Ernst Oster (January 26, 1908 – June 30, 1977) was a German pianist, musicologist, and music theorist.
A specialist in the use of Schenkerian Analysis, he was the English translator of Heinrich Schenker's final work, Free Composition.
As the biographical note in Free Composition states: ...despite his formidable intellectual gifts and immense factual knowledge, he was convinced that musical analysis must be more than an intellectual activity, that the anaylist—like the performer—must attempt an artistic recreation of the work.
[1] In the United States, Oster was active as a pianist and taught privately (Peter Serkin was one of his students[5]), and had accompanying jobs.
His translation of Schenker's Free Composition, assisted by a grant from the Robert Owen Lehman Foundation, was completed in 1977.