week. The courses finished with
one or tw o recitals presented by the participants. M any prominent M exican
m usicians participated in these classes, but some of M orales’s students at the
80
University o f Kansas joined her there as well.
From August 7 through 27 ,1 9 6 3 M orales held a m aster class at Salzburg’s
Internationale Sommerakademie M ozarteum, which finished only three days before
she had to perform in M exico City on August 30 and 31.
After her retirem ent from the University o f Kansas, M orales still managed to
continue teaching regularly for some years. Due to the illness and eventual death of
his wife, Ozan M arsh asked M orales to take his place for two consecutive summers
at the Chautauqua Institution, where he was the chairman o f the piano department.
Despite a consuming teaching schedule, with private lessons and technique and
master classes as well, she also performed with the Chautauqua Symphony
Orchestra. In July 1975 she performed Liszt’s Concerto in A m ajor with Evan
W hallon, and in July 1976 she played Schumann’s Concerto with W alter Hendl.
M anly Duckworth wrote in 1975:
Mme. von Sauer has lived w ith this music for a long time. She believes in it
and plays it with the breath and authority o f the old school. She sailed
through the m usic m ajestically w ith . . . sure technical command. There was
more refinem ent than passionate commitment in her playing. Her tone was
unforced but not notably full, rich or beautiful.117
M arsh and M orales were both students of Egon Petri, and later o f Emil
Sauer, and rem ained friends until his death in 1992. M arsh had established the
Pianists Foundation o f America, a Tucson-based organization designed to further the
117ManIy Duckworth, "Guest Reviewer Comments on Tuesday Concert," The

Chautauquan Daily. 17 July 1975.
81
careers o f prom ising young pianists through direct grants, recording subsidies,
competition prize money and other financial assistance.
M orales also rem ained active as an adjudicator o f international piano
competitions. She was a juror in the International Competition for M usical
Performers in G eneva in 1951. In 1961 she served on the jury o f the Intem ationaler
M usikwettbewerb der ARD in M unich. In 1973 she not only adjudicated the
Marguerite Long-Jacques Thibaud Com petition in Paris, but she also donated $2000
for an Emil von Sauer prize. In 1983 she was asked to serve on the jury o f the
Queen Elisabeth International Com petition in Brussels. Her appearance at this
competition w as to have included a solo recital; however, Morales fell ill, and her
performance had to be cancelled. She actually had to stay in Brussels longer than
originally planned, because o f her illness.
In the U nited States M orales was a juror at the Southwest Piano Competition
at the University o f Arizona in Tucson in 1974. For this occasion she donated $1000
for an Egon Petri M emorial Prize. In 1976 she served again on the jury o f the
Biennial National Piano Competition, organized by the Southwest Pianists
Foundation.118
In 1977 M orales was asked to teach at Benedictine College in Atchison,
Kansas, to replace a teacher who had taken a sabbatical leave. She taught there
during the Spring o f 1978. Several years lapsed from this occasion until her next
teaching appointment. M orales gave a course entitled "Johann Sebastian Bach’s
118Letter o f Dorothy M oreton to M orales, 3 May 1976.
keyboard works and the W ell-Tem pered Clavier” at the Escuela Nacional de
M usica, the music school o f the UNAM in M exico City, from January until April
1985. In a ceremony on January 24 M orales was granted the "Manuel M. Ponce"
special professorship. This was to be her last official teaching engagement.
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION
During M orales’s formative years her mother was undoubtedly the most
influential person in her life. W ithout her m other’s unyielding tenacity, it is unlikely
that M orales would have obtained a grant to study abroad at such an early age. And
it is M orales’s strong belief that she was able to absorb such remarkable teaching
because she was so young w hen she left M exico, thus shielding her from inadequate
teaching and the acquisition o f wrong habits. M orales concedes that her m other was
the driving force behind her first complete performance o f the W ell-Tempered
Clavier in 1929. H er m other told M orales w hat to do, and Morales listened. But she
did not object in the least. She had a solely single-minded vision: to become a
successful concert artist. And that is what she worked for her whole life. For a
m agazine interview M orales said that because she was tutored at home and did not
attend school, she did not realize how different her daily life was compared to the
lives o f other children.119
Although M orales was a student at the Hochschule fiir Musik in Berlin for
four years, she only took on the m ost lim ited curriculum because of her youth. And
after her studies there all pianistic instruction she received was private, though m ost
119Cristina Pacheco, "La Musica: un Didlogo Perpetuo, Intemporal," Hogar v Vida.

