IN MEMORIAM
PAUL A. PISK
Paul A. Pisk, professor emeritus of
music, died on January 12, 1990. He was 96.
Professor Pisk was born on May 16,
1893, in Vienna, Austria. He received a PhD from the University of
Vienna in 1916. He studied with the noted Austrian composer Arnold
Schoenberg and took formal training at the Vienna Conservatory, from
which he received a diploma in 1919.
Dr. Pisk immigrated to the United
States in 1936. He taught at the University of Redlands, where he
served four years as director of the music school. He joined the faculty
of The University of Texas at Austin in 1951, teaching until his retirement
in 1963. After he left the University, Professor Pisk was a visiting
professor at Washington University in St. Louis until 1972.
An internationally renowned composer,
he completed thirty-six opuses between 1920 and 1936. The String Quartet,
Op. 8, was awarded the Composition Prize of the City of Vienna in
1925. Twenty-four critically acclaimed works were premiered in Europe.
He also published operatic, orchestral, ballet, folk dances, ballads,
and works for piano and chorus.
In addition to his work as a composer,
Professor Pisk was a music critic. He co-authored A History of
Music and Musical Style, a music theory book.
Paul A. Pisk: Essays in his Honor,
a collection of 26 pieces written by colleagues and noted musicologists,
was published in his honor by the College of Fine Arts in 1966. Professor
Pisk was awarded a golden doctoral diploma by the University of Vienna
in 1967.
John R. Durbin, Secretary
The General Faculty
Biographical sketch prepared by Teresa Palomo Acosta and posted on
the Faculty Council web site on April 4, 2001. Additional biographical
sources can be found in the Barker Texas History Center.
