Franz Schmidt
Born in Vienna, she was the oldest child of Oscar and (J)ekaterina Hock. She trained as a ballet dancer by the modernist teacher Gertrud Bodenwieser but growing rather rapidly, switched to the piano. From 1925 to 1931, she studied piano at the Vienna Conservatory, with organ as a second study. This became her first instrument from about 1928, when she began studies with the composer Franz Schmidt and the organist Franz Schütz.