Fritz Kreisler Violins He Played Other Creativity and beauty characterize Fritz Kreislerï¿½s life. A world renowned violinist and composer, Kreisler was born in Vienna on February 2, 1875. He began studying the violin with his father, at the tender age of four. Kreisler was then taught by the well reputed pedagogue, Jacob Dont, and was accepted into the Vienna Conservatory at the age of seven. An attentive pupil and a daring performer, Kreisler quickly captured the Vienna Conservatoryï¿½s gold medal. He then worked under the direction of Massart at the Paris Conservatoire. Following his studies with Massart, Kreisler did not seek out further instruction. He proved to be a virtuoso on the violin, and received little formal direction after the age of twelve. Kreislerï¿½s life was as colorful and rich as his music. As a young boy, Kreisler was interested in a career as a violinist. However, he did not immediately meet with success. He was introduced to American audiences in 1888, touring with pianist Moriz Rosenthal.

Although his technique was commended, Kreislerï¿½ s musical interpretations were not held in high standing. Somewhat disappointed, Kreisler directed his energy into new fields, pursuing the study of medicine, and abandoning the violin. He spent two years in medical school, and then served in the Austrian army. At the age of twenty-one Kreisler returned to the violin. After a lengthy hiatus from his beloved violin, it took Kreisler merely eight weeks of focused, secluded practice to reacquaint himself with the instrument. Newly committed to building a career as a violinist, Kreisler surmounted many initial setbacks, and strove toward success. His debut was with the Vienna Philharmonic in 1898. Conducted by Hans Richter, Kreislerï¿½s performance with the Vienna Philharmonic won the long awaited acclaim he deserved. Sustaining the high caliber of his concert performances, Kreisler built on his successes and later became known as one of the greatest violinists of all time. Kreisler moved to the United States during World War II. Settling in New York, he refused to perform while the war continued.

Following the establishment, he quickly captured the attention of American audiences. Although American critics had not responded well to his playing when he toured as a boy, Kreisler now won great approval and applause wherever he went. He toured in major cities throughout the world, and continually charmed audiences with his wit and stunning technique. Kreislerï¿½ s final performance was in 1947, at Carnegie Hall. Known as one of the last great violinist-composers, Kreisler published over one hundred and fifty compositions and arrangements. He incorporated Viennese themes, Eastern scales, and stunning, harmonic cadenzas into his works. An audacious young performer and composer, he incited the wrath of music critics by confessing to the authorship of ï¿½Lannerï¿½ and ï¿½Classical Manuscriptsï¿½. He had previously published these works under the names of 18th century composers in order to avoid the derision of critics. A contemporary of Caruso and Paderewski, Kreisler was affectionately known as the ï¿½King of Violinistsï¿½.

An excellent pianist, he was able to bring an understanding of sonorous chords into his violin compositions. Kreislerï¿½s timeless pieces continue to delight and comfort. They express the imagination and character of a truly extraordinary musician. Notes by Shanaira Udwadia (May-2001) War Composers - the music of World War I. A biography of Fritz Kreisler Fritz Kreisler 2 February 1875 – 29 January 1962 Friedrich "Fritz" Kreisler is perhaps best known today as a virtuoso violinist who was revered as one of the finest instrumentalists of his day. However, he was also a composer, mainly of lighter works including a number of operettas and songs. He had a brief, but nonetheless eventful experience in World War 1 before moving to the United States. Born in Vienna, his father, a doctor, was a keen amateur musician and introduced his son to the violin aged four. His father was Jewish and his mother was a Roman Catholic. Aged 12, he was baptised into the Church, but his Jewish heritage would precipitate a number of choices in his later life.

The young Fritz showed an amazing early ability and attended the Vienna Conservatoire from age seven, the youngest recorded entrance to that institution. There, he received tuition from composers including Anton Bruckner, Léo Delibes and Jules Massenet, although performance was his main focus. His musical debut was in New York in 1888, and toured the USA for the following two years as assisting artist to Moriz Rosenthal. The tour was not said to have been a success and he returned to Vienna and non-musical studies; two years at Vienna Gymnasium and a further two years as a pre-medical student were followed by military service in the Austrian Army, during which time he neglected the violin. It was only in 1896 that he decided to recommence his musical career. He applied unsuccessfully to join the orchestra of the Vienna Hofoper, but this setback was only temporary and a performance with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1897 under Arthur Nikisch saw him begin an international career, seeing success particularly in London.

