Paul Wittgenstein (1887-1961), Austrian Pianist
In 1913, Wittgenstein made his debut as a concert pianist, to critical acclaim, in Vienna. Less than a year later he was drafted into the Austrian army. Almost immediately after assignment he was hit by sniper gunfire during a skirmish in Poland. An infection quickly spread in his right arm, and the limb had to be amputated. All hopes of a continued concert career seemed shattered.
During his recovery, Wittgenstein began devoting himself to keyboard exercises to strengthen the muscles and reflexes of his left hand. He also began searching (mostly without success) for left-handed piano works he might one day perform, or for works he could adapt to one hand.
Finally, in 1928, he used some of his family’s wealth to commission celebrated French composer Maurice Ravel to write a one-handed piano concerto for him. In 1931, Wittgenstein premiered Ravel’s Concerto in D Major for the Left Hand to near-ecstatic reviews. Although the actual composition was greeted with somewhat less than enthusiastic comments (several critics expressed serious reservations about it), Wittgenstein himself suddenly emerged as a much-needed figure of inspiration and hope amid the devastation and uncertainty that gripped Europe after World War I. His virtuosity was described as “amazing.... formidable even for a two-handed pianist.” “His physical (p. 31) handicap was forgotten, ” said The New York Times after Wittgenstein performance. “He showed commanding musicianship and played with an aplomb and gusto thrice admirable ”
Richard Strauss, Benjamin Britten, and Sergei Prokofiev also eventually composed “left-handed” piano works for Wittgenstein, as did a host of lesser composers who were moved by his courage and talent. Meanwhile, the Ravel concerto slowly established itself as a mainstay of the concert repertoire, a minor masterpiece eagerly performed by a wide variety of concert pianists.
In 1939, Wittgenstein emigrated to the United States and settled in New York City with his wife and children. He taught music there and continued to give occasional concerts and recitals until his death in 1961.
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LEFT-HANDERS BY HAPPENSTANCE
Among some of the most famous left-handed people in history are several who, like Paul Wittgenstein, actually started life right-handed, but who, for one reason or another, lost the use of their right hand and became left-handed by necessity. Included in that select group are:
U.S. Senator Robert Dole (b. 1923): Dole became left-handed in 1945 after a combat injury in Italy crippled his right hand.
Hungarian marksman Karoly Takacs (b. 1910): A right-handed sharpshooter who served on the Hungarian Olympic team in 1929 and 1937, Takacs lost his right hand in a grenade accident in 1938. He taught himself to shoot left-handed and went on to win Olympic gold medals in rapid-fire pistol shooting in 1948 and 1952.
Joseph Merrick, “The Elephant Man” (1862-1889): Like most of his body, Merrick’s right arm and hand were severely disfigured by neurofibromatosis. By contrast, his left hand remained virtually untouched by the condition, and was in fact quite delicate in size and shape.
English pamphleteer John Stubbes (flourished 1570): In 1579, Stubbes’s right hand was chopped off by order of the Crown after he wrote an essay insulting Queen Elizabeth and attacking her policies. He thereafter became left-handed.
Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin (1879-1953): A congenital wasting syndrome made Stalin’s right arm increasingly useless with age. He was forced to rely more and more on his left hand.
U.S. concert pianist Gary Graffman (b. 1928): Graffman began experiencing problems with his right hand after (p. 32) he sprained it during a 1967 concert in Berlin. By 1979, it had become severely disabled, and he was no longer able to use it. He has kept his concert career going with performances of Ravel’s Concerto for the Left Hand, as well as other “left-handed” piano works.
U.S. baseball player Pete Gray (b. 1917): When Gray was a boy, his right arm had to be amputated just above the elbow after it was crushed under the wheel of a milk truck. Despite his disability, Gray later played for the minor leagues, and in 1945—when ballplayers were in short supply—he became the first and only one-armed player in major-league baseball. He played more than seventy games for the St. Louis Browns, and batted—one-handedly—218.
British naval commander Lord Nelson (1758-1805): His right elbow was shattered by gunfire during fighting in the Canary Islands in 1797. The entire arm had to be amputated (without anaesthetic) shortly after the accident. “A left-handed Admiral will never again be considered as useful, ” Nelson wrote, “therefore the sooner I get to a very humble cottage the better.” As it turned out, Nelson was still very useful to the British navy: he continued to lead ships into battle until he was killed at Trafalgar eight years later.
Scottish historian Thomas Carlyle (1795—1881): Carlyle’s right hand became progressively more infirm, often trembling uncontrollably, with advancing age. At first he tried writing with a pencil instead of a pen (for more traction on the paper), but that didn’t help. Finally, when he was seventy-five, the hand became completely paralyzed and useless; its deterioration may have been part of the generally violent decline in health he experienced after the death of his wife in 1866. “My old right hand (and also my poor old heart) has grown weary of writing, ” Carlyle told his brother in 1870. He was forced to dictate letters and other writing to a secretary. (p. 33)
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