Despite his German birth and long residence, Petri came from Dutch stock. His father was violinist Henri Wilhelm Petri, who taught his son the instrument that teenage Egon played in the Dresden Court Orchestra (1899 - 1901) and in papa's string quartet. At age seven, however, he began piano lessons, notably with Teresa Carreño (Louis Moreau Gottschalk's Venezuelan-born protégé). On reaching 20, encouraged by his father's friend Ferruccio Busoni, Petri decided the piano was his lifetime instrument. He became Busoni's pupil and eventually his amanuensis. At Dresden, Weimar, and ...