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Paul Wittgenstein: The Man Who Wouldn't Give Up

Wittgenstein, Paul

Strauss, Tom

Television Director: Beyer, Michael

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Narrator: Strauss, Tom

Pianist: Wittgenstein, Paul

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Year of Production: 2009

Playing Time: 00:52:07

Catalogue Number: CM9553

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Paul Wittgenstein, the Austrian concert pianist, lost his arm at the age of twenty-seven while serving as an officer in the First World War. Nonetheless, he was determined to continue his career. Major composers such as Ravel and Strauss wrote pieces for him, and from this he gained international acclaim. Eventually forced to leave Austria by the Nazis, he died in New York in 1961.

Paul's father Karl, millionaire and chief Austrian iron and steel baron, had been determined to have his five sons follow in his footsteps and become industrialists, so he did not permit them to pursue artistic careers. He paid for his intransigence with the lives of his three eldest children, who escaped their father's authority by committing suicide; finally he allowed his two remaining sons the freedom to choose their own profession. Paul chose music, and his younger brother Ludwig turned to philosophy.

Paul Wittgenstein's biography is an extraordinary, life-affirming story. It is the tale of a man who persevered in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles and prevailed.