Indeed, Sir Edward Elgar composed his famous Violin Concerto for Kreisler, who premièred the work in November 1910 at the Queen’s Hall under the composer's direction. Having served in the military, at the outbreak of World War I, Kreisler was recalled for duty, where he was involved in the very heavy fighting between Russia and the Central Powers in Galicia (Poland) during the first months of the war. In 1915, he published a short memoir of his brief period serving with the Austrian Imperial Army against Russian forces called Four Weeks in the Trenches: The War Story of the Violinist : The outbreak of the war found my wife and me in Switzerland...Although I had resigned my commission as an officer two years before, I immediately left Switzerland, accompanied by my wife, in order to report for duty. As it happened, a wire reached me a day later calling me to the colors.

As a musician, the memoir is noteworthy for its focus on the sound of battle: The moral effect of the thundering of one's own artillery is most extraordinary, and many of us thought that we had never heard any more welcome sound than the deep roaring and crashing that started in at our rear. ...I, too, soon got accustomed to the deadly missiles, in fact, I had already started to make observations of their peculiarities. My ear, accustomed to differentiate sounds of all kinds, had some time ago, while we still advanced, noted a remarkable discrepancy in the peculiar whine produced by the different shells in their rapid flight through the air as they passed over our heads, some sounding shrill, with a rising tendency, and the others rather dull, with a falling cadence. However, the memoir notes the toll the fighting took on his men: But the strain of the continuous fighting for nearly the whole day without respite of any kind, or chance for food or rest, in the end told on the power of endurance of our men, and when the last attack had been successfully repulsed they lay mostly prostrated on the ground, panting and exhausted... Enthusiasm seemed suddenly to disappear before this terrible spectacle.

Life that only a few hours before had glowed with enthusiasm and exultation, suddenly paled and sickened. Following the heavy losses of Austrian troops, his batallion was reposted to Grodeck, south of Lemberg. In scenes that seem reminiscent of the Christmas Truce on the Western Front, Kreisler notes that on the Eastern Front, the two entrenched armies soon became familiar with one another: After the second day we had almost grown to know each other. The Russians would laughingly call over to us, and the Austrians would answer. The salient feature of these three days' fighting was the extraordinary lack of hatred... By the morning of the third day we knew nearly every member of the opposing trench, the favorite of my men being a giant red-bearded Russian whose constant pastime consisted in jumping like a Jack-in-the-box from the trench, crying over to us as he did so. He was frequently shot at, but never hit. Then he grew bolder, showing himself longer and longer, until finally he jumped out of the trench altogether, shouting to us wildly and waving his cap.

His good-humored jollity and bravado appealed to our boys and none of them attempted to shoot at him while he presented such a splendid target. He then notes a later incident in which two soldiers from each side crossed no-man's land to exchange gifts and pleasantaries. This frivolity was soon banned by high command, and his next reminiscence is of an intense battle: At five o'clock that afternoon we suddenly received orders through a running messenger, who was braving the incessant machine-gun fire, that our positions were about to be abandoned and that we were to evacuate our trench under the cover of darkness, at eleven o'clock. I cannot but confess that we all breathed more freely on the receipt of that information, but unfortunately the purpose could not be carried out. The Russians by this time evidently had realized our comparatively defenseless condition and utter lack of ammunition, for that same night we heard two shots ring out, being a signal from our sentinels that they were surprised and that danger was near.

I hardly had time to draw my sword, to grasp my revolver with my left hand and issue a command to my men to hold their bayonets in readiness, when we heard a tramping of horses and saw dark figures swooping down upon us. For once the Cossacks actually carried out their attack, undoubtedly owing to their intimate knowledge of our lack of ammunition. My next sensation was a crushing pain in my shoulder, struck by the hoof of a horse, and a sharp knife pain in my right thigh. I fired with my revolver at the hazy figure above me, saw it topple over and then lost consciousness. Kreisler had been wounded by a Russian bayonet and lay injured in the trench for seven hours before being picked up. There was some confusion as to his condition, and some publications even reported that he had been killed. The field hospital to which he was sent to recover was somewhat coincidentially the hospital his wife was serving at as a nurse. His injuries were serious enough that he was judged by an army panel physically unfit for army duty "at the front or at home" and he was exempted from further service.

