Edmund Kurtz

Edmund Kurtz (29 December 190819 August 2004) was a Russian-born cellist and music editor. He was renowned for his "impeccable technique", "innate musicality", and his "rich tone", with a "warm, sensuous quality that seldom loses its luster". In a career spanning 60 years, he performed internationally as a soloist and chamber musician. His edition of Bach's Suites for solo cello, drawn upon facsimiles of the manuscript of Anna Magdalena Bach and showing them opposite each page, is recognized as one of his greatest achievements, He then also played in a piano trio formation, the Spivakovsky Trio, with violinist Tossy Spivakovsky and his brother Jascha as the pianist, touring internationally. His first American appearance as soloist Other recordings include the Cello Sonata of Sergei Rachmaninoff with William Kapell, which received praise by Tim Page of The Washington Post, and Prokofiev's Cello Sonata with Artur Balsam, which was the first recording of the work. His other siblings included Arved Kurtz, a former head of the New York College of Music, and Mary Kurtz Rosenwald, a former professional violinist and noted philanthropist who was one of the founders of the United Jewish Appeal.

In 1936, Kurtz married Barbara Bellair; the couple had two sons. He died in London on 19 August 2004.