# Ferdinand Küchler

Ferdinand Küchler (14 July 1867, in Giessen – 24 October 1937, in Leipzig) was a German violinist and violist, renowned violin pedagogue, and composer of instructive violin music.

## Life and work

Küchler studied violin with Johann Naret-Koning and Hugo Heermann, and music theory with Arthur Egidi and Iwan Knorr from 1883 to 1888 at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt am Main. In 1889 he took his first job as principal violist of the Symphony Orchestra in Basel, also playing viola in a string quartet, and later began teaching violin at the local music school. In 1898 he was appointed a violin teacher at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt, and was also violist of the Heermann Quartet led by his former teacher. Küchler returned to Basel in 1910. The following year became director of a private music school and worked as a choral conductor. From 1927 to 1936 he taught violin at the Landeskonservatorium der Musik zu Leipzig (State Conservatory of Leipzig).
Küchler wrote textbooks on violin technique and composed instructive pieces for the violin including several student concertos. His two-volume Course of Violin Instruction (published by Hug-Verlag, Zürich) was a cornerstone of the violin instructional literature until the mid-1960s.

## Works

Sortable list of compositions, pedagogical works and literature categorized by genre, opus number, date of composition, titles and scoring.
| Genre | Opus | Date | German title (Original title) | English title | Scoring | Notes |
| Piano | | | Sechs Walzer und Zwey Eccossaisen | 6 Waltzes and 2 Eccossaises | for piano | |
| Piano | | | Sechs neue Ansbacher Walzer und 2 Dreher | 6 New Ansbacher Waltzes and 2 Spinning Songs | for piano | |
| Pedagogical | | | Tägliche Studien für die linke Hand des Geigers | Daily Studies for the Violinist's Left Hand | for violin | published 1900s |
| | 1 | | | | | |
| Pedagogical | 2 | 1910–1911 | Praktische Violinschule: mit Verwendung von Übungsstücken älterer berühmter Pädagogen Erste Lage bis zur Einführung in das Doppelgriffspiel, die wichtigsten Bogenstricharten und ihre Ausführung nach modernen Anschauungen Der Fingersatz auf der Violine: mit vielen Beispielen aus der klassischen und modernen Violinliteratur Ein Beitrag zur Reform des Violinunterrichts auf Grundlage von F. A. Steinhausen's Werk "Die Physiologie der Bogenführung auf den Streichinstrumenten" | A Course of Violin Instruction: with Application of Exercises of Well-known Masters (Méthode de violon: avec application d'études des maîtres classiques) The First Position to the Introduction of Double-Stop Playing, the Main Bow Stroke Types and Their Transfer to Modern Ideas Violin Fingering: with Many Examples from Classical and Modern Violin Literature A Contribution to the Reform of Violin Teaching Based on Friedrich Adolf Steinhausen's Book "The Physiology of Bowing for Stringed Instruments" (1902) | for violin | in 2 volumes, 8 books published 1914 |
| Pedagogical | | | Chorgesangschule | A Course of Choral Singing | for chorus | published 1915 |
| Chamber music | 3 | | Der Aufstieg vom Volkslied zu den klassischen Meistern: Eine dem Lehrgange der praktischen Violinschule von Ferdinand Küchler sich einfügende und stufenweise fortschreitende Sammlung von Liedern und klassischen Vortragsstücken Heft I: 20 leichte Weisen Heft II: Nr. 21-40 | The Progression from Folk Song to the Classical Masters: A Gradual Progressive Collection of Songs and Classical Pieces in Ferdinand Küchler's Course of Violin Instruction | for violin and piano | in 4 books published 1928 |
| Pedagogical | 4 | | Die ersten Doppelgriffe des Violinisten in allen Dur- und Molltonarten | Elementary Method of Double-Stopping in All Major and Minor Keys (Cours élémentaire des doubles cordes) | for violin | published 1928 |
| | 5 | | | | | |
| Pedagogical | 6 | | 100 Etüden für die Anfangs- und Mittelstufe des Violinspiels | 100 Etudes for the Violin (Elementary and Intermediate Grades) (100 Études pour le violon (Degrés élémentaire et moyen)) | for violin | published 1929 |
| Pedagogical | 7 | | Tonleitern, Lagenwechsel, Dreiklänge | Scales, Shifting, Arpeggios (Gammes, changements de position, arpèges) | for violin | published 1933 |
| | 8 | | | | | |
| Pedagogical | 9 | | Geworfener Strich und Springbogen | Spiccato and Springing Bow (Jeté et sautillé) | for violin | published 1934 |
| Chamber music | 10 | | Die erste Freude am Zusammenspiel (Erstes Zusammenspiel): 40 ganz leichte Stücke in der ersten Lage | The First Joys of Ensemble Playing: 40 Very Easy Pieces in the First Position | for violin (or violin ensemble) and piano | published 1932 |
| Chamber music | | | Blumenlese für angehende Violinisten, 24 Stücke nach Volksweisen und nach Beethoven, Weber, Dittersdorf, Reissinger, Donizetti | Anthology for Aspiring Violinists, 24 Pieces after Folk Songs and after Beethoven, Weber, Dittersdorf, Reissinger and Donizetti | for violin and piano | published 1929 |
| Pedagogical | | | Lehrbuch der Bogenführung auf der Violine | Textbook of Violin Bowing | for violin | published 1929 |
| Pedagogical | | | Lehrbuch der Technik des linken Armes | The Technique of the Left Arm: a Tutor (Traité de la technique violonistique du bras gauche) | for violin | published 1931 |
| Chamber music | 11 | | Concertino G-Dur (1. Lage) | Concertino in G major (1st Position) | for violin and piano | published 1934 |
| Literature | | | Goethes Musikverständnis | Goethe's Understanding of Music | | published 1935 |
| Concertante | 12 | | Concertino D-Dur (1. und 3. Lage) | Concertino in D major (1st and 3rd Position) | for violin and orchestra (or piano) | published 1936 |
| Pedagogical | 13 | | Intonations- und Triller-Studien: eine Ergänzung zu jeder Violinschule | Exercises for Intonation and Trills: a Supplement to Every School of Violin-Playing (Exercices d'intonation et de trilles: Complément à toute méthode de violon) | for violin | published 1936 |
| Chamber music | 14 | | Concertino D-dur (I. Lage) | Concertino in D major (1st Position) | for violin and piano | published 1937 |
| Concertante | 15 | | Concertino im Stil von Antonio Vivaldi D-Dur, Schülerkonzert (1. und 3. Lage) | Concertino in the Style of Antonio Vivaldi in D major, Student Concerto (1st and 3rd Position) | for violin and orchestra (or piano) | published 1937 |

## Footnotes

* ↑ Küchler biography at www.online-musiclibrary.com
* ↑ Frick, Friedrich (2009). Kleines biographisches Lexikon der Violinisten: vom Anfang des Violinspiels bis zum Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts (in German). Norderstedt: Books on Demand. pp. 269–270. ISBN 978-3-8370-3907-8.