Erik Werba

Erik Werba (23 May 1918 – 9 April 1992) was an Austrian classical pianist who is especially known as an accompanist of singers. He was also a music critic, conductor, composer, author and academic teacher. the son of Ludwig Werba (1884–1945), who was born in Graz and became a composer, music director and vice-president of the Österreichisch-ungarischer Musikerverband, founded in 1896. Ludwig Werba died in a bombing raid on 2 April 1945.

Werba completed the Matura at the Baden Gymnasium in 1936. He then studied at both the Akademie für Musik und darstellende Kunst in Vienna and the University of Vienna, where he earned a PhD in 1940. He worked as a music critic and teacher, and directed the Mozartgemeinde after World War II. Werba was Kapellmeister at the from 1945 to 1946. As a pianist, he focused on accompanying lieder singers. Brigitte Fassbaender, He was more successful as a journalist, working for the newsletters of the Mozartgemeinde, the Wiener Figaro, the Österreichische Musikzeitschrift and the periodical Musikerziehung. As a composer, he wrote incidental music, chamber music and lieder, often performed during his lifetime. Tenoralbum, 1951 Hugo Wolf oder – Der zornige Romantiker, 1971 Erich Marckhl, 1972 Hugo Wolf und seine Lieder, 1984

Awards 1960: Mozartmedaille awarded by the Mozart Society of Vienna