Deciding to avoid the War, Kreisler moved to New York to begin a concert tour that had been planned before the outbreak of the War. The New York Independent of November 1915 notes that he was still "limping and leaning on a cane" but that his "wound will not interfere with his concert tour". However, his biographer Boris Schwarz notes that anti-German feelings were so high in the States at the time, particularly after the sinking of the RMS Lusitania by a German U-Boat in May 1915 that Kreisler was forced to withdraw from his tour. Indeed, he didn't perform again until October 1919. From 1924 to 1934 he lived in Berlin, but after witnessing the increasing Anti-Semitism in Germany, he moved to France and then in 1939 returned to the USA for the rest of his life, becoming an American citizen in 1943. As a composer, Kreisler was most noted for writing original cadenzas for famous violin concerti; his Beethoven and Mozart cadenzas in particular are still performed today.

His longest work is probably his operatta Apple Blossoms of 1919. He also showed himself to be something of a musical mimic - he fooled critics by writing pastiches of earlier composers' styles and only later revealing they were by himself. Although a traffic accident in 1941 impaired his ability to perform for the rest of his life, he was nonetheless regarded as the finest violinist of his generation. He died in January 1962. Bibliography Category: Praeludium And Allegro - Wilmington Symphony Orchestra 1875 – 1962 Praeludium and Allegro — 1910 Born in Vienna in l875 Fritz Kreisler is one of the most distinguished and beloved virtuoso violinists of all time. By age seven, his musical talent was already apparent, and he became a student at the Vienna Conservatory, although the minimum age for entry was ten years. By 1885 the young prodigy had graduated from the conservatory, and next entered the Paris Conservatory where he studied under Anton Bruckner, Leo Delibes, and Jules Massenet.

After finishing conservatory studies, the young violinist began performing publicly, and quickly consolidated his position as an international violin virtuoso. After World War I relocations in Europe and America, Kreisler settled in America and became a naturalized US citizen in l943. In 1947 he gave his last public concert after being badly injured in an auto accident. Kreisler gradually became blind and deaf and died at age 87. He is interred in a mausoleum in New York. In his recordings, Kreisler’s performing style exhibits expansive tempi, a continuous and favored vibrato, expressive phrasing, and a melodic approach to passage work. His style is easily recognized when compared to violin recordings of others. While Liebeslied, Liebesfreud, and Caprice Viennois may be his most familiar short pieces for violin and piano, Praeludium and Allegro is a most popular work in the violin repertoire. This piece is in two sections, the first being a strong declaration. The music softens as it progresses, but reasserts itself in a dramatic close.

The second section is a quick-paced affair, which eventually builds up to a flashy dazzling cadenza that appears over a rumbling pedal in the bass of the piano. Kreisler originally attributed the origins of the two-section piece to a less known composer of the 18th century. (One historian claims that Kreisler’s often-lengthy concert tours demanded separate encore pieces, few of which had been written for the violin). After 30 years of attributing the work to the composer Pugnani, he finally claimed rightful ownership. ALEXANDER ARUTIUNIAN 1920 - 2012 Trumpet Concerto in A-flat major — 1950 Alexander Arutiunian was a Soviet and Armenian composer and pianist. At the age of seven Arutiunian joined the Yerevan State Conservatory’s children’s group, and at 14 graduated from same music conservatory on the eve of World War II. As a composer and pianist, Arutiunian also served as full Professor at the music conservatory.

Spanning a life of 92 years, he was awarded a huge array of Soviet Union prizes that included the Stalin Prize, State Prize of Armenia, and People’s Artist of the USSR. Several of his works for wind instruments have secured their place in the international repertory. The Trumpet Concerto is the composer’s sixth major composition. It was promptly considered a virtuoso showpiece to be assimilated into the standard trumpet repertoire worldwide. The concerto consists of five major sections that are performed without pause. Its melodic and rhythmic elements represent the compositional style of fellow Armenian composer Aram Khatchaturian. Known as a “flashy piece,” it has characteristics of Gypsy, Russian, and Armenian music through beautiful, soulful melodies and several challenging rapid-tonguing passages. BARBARA GALLAGHER A New Day — 2011 Barbara Gallagher, a native of Charlotte, NC, studied composition at the North Carolina School of the Arts where she earned a Bachelor of Music degree. She studied with Vincent Persichetti at The Juilliard School, where she received a Master of Music degree in 1983. Gallagher held the Irving Berlin Fellowship in memory of Jerome Kern.