April 1985, pp. 53-55.
83
84
o f her teachers were on the faculties at various institutions.120 Thus, her musical
education seems more rem iniscent o f much earlier times, when most musicians were
educated privately.
From the tim e that Morales was eighteen years old, the reviews she received
for her recitals reflect qualities that were to becom e her trademarks: reticence and
poise, lack o f sentimentality, "masculine" power, and a wonderful technique at her
disposal. Listening to her interpretations o f Bach reveals the following features:
clarity —impeccable articulation combined w ith very subtle use o f pedal—, solidity
and lack o f idiosyncracies. She takes a totally straightforward approach. Listening
to her ow n recording o f the W ell-Tempered Clavier, she once mentioned that the
essence o f Bach is in the music itself: nothing superfluous should be added.121
There are hardly any tem po fluctuations in her playing, and the music is always
driven forward. The polyphony is extremely clear, where each line has its own
color. The range o f dynamics does not seem limited by an attem pt to emulate the
restrictions o f earlier keyboard instruments, but instead takes advantage o f the
possibilities o f the m odem piano. As early as 1925 Petri referred to M orales’s
playing as having "true charm and the ability to captivate and persuade the
public."122 These qualities are still evident in her mature performances. Her playing
120During 1925-1926 Isidor Philipp was on the faculty o f the Paris Conservatoire,
and also taught at the Am erican Conservatory at Fontainebleau in the summer time.
In 1926-1927 Josef Hofm ann was the director o f the Curtis Institute o f Music. Josef
Lhevinne was one o f the original ten musicians on the faculty o f The Juilliard
G raduate School when it opened its doors in October 1924.
121Interview with M orales, 26 M arch 1993.
122Spanish translation by the Mexican Legation o f letter o f Egon Petri, 11 February
85
is always convincing, even when she appears to be reserved.
M orales’s concerto repertoire included twenty works that she performed with
orchestra123 and a handful o f others that she never had the opportunity to
perform .124 But more impressive than her concerto repertoire is her solo repertoire,
which encom passed works from the traditional literature for piano to less
conventional choices by Sauer, Jongen, Marx, and Busoni. In The Great Pianists
Harold Schonberg talks about B usoni’s close association to the music o f Beethoven,
Liszt, and B ach.125 Throughout her career M orales also showed a strong
predilection for these composers, though in her case Chopin and Schumann should
also be included. After their initial encounter in 1921, M orales visited Busoni on a
few occasions over the next few years. She even learned Busoni’s Sonatina ad
Usum Infantis (No. 3), which she had already played for Georg Schunem ann,126 and
1925, A H SEP, Depto. Administrativo, Serie Pensiones, Caja 1632, Expediente

