Julius Epstein was an Austro-Hungarian Jewish pianist

Pianist

A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...

. He was a pupil at Agram

Agram

Agram may refer to:Places*Agram, the historic Austrian German name for Zagreb, Croatia*Agram Township, Minnesota, United States*Agram mountains, a small range in north eastern Niger...

 of the choir-director Vatroslav Lichtenegger

Vatroslav Lichtenegger

Vatroslav Lichtenegger was a Croatian poet who claimed to have scored and harmonized the song Lijepa naša domovino in 1891. He is buried in the Mirogoj cemetery in Zagreb. His daughter was famous opera singer Mathilde Mallinger.-References:...

, and in Vienna of Johann Rufinatscha

Johann Rufinatscha

Johann Rufinatscha was an Austrian composer, theorist and music teacher.-Life:Rufinatscha was born in 1812 in Mals . At the age of 14 he came to Innsbruck, where he studied the piano, violin, and musical study at the conservatory...

 (composition) and Anton Halm (pianoforte). He made his début in 1852, and soon became one of the most popular pianists and teachers in Vienna.

From 1867 to 1901, Epstein was a professor

Professor

A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

 of piano at the Vienna Conservatory, where Ignaz Brüll

Ignaz Brüll

Ignaz Brüll was an Austrian pianist and composer.Ignaz Brüll was born the eldest son of a prosperous Jewish merchant family in the Moravian provincial town of Prostějov . In 1850 he moved with his parents to Vienna, which became the centre of his life and work...

, Marcella Sembrich

Marcella Sembrich

Marcella Sembrich was the stage name of the Polish coloratura soprano, Prakseda Marcelina Kochańska...

, Mathilde Kralik

Mathilde Kralik

Mathilde Aloisia Kralik von Meyrswalden was an Austrian composer.-Early years:Mathilde Kralik was the daughter of Bohemian glass industrialist Wilhelm Kralik von Meyrswalden from Eleonorenhain. After the death of his first wife Anna Maria Pinhak , he married Louise Lobmeyr on 28 May 1851...

 and Gustav Mahler

Gustav Mahler

Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...

 were among his pupils. Epstein edited Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven

Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...

's "Claviersonaten", Mendelssohn's "Sämmtliche Clavierwerke" and Schubert

Franz Schubert

Franz Peter Schubert was an Austrian composer.Although he died at an early age, Schubert was tremendously prolific. He wrote some 600 Lieder, nine symphonies , liturgical music, operas, some incidental music, and a large body of chamber and solo piano music...

's "Kritisch Durchgesehene Gesammtausgabe", among others.

His two daughters Rudolfine (cellist) and Eugénie (violinist) went on a very successful concert tour through Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 and Austria during the 1876 - 1877 season. His son Richard (* 26 January 1869 in Vienna; † 1 August 1919 in New York, NY (US)) was also a professor of piano at the Vienna Conservatorium. Epstein was a friend of Brahms

Johannes Brahms

Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...

.