Kraus, Milton, 1906-1995

Arranger and pianist Milton Max Kraus (1906-1995), who had a varied career in broadcasting and popular music, assembled materials on Louis Moreau Gottschalk and wrote a paper on the works of the composer.

Kraus was trained in composition by Tibor Serly, a disciple of Béla Bartók and Joseph Schillinger. He attended City College of the City University of New York briefly before transferring to Juilliard (then the Institute of Musical Art) on scholarship for piano. He also earned a degree in education at Teachers College, where he produced an essay on Gottschalk for a course in the Historical Approach to Music Literature given by Robert Pace. Kraus taught only very briefly (one half day at James Monroe High School in New York), before deciding he could earn more money as a professional pianist. He worked with Ed Sullivan, as well as on the the production of the Jerome Kern musical, Very Warm for May, and served as a staff pianist for all three major broadcasting networks. He also was the pianist for Kate Smith when she introduced God Bless America.

Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829-1869), was a highly successful pianist and composer who studied with Hector Berlioz in Paris.

Gottschalk's works, which had fallen out of favor after his death, became the subject of reevaluation in the 1930s and helped to spur a new interest in the study and performance of ragtime music, to which his work is often seen as a precursor.

Milton Max Kraus, pianist, was born on January 13, 1906 to Morris and Jennie Kraus of the Lower East Side, NYC. He trained with Tibor Serly, a disciple of Béla Bartok, and with Joseph Schillinger, in composition. He attended City College of New York briefly before transferring to Juilliard (at that time called Institute of Musical Art) on scholarship for Piano. He earned a degree in Education at Teachers College in New York; a degree which he used briefly (taught for ½ day) at James Monroe High School in New York before deciding he could earn more money as a professional pianist. He worked as a staff pianist at CBS, NBC and ABC. He worked with Jerome Kern on Very Warm May, Kate Smith as her pianist when she introduced God Bless America, and with Ed Sullivan.

Milton Kraus died on December 28, 1995 in Boca Raton, Florida.

Louis Moreau Gottschalk (b New Orleans, 8 May 1829; d Tijuca, Brazil, 18 Dec 1869), was a highly successful pianist and composer who studied with Berlioz in Paris. His "considerable reputation as a composer of virtuoso piano pieced did not long survive his death, but a renewed interest in his life and works began in the 1930s and he is now generally acknowledged as on e of the most significant 19th century American musicians, and his music as a direct precursor of ragtime" (Grove Music Online).