Angelica Morales.
123These concerti are: Bach’s D m inor; M ozart’s D-minor, K.466, C-major, K. 467,
A-major, K. 488, and D-major, K. 537; Beethoven’s C-m inor and G-major; Liszt’s
E-flat, A-m ajor, Totentanz and Fantasia on Hungarian Folk Them es: Chopin’s E-
m inor and F-minor; Brahms’s D-m inor and B-flat; Schum ann’s A-minor; Sauer’s E-
minor and C-minor; Franck’s Symphonic Variations: and Falla’s Noches en los
Jardines de Espafia.
124During the 1930’s M orales visited Egon Petri in Zakopane, Poland, where
pianists gathered to play for him. During this tim e, M orales played for Petri
R achm aninoffs Piano Concerto no. 3 in D minor; however, she never performed this
work in concert. Other works that M orales studied but did not perform were Saint-
Saens’ Concerti No. 2 in G m inor and No. 4 in C minor.
125Harold Schonberg. The Great Pianists (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1987), p.
371.
126Georg Schunemann (1884-1945) was the director o f Berlin’s Hochschule fur
M usik at the tim e that Angelica M orales studied at this institution.
86
wanted to play it for the composer. However, this never took place, because
Busoni’s death on July 2 7 ,1924, occurred before she was able to fulfill her wish.
M orales’s repertoire was broader than that o f her mentor and husband Emil
von Sauer, whose repertoire was heavily drawn from the Romantic period.
M orales’s preference for the m usic o f Bach was not equally shared by Sauer, who
favored B ach’s works in arrangem ent (e.g. by D ’Albert and Tausig), although he
played som e works in their original form, such as the Italian Concerto and the
Toccata in C minor. She owed her early appreciation and predilection for the music
o f Bach to Petri. She studied the first volume o f the W ell-Tempered Clavier with
Petri from Busoni’s edition, but by 1927 she had realized the importance of using an
U rtext edition instead, and did so in learning the second volume. However, Petri
later suggested Tovey’s edition, and this is one that she has advocated from then on.
Though M orales studied with several other teachers thereafter, her main musical
influences remained Egon Petri and Emil von Sauer. The other teacher whom
M orales found very inspiring and who affected her greatly was Josef Lhevinne. In
1926 w hen M orales was interviewed for El Universal Ilustrado she acknowledged
that she did not understand Beethoven, and considered his music old-fashioned.127
By 1929, however, she was already performing several o f Beethoven’s sonatas to
critical acclaim , among them the "Hammerklavier," and had found an affinity for
Beethoven’s music. This seem ingly sudden change was not only the result o f
127M aria Teresa Borrogdn, "Con Angelica M orales," El Universal Ilustrado. 17 June
1926, pp. 20 and 55.
87
m aturing, but also the effect o f her studies w ith Lhevinne, whom she admired
trem endously and under whose guidance she thrived.
W e have seen that M orales’s programs were characterized by their length and
the conspicuous presence o f large works. Com pared to other pianists o f her
generation, however, M orales’s choice o f repertoire and program ming were not so
unusual. The programs o f G ina Bachauer and Adele M arcus, to mention only two,
also show a preference for bigger programs than those to which we are accustomed
today. It is noteworthy that her repertoire continued to grow even during her
eighteen years at the University o f Kansas, when her performances were fewer than
during the 1930’s and 1940’s.
R eflecting back on her career, M orales believes that her decision to teach at
the University o f Kansas and her move to Lawrence may have been detrimental for
her career, because she did not realize how difficult it would be to continue to
concertize. She firmly believes that she needed to be in a big city to have the
necessary contacts. She also wishes she had done things differently, when Columbia
failed to provide the expected contracts after 1957. She should have tried to contact
other agents, or asked advice from Jaim e Torres Bodet, the M exican writer, educator
and politician, who did so m uch for the career o f violinist Henryk Szeryng after
Szeryng m oved to M exico.
D espite M orales’s unfulfilled expectations, she enjoyed a significant career, a
fact that should be stressed for those who m ay never have heard o f her. Because she
88
only did three commercial recordings, her playing is not accessible to everyone.128
But she recorded numerous times for European broadcasting services, and it would
be desirable for those recordings to become available. They would reveal a pianist
who was equally at ease in the Baroque, Classical, Romantic and Impressionistic
repertoires, and who was influenced by some o f the most rem arkable pianists o f the
twentieth-century.
128See Appendix B.
APPENDIX A
LIST O F PERFORM ANCES BY ANGELICA M ORALES VON SAUER
T - type o f performance
R - recital
C - concerto appearance; if m ore than one concerto was performed it is specified
Rc - recording
Note: In an attempt to be as comprehensive as possible, this list includes

performances even when all information is not complete
Year Date City Venue, Orchestra and Conductor T
1921 Jan 26 M exico Anfiteatro Escuela Nacional Preparatoria R

Jan 29 M exico Salbn de Actos, Escuela Nacional de M usica R
Jul 7 Puebla Sal6n de Actos, Cfrculo Espafiol R
1922 Jul 15 Berlin Theatersaal, Hochschule fur M usik R
Recital o f students of Petri
Summer Dresden German-Spanish-South American Week C
Dresden Philharmonic Orchestra
1923 Jul 11 Berlin Theatersaal, Hochschule fur M usik R
1924 M ay 21 Berlin Theatersaal, Hochschule R
Nov 9 Berlin Philharmonie R
Program o f Berlin Lokal Anzeiger
Nov 14 Berlin Beethoven-Saal 3C
Berlin Philharmonic —Richard Hagel
Dec 12 Berlin Beethoven-Saal R
1925 Jan 19 Berlin Philharmonie R
Program o f Berlin Lokal Anzeiger
Feb 27 Berlin Theatersaal, Hochschule fur M usik R
1926 Spring Paris Salle Gaveau R
M ay 20 Mexico Teatro Arbeu R
M ay 23 Mexico Teatro Arbeu R
89
90
Jun 1 M exico Sala W agner R

