When he was old enough, friends and family raised money for him to study piano at the professional level at the Conservatoire de Paris, regarded as the finest music conservatory in Europe.
[1] Philipp commenced a career which took him to various European countries, and he was a regular performer at the Colonne, Lamoureux and Conservatoire concerts in Paris.
He was able to hear concerts, recitals or master classes by many of the leading pianists of the day, including Liszt and Anton Rubinstein.
He left for the United States in 1941 and taught in New York and L'Alliance Francais in Louiseville, Quebec, Canada.
During the war, he taught piano in New York City and at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal.
"Chopin's fame as a composer has obscured the fact that he was the first and greatest name to adopt the career of piano teaching as a profession.
He created an entirely new philosophy of musical thinking, and was the first musician of sufficient stature to be able to penetrate into the thought of the keyboard composers who preceded him to the extent of seeing the individual merits of each.
Bradley continued, "This is not to be confused with the mere performance of Chopin's own compositions, but an appreciation of the art of the keyboard composers up to his time and the genius to apply this knowledge.
Mathias in turn trained young pianists, but it proved to be Isidor Philipp that was best equipped to carry on the Chopin philosophy of teaching.
By the age of 30, because of his studies Mathias and other prominent teachers, Philipp was recognized as the supreme authority on the piano and its literature.
"[citation needed] In interviews his students remember him with a great deal of affection and remark about his gentle and patient manner as a teacher.
He believed that every pianist should be conversant in all styles and eras of piano, and did not shy from playing Bach or other early composers on a modern grand.
To produce a beautiful tone, Thalberg said, 'one should in a way knead the keyboard with a hand of velvet, the key being rather felt than struck.'
"[5] When his friend Claude Debussy was composing new pieces for the piano, he would often ask Philipp for advice on notation so that pianists would be able to better understand his nuances and approach.
Pianist Grace Barnes and violinist Deryck Aird served as music teachers along with Bradley for several decades.
The list of Isidor Philipp's students who became notable pianists, composers or conductors is very long, and includes Stell Andersen, Dwight Anderson, Grace Barnes, Emma Boynet, Harold Bradley (pianist), John Buttrick, Serge Conus, Aaron Copland, Jeanne-Marie Darré, Pierre Dervaux, Ania Dorfmann, Rolande Falcinelli, Felix Fox, Jean Françaix, Norman Fraser, Henri Gagnon, Florence Parr Gere, Youra Guller, Grace Hofheimer, Georges Hugon, Fernando Laires,[7] Malvina Leshock, Yvonne Loriod, Nikita Magaloff, Federico Mompou, Léo-Pol Morin, Guiomar Novaes, Ozan Marsh, Wilfrid Pelletier, Émile Poillot, Harrison Potter, noted philosopher Albert Schweitzer, Phyllis Sellick, Soulima Stravinsky, Louise Talma, Alexander Tcherepnin, Dorothy Wanderman, Mabel Madison Watson, Beveridge Webster, and Victor Young.
[8][9][10][11][12] Rena Kyriakou (Christina Giannelou) Additionally, many prominent and well established pianists would seek out his advice, particularly on playing French composers, which included Claude Debussy.
Philipp often championed new music throughout his long life, and would frequently edit the works of contemporary composers, such as Sergei Prokofiev and Maurice Ravel.
He was close friends with many of the leading pianists and composers of his day, including Leopold Godowsky, Ferruccio Busoni, Josef Hofmann, Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Alfred Cortot, Lazare-Lévy, Emile-Robert Blanchet, Béla Bartók, Nadia Boulanger, Jules Massenet, Cécile Chaminade, Gabriel Fauré and Charles-Marie Widor.
[16] Philipp's compositions and transcriptions often require a high degree of finger dexterity and lightness of touch, and he liked to work in rapid successions of double thirds, fourths and octaves in many of his pieces.
He also edited music by Albéniz, Alkan, Bizet, Chabrier, Chaminade, Couperin, Debussy, Delibes, Dvořák, Fauré, Franck, Godard, Gouvy, d'Indy, Kabalevsky, Khachaturian, Lully, Massenet, Mozart, Pierné, Prokofiev, Pugno, Rachmaninoff, Rameau, Ravel, Saint-Saëns, Scarlatti, Schumann, Widor, and others.
Philipp recorded several works by his teacher Saint-Saëns: these include chamber music and the Scherzo for two pianos, with his assistant Marcelle Herrenschmidt (1895–1974).