Jun 6 M exico Teatro Esperanza Iris R
Jul 7 M exico Teatro Esperanza Iris R
Jun 20 M exico Teatro Esperanza Iris 3C
Orquesta del Conservatorio Nacional de
M usica —Josd Rocabruna
Jul 20 Guadalajara Teatro Degollado R
Jul 27 Guadalajara Academia Serratos R
1927 Philadelphia Curtis Institute o f M usic C
1929 Feb 20 New York Carnegie Hall R
A pr 12 London Aeolian Hall R
A pr 16 The Hague Zaal Pulchri R
A pr 27 Berlin Singakademie R
A ug 8 M exico Teatro Regis R
Sep 7 M exico Anfiteatro Escuela Nacional Preparatoria R
Sep 15 M exico Teatro Arbeu 2C
Orquesta Sinfdnica de M exico —
Carlos Chdvez
Oct 6 M exico Teatro Arbeu 2C
Orquesta Sinfdnica del Sindicato de
Filarmdnicos del D.F. — Josd Rocabruna
Dec 25 Yucatan Teatro Pedn Contreras R
1930 Jul 30 Chicago Kimball Hall R
Recital o f Artist Students
(American Conservatory o f M usic)
1931 M ar 14 Barcelona Residence o f M anuel G . Prieto, R
M exican Consul
N ov 9 Dresden Palmengarten R
Assisted by Sauer
Nov 12 Berlin Beethovensaal R
Nov 28 Vienna Konzerthaus R
Assisted by Sauer
1932 Nov 30 B arcelona Palau R
2-piano recital with Sauer
1933 Feb 1 M onaco Casino de M onte-Carlo C
91
Assisted by Sauer — Paul Paray

Feb 3 M onaco Casino de M onte-Carlo R
Assisted by Sauer
1934 Feb 11 Paris Salle Gaveau C
Socidtd des Concerts Lam oreux --
Albert W olff
N ov 15 M unich Odeon Theater R
Assisted by Sauer
Nov 19 Munich Unknown venue
Zyklus "Konzerte der Weltberiihmten" R
Assisted by Sauer
1935 Jan 21 Vienna Kleiner M usikvereins-Saal R
Nov 11 M unich Unknown venue R
Nov 28 Munich Herkulessaal (Residenz) R
Cycle "M eister am Bliithner"
Dec 15 M unich Tonhalle C
Miinchener Philharmonie - A dolf M ennerich
1936 Feb 10 Vienna GroBen Konzerthaus C
Budapest Philharmonie —Felix W eingartner
M ar 8 Paris Salle Gaveau C
Association des Concerts Lamoreux -
M. Eugene Bigot
M ar 20 M erano Casino M unicipale 2C
Azienda Autonom a di Soggiomo
M ar 29 Vienna Radio W ien (broadcast) C
W iener Symphoniker - R udolf Nilius
A pr Vienna Probesaal der Akademie fur Musik und 4R
Darstellende Kunst
Jun 28 Badgastein Kursaal C
Dec 16 M unich Reichssender M unchen (broadcast) R
1937 Feb 2 Vienna M ozart-Saal, Konzerthaus R
M ar 7 W arsaw Unknown venue C
W arsaw Philharmonic — Carlo Cammarota
A pr 6 Posen Unknown venue C
Poznan Symphony Orchestra -
Felix Nowowiejski
Apr M unich Radio M unich C
Rundfunkorchester -- A dolf M ennerich
Oct 29 W arsaw Teatr Wielki C
W arsaw Philharmonic Orchestra --
Godefroid Devreese
92
Pi PS OS Qi OS « U
Nov 6 W arsaw Sala Conserwatorium
1939 A pr 19 Paris Salle Erard
M ay 1&2 London Broadcasting House
M ay 4 Brussels Legation du M exique
1940 Jan 24 Budapest Unknown venue
Feb 1 Vienna Brahms-Saal, Musikverein
M ar 24 Dusseldorf Unknown venue
—Eugen Pabst
OS PS OS OS OS OS
M ar 27 Vienna Brahms-Saal, M usikverein
A pr 8 M unich Bayerischer Hof
A pr 23 Berlin Bachsaal
Oct 20 Berlin Beethovensaal
Nov 22 Vienna GroBer M usikvereins-Saal
Nov 25 Graz Kammermusiksaal, M usikverein fur
Steiermark
OS U
1941 Jan 19 M unich Bayerischer H of
M ay 8 Dresden Gewerbehaus
Dresdner Philharmonic -- W illem M engelberg
OS U
M ay 10 Berlin Bachsaal
1942 Sep 21 Strassburg Theater der Stadt
Orchester des Theaters der Stadt Strassburg
—Hans Rosbaud
OS OS OS OS OS U
1943 Jan 17 Berlin Mozartsaal
Feb 11 M unich Bayerischer H of
Feb 18 Dresden Kiinstlerhaus
A pr 13 Vienna GroBer Musikvereinsaal
Sep 21 Oberschlema Kursaal
Sep 27 Cracow Haus Urania
Philharmonie des Generalgouvem em ents
—Rudolf Hindemith
OS OS OS OS U
Oct 14 Dresden Vereinshaussaal

Oct 29 Vienna Konzertsaal
1944 Jan 6 Vienna GroBer Musikvereinsaal
Jan 8 Chemnitz GroBer Casinosaal
Jan 10 Bautzen Krone-Saal, Stadttheater
Stadttheaterorchester - Oswin Japel
Jan 27 Aachen Aula der Technischen Hochschule C
Stadtische Orchester Aachen —
Paul van Kempen
Jan 28 Dtiren Stadttheater C
Stadtische Orchester Aachen -
93
Paul van Kempen

M ar 2 Frankfurt Unknown venue
M ar 4 W iesbaden Unknown venue
M a rlO Hamburg Unknown venue
M ar 12 M unich Unknown venue
1945 Jun 28 Vienna Mozarts aal Konzerthaus
D ec 2 Zurich Kleiner Saal, Tonhalle
1946 A pr 24 M exico Palacio de Bellas Artes
A pr 28 M exico Palacio de Bellas Artes
M ay 3 M exico Palacio de Bellas Artes
M ay 6 Leon, Gto. Sociedad Amigos de la M usica
M ay 7 Leon, Gto. Unknown venue
M ay 9 San Luis P. Auditorio de la Cdmara Nacional de Comercio
M ay 11 Guanajuato Teatro Judrez
Orquesta Sinfdnica Nacional -
Carlos Chdvez
repeat of previous conceit
Jun 3 Guadalajara Teatro Degollado
Orquesta Sinfdnica de Guadalajara -
Leslie Hodge
Jun 5 Guadalajara Teatro Degollado
Jun 19 M exico Palacio de Bellas Artes
Jul 12 Puebla Teatro Guerrero
Orquesta Sinfdnica de Puebla -
Higinio Ruvalcaba
Jul 22 M exico Palacio de Bellas Artes
Festivities of Inauguracidn Exposicidn
Nacional
Jul 31 AguascalientesTeatro Morelos
A ug 10 Torre6n Teatro Princesa
A ug 15 San Luis P. Sociedad Postosina
Nov 8 Zurich Kleiner Saal, Tonhalle
Nov 10 Bern Burgerratsaal
Dec 1 Barcelona Palacio de la M usica
Dec 4 Lisboa Unknown venue
Dec 6 Porto Teatro Aguia D ’ouro
Dec 9 Porto Teatro Aguia D ’ouro
Dec 12 M adrid Teatro Alcald
94
Dec 13 M adrid Nuevo Teatro R

Dec 15 San Sebastian Teatro V ictoria Eugenia R
Dec 17 Bilbao Sociedad Filarmdnica de Bilbao R
1947 Jul 2 Vienna GroBer Konzerthaus-Saal C
Niederosterreichisches Tonkiinstlerorchester
~ Jos6 Yves Limantour
Aug 3 Interlaken Kursaal C
Concertgebouw Orchestra — Paul Kletzki
Sep 23 Guadalajara Teatro Degollado R
Oct 22 M exico Palacio de Bellas Artes R
Nov 9 M exico Palacio de Bellas Artes R
Dec 10 M exico Palacio de Bellas Artes C
Solistas de M exico, A.C - Fabien Sevitzky
1948 Feb 6 M exico Palacio de Bellas Artes C
Orquesta Sinfdnica de la UNAM -
Josd Rocabruna
Feb 9 M exico Palacio de Bellas Artes
repeat o f previous concert
M ar 11 Vienna M ozart-Saal, Konzerthaus R
M ar 14 Vienna Konzerthaus C
Apr 11 Vienna GroBer M usikvereinsaal C
Hans Rosbaud
A pr 13 Vienna Brahmsaal, M usikverein R
A pr 17 Vienna Mozartsaal, Konzerthaus R
Oct 28 Mexico Escuela Nacional de M usica R
Nov 24 Mexico Teatro Rex R
1949 Feb 23 M exico Palacio de Bellas Artes 2C
Orquesta Sinfdnica de la UNAM -
Josd Rocabruna
Apr 4 M exico Palacio de Bellas Artes C
Orquesta Sinfdnica de la UNAM —
Fritz Schuurman
M ay 8 M exico Palacio de Bellas Artes R
M ay 9 M exico Palacio de Bellas Artes R
Oct 28 Harlingen Harlingen M unicipal Auditorium R
1950 M ar 5 M exico Palacio de Bellas Artes R
O ct6 & 8 M exico Palacio de Bellas Artes C
Luis Herrera de la Fuente
95
Oct 20 M exico Palacio de Bellas Artes 2C

Orquesta Sinf6nica Nacional —
1951 Jan 12 Veracruz Escuela Ndutica R
A ug 17 G uadalajara Teatro Degollado C
Orquesta Sinfdnica de G uadalajara ~
Abel Eisenberg
1952 Jul 4 Bern Radio Bern Rc
Nov 4 Siidwestfunk Rc
Nov 6 Frankfurt Hessischer Rundfunk R
Nov 9 V ienna GroBer Musikvereinsaal C
—Gustav Koslik
1953 A ug 28 G uadalajara Teatro Degollado
Orquesta Sinf6nica de Guadalajara --
Abel Eisenberg
Oct 20 Cd. Delicias Cine Lux R
1954 M ay 14 M exico Palacio de Bellas Artes C
Orquesta Sinfdnica Nacional --
Clemens Krauss
Jun 19 Paris M aison de L’O.R.T.F. (Radio Francaise) R
1955 Apr 24 M exico Palacio de Bellas Aites C
Orquesta Sinfdnica Nacional - Josef Krips
Nov 30 Lawrence Strong Auditorium, University o f Kansas R
1956 Jan 10 W ashington Hall o f the Americas R
Jan 29 M exico Palacio de Bellas Artes C
Jun 29 San Juan Teatro de la Universidad R
Oct 18 Ponce, P.R. Teatro de la Perla R
A pr 28 New York Town Hall R
1958 Feb 21 Cincinnati M usic Hall C
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra --
Thor Johnson
M ar 21 New Y ork M etropolitan M useum of Art R
Nov 9 Chicago Orchestra Hall C
96
1960 M ay 9 Lawrence University o f Kansas R

1961 Apr 24 Lawrence Swarthout Recital Hall R
Aug 23 Badgastein Kursaal 2C
Kurorchester Badgastein — Hans Schneider
Oct 21 Vienna GroBer M usikvereins-Saal
—Hans Swarowsky
Oct 22 Vienna GroBer M usikvereins-Saal
Nov 29 M unich GroBer Konzertsaal, Hochschule fiir Musik R
1962 Apr 3 Cologne W estdeutscher Rundfunk Rc
Apr Hamburg Unknown venue C
North German Radio Orchestra -
Robert Heger
M ay 22 Vienna GroBer Sendesaal, Oesterreichischer Rundfunk
Rundfunkorchester - Robert Heger
1964 Apr 20 Lawrence Swarthout Recital Hall, University o f Kansas R
Jun 12 M exico Palacio de Bellas Artes C
Edouard van Remoortel
Jun 14 M exico Palacio de Bellas Artes
Jul 7 M exico Palacio de Bellas Artes R
Jul 14 M exico Palacio de Bellas Artes R
Aug 7 Jalapa Teatro del Estado, Universidad Veracruzana C
Orquesta Sinfdnica de Jalapa -
Francisco Savin
Aug 8 Veracruz Teatro TAM SA C
Aug 24 Mexico Palacio de Bellas Artes R
1965 Jun 10 Puebla Auditorio de la Reform a R
J u ll Jalapa Teatro del Estado, Universidad Veracruzana C
Ju llO Mexico Palacio de Bellas Artes C
New Philharmonia London — Paul Kletzki
Jul 29 Mexico Palacio de Bellas Artes R
Aug 5 Mexico Palacio de Bellas Artes R
Aug 12 M exico Palacio de Bellas Artes R
1967 Nov 27 M exico Palacio de Bellas Artes R
Dec 5 Indianapolis Unknown venue R
1968 M ar 31 Lawrence University Theatre, University of Kansas C
University o f Kansas Symphony Orchestra -
97
George Lawner
Aug 30 M exico Palacio de Bellas Artes C
Orquesta Sinfdnica Nacional -- Dean Dixon
Aug 31 M exico Palacio de Bellas Artes C
1969 Feb 4 London W igm ore Hall R
Sep 9 San Juan Universidad de Puerto Rico R
1970 Oct 9 M exico Palacio de Bellas Artes C
Oct 11 M exico Palacio de Bellas Artes C
Oct 16 M exico Auditorio Justo Sierra de Humanidades C
Orquesta de la Universidad - Eduardo M ata
O ct 18 M exico Teatro Hidalgo C
Nov 8 Lawrence University Theatre, University o f Kansas C
University o f Kansas Symphony Orchestra --
George Lawner
Dec 2 Mexico Palacio de la Escuela de M edicina R
Dec 6 M exico Palacio de la Escuela de M edicina R
1971 Feb 24 Paris Salle Gaveau R
A pr 20 Lawrence Swarthout Recital Hall R
1972 Jun 15 London Queen Elizabeth Hall R
1973 Dec 14 Mexico Palacio de Bellas Artes C
Antoni Ros-M arba
Dec 16 M exico Palacio de Bellas Artes C
1974 Oct 11 UNESCO R
1975 Feb 7 Stillwater Seretean Center, Oklahoma State University R
Jul 15 Chautauqua Amphitheater C
Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra --
Evan W hallon
Oct 30 Tucson Crowder Hall, University o f Arizona R
Oct 31 Arizona Green Valley Community Church R
Nov 2 El Paso University o f Texas El Paso R
1976 Jul 20 Chautauqua Am phitheater C
Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra -
W alter Hendl
Oct 10 Atchison, Ks South Campus Auditorium,
98
os u
Benedictine College
1977 Sep 8 M exico Palacio de Bellas Artes
Emil Tchakarov
os
Dec 16 M exico Teatro de la Ciudad
1978 A pr 16 Atchison South Campus Auditorium,
osu
Benedictine College
O rquesta Sinfdnica Nacional --
George Sebastian
u
osososu
O ct 21 Lawrence The Helen Foresman Spencer M useum o f Art
N ov 19 M exico Sala Nezahualcdyotl
1979 A pr 20 M exico Sala Nezahualcdyotl
O rquesta Fildrmonica de la UN AM —
Arm ando Zayas
u
A pr 22 M exico Sala Nezahualcdyotl
u
O ct 21 M exico Teatro de la Ciudad
O rquesta Filarmdnica de la Ciudad de Mdxico
—Fernando Lozano
u
O ct 23 M exico Sala Nezahualcdyotl
o so so so so so so so so su
1980 Feb 15 Tucson University o f Arizona
A pr 29 Guanajuato Tem plo de la Compafifa
Jun 24 M exico Sala M anuel M. Ponce
A ug 26 Mexico Pinacoteca Virreinal
A ug 29 M exico Pinacoteca Virreinal
Sep 2 M exico Pinacoteca Virreinal
Sep 5 Mexico Pinacoteca Virreinal
Sep 9 M exico Pinacoteca Virreinal
O ct 27 M onterrey Escuela Superior de M usica y Danza
1984 N ov 25 Mexico Sala de Conciertos Ollin Yoliztli
O rquesta Fildrmonica de la Ciudad de Mdxico
— Georgi Dimitrov
N ov 27 M exico Sala de Conciertos Ollin Yoliztli
APPENDIX B
DISCOGRAPHY
Title: W eingartner Conducts Beethoven

Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Felix W eingartner, conductor
Ricardo Odnoposoff, violin
Stefan Auber, cello
A ngelica M orales, piano
Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, Op. 56 in C m ajor
Number: Pearl GEM M CD 9538
Type: Com pact disc
Date: issued 1989; original recording 1937
Title: Angelica M orales al Piano Ejecuta Obras de Franz Liszt

Transcendental Etude No. 9 "Ricordanza"
Spanish Rhapsody
Bdnddiction de Dieu dans la solitude
Au bord d ’une source
Concert Etude in D -flat major, "Un Sospiro"
Number: CE 1101
Type: 3 3 1 /3 rp m , 12"
Date: 1978
Note: Special edition; sponsored by the government o f the State o f Nuevo Le6n,
M exico
Title: The W ell-Tem pered Clavier

Number: Orion ORS 81415 - ORS 81420
Type: 6 discs, 33 1/3 rpm, 12"
Date: 1981
Note: Funding for this recording w as m ade possible by grants from the Music
Departm ent o f the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes, M exico
99
100
Title: M usic from M ount O read. KFKU

Angelica M orales von Sauer
Beethoven’s Sonata Op. 81a
Brahm s’s Variations on a Them e by Paganini, Op. 35, Book II
Sauer’s Spieluhr
Number: T 896 at the University o f Kansas, University Archives, M orales File
Type: reel tape
Date: broadcast date Decem ber 7 ,1 9 5 5
Title: M usic from M ount O read. KFKU

A ngelica M orales von Sauer
Chopin’s Sonata in B minor, Op. 53
Number: T 937 at the University o f Kansas, University Archives, M orales File
Type: reel tape
Date: broadcast date M arch 22, 1957
Title: M usic from M ount Oread. KFKU

Angelica von Sauer Morales
Prokofiev’s Sonata No. 7
Liszt’s "La Campanella"
Number: T938 at the University o f Kansas, University A rchives, M orales File
Type: reel tape
Date: broadcast date M arch 28,1957
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VITA
M aria Eugenia Tapia was bom in M exico City on June 7,1961, the daughter
o f M artha Eugenia Gonzdlez Alemdn and Antonio Tapia Cataldn. She attended the
Colegio Simdn Bolivar from 1971 until 1978. A fter two years as a biomedical
engineer m ajor at the Universidad Autdnoma M etropolitana, Iztapalapa, she
attended the Escuela Superior de M usica in M exico City for two years. She received
the Bachelor o f M usic degree with distinction from the Eastman School o f M usic in
1987, and the M aster o f M usic in Piano Performance from the Meadows School of
the Arts o f Southern M ethodist University in 1988. She attended summer programs
in Chautauqua in 1986, Salzburg in 1988 and in V ienna in 1991. Throughout her
studies she has been the recipient of several scholarships and grants.
Permanent address: 4005 Idlewild Road, Austin, Texas 78731
This treatise was typed by the author.

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INFORMATION TO USERS

The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the

Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by

Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced

A Bell & Howell information Company

M aria Eugenia Tapia

A n A ccount o f H er Perform ing and Teaching Career

An Account o f Her Performing and Teaching Career

M aria Eugenia Tapia, B.M ., M.M .

Presented to the Faculty o f the Graduate School o f

The University of Texas at Austin

in Partial Fulfillm ent

for the Degree o f

Doctor of M usical Arts

The University of Texas at Austin

UMI Microform 9534702

This microform edition is protected against unauthorized

I am indebted to Angelica M orales for the countless hours she spent

through a taped performance. I am also grateful to my sister Claudia Gabriela for

sharing with me her archival expertise during my research in M exico City.

I would like to express my appreciation to my advisor, Dr. Michael C. Tusa,

throughout my doctoral studies. I am also very grateful to Professor Gregory Allen

insightful ideas on expanding this work into a full-fledged biography.

Finally, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my husband,

Fernando Torre, whose computer expertise facilitated my work tremendously. His

M exican Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes.

An Account o f H er Performing and Teaching Career

M aria Eugenia Tapia, D.M .A

Supervisors: Michael C. Tusa

Kansas in Lawrence, and at the Conservatorio Nacional de M usica in M exico City.

whenever possible, w ith the analysis of primary sources, namely professional

correspondence, concert and recital programs, and newspaper reviews. Though

m uch documentation was supplied by Morales, newspapers at the Benson Latin

Am erican Collection o f the University o f Texas at Austin, and documents at the

Archivo Histdrico de la Secretarfa de Educacidn Publica and the Archivo General de

la Nacidn in M exico City, also brought forth relevant information.

CH APTER I: The Early Years (1911-1931) 6

CHAPTER II: The Years in Vienna (1931-1946) 35

CHAPTER III: M exico and the United States (1946- ) 46

CHAPTER IV : Pedagogical Career (1942-1985) 75

APPENDIX A : List o f Performances 89

BIBLIO GRA PH Y 101

privilege o f witnessing her performances, misinformation seem s to prevail over

colorful, less intellectually demanding repertoire,"1 which is an often-made

would becom e programs entirely made out of big, serious works.

Short biographical profiles about M orales m ay be found in various reference

sources, such as George Kehler’s The Piano in Concert.2 Esperanza Pulido’s La

M uier M exicana en la M usica.3 periodical articles such as The Musical Woman:

an International Perspective.4 and M aria Teresa Castrilldn’s "Angelica

M orales,"5 as well as in other varied sources, such as J. Bunker Clark’s M usic at

A costa’s Veinte M uieres.7 Most o f these writings, however, continue to propagate

she is only mentioned in passing in the entry on Emil von Sauer.9

Biographical data about her in concert programs and articles in M exican

newspapers and magazines vary significantly. In particular, her place o f birth is

mistakenly given as Aguascalientes or M exico City, and she is also thought to be a

This treatise is divided into four chapters, each o f which concentrates on a

in Vienna, Conservatorio Nacional de M usica and other institutions in M exico, and

at the University o f Kansas.

The point of departure for my research was my contact with Angelica

are quite complete, I have augmented her collection o f reviews by consulting a

num ber of newspapers o f the period.

M eanwhile, I also conducted research at the Archivo Histdrico de la

Secretaria de Educacidn Publica and at the Archivo General de la N ation in M exico

files, from Alvaro Obreg6n (1920-1924) to M iguel Alemdn (1946-1952).