Gallagher is a prolific composer of orchestral works that feature instrumental solos in a variety of forms. She has written vocal ensemble and choral music, dance and dramatic music, and music for children. Gallagher is a recipient of numerous awards, grants, and commissions and her works are published by three music companies and performed throughout the United States and abroad. A resident of Wilmington, Gallagher lives with her husband, composer Ernesto Ferrari, and their two children. In addition to being a professional composer/musician, she is involved in a potpourri of musical activities. Commissioned in 2011 by the Florence (SC) Symphony Orchestra, A New Day is a delightfully gay, highly expressive and dynamic 15-minute work. It focuses on two recurring themes and a series of dramatic fanfares that vary in intensity, mood, and pitch. The Contemporary Classic work demonstrates both pastoral and atmospheric changes by using contrasting instrumental timbres in a “call and response” style.

LEONARD BERNSTEIN 1918 - 1990 Music from "Fancy Free" Ballet — 1944 At the time of Bernstein’s death in 1990, composer Ned Rorem stated, “Lenny had led four lives; he was not 72 at his death but 288 years old.” He had several successful careers in the course of his lifetime. Bernstein’s one act ballet Fancy Free premiere was an exciting time for American ballet. At age 28 he and another young, fledgling artist, Jerome Robbins, teamed up to write music and choreography for this 15-minute jazz ballet. Because the jazz/blues idiom made it a first of its kind, the two artists were catapulted to world famous careers, and the unusual ballet became a staple in American repertory ballet. Three sailor buddies spend their one-day pass on the New York City scene. In the process of meandering around, they end up in a bar competing over local girls until the mood peters out for both girls and sailors. They leave the bar and saunter onto the street again, resuming their prowl for more adventure.

The suite begins with a musical depiction of the three sailors as brassy, swaggering, high-spirited sailors, all steamed up and ready for fun and girls. They cavort boisterously to accompanying music which focuses on a short, high spirited, somewhat dissonant theme quickly passed among winds, brass, percussion, and a jazzy solo piano. (This cool, bouncy piano interrupts the action throughout the score with several delightful interludes). Pas de deux changes the ballet mood from quiet and sensitive to raucous. One sailor interacts with a lone girl out on a stroll. A casual attitude mixes with moments of intense lust between the two as they move to slow and torchy music. The mood changes when the three sailors enter a nearby bar. In order for the three sailors to win over two bar girls, they competitively stageA Dance Contest that reveals in solos their respective personalities.The first is bawdy and boisterous with highly percussive music to illustrate acrobatic, vaudeville showiness in dance form. It “gallops” along with the help of cocky percussion blocks which also intervene throughout the work.

The second dance is lighter, gayer, more happy-go-lucky, while the sailor prances to ever-changing, half-waltz time rhythms. The third dance music evokes Spanish and Latin flavors, with the wood blocks playing a prominent role along with a display of rhumba-type rhythms. The Finale of the Suite depicts a wild extension of the dances with the girls joining in. The music becomes a frenetic lindy hop, and a fight breaks out. The girls become disgusted with the wild antics and leave the scene. The sailors also leave with newfound determination to never to let girls interfere with their friendship. Then a new girl appears and they turn to follow her. AARON COPLAND 1900 - 1990 El Salon Mexico — 1936 As an author of books and articles, lecturer, sponsor of contemporary composers, and foremost composer of American-based music, Aaron Copland was a prime force in bringing recognition, understanding, and “roots” to 20th century American music. A modernist in all art forms, he believed wholeheartedly in contemporary influences. His goal was to liberate American music from its European heritage.

Copland’s most important works were written after 1935. It was at that time when he concluded that his self-imposed “ivory tower” life had caused a lost connection to his audiences. He realized that previous works had been too esoteric and complex in harmonic and rhythmic construction; dissonances had previously been exploited for little reason other than standard usage in composition. Furthermore, others found Copland’s music difficult to interpret. The 1930s thus became a turning point in Copland’s career. His music became less “obtuse” in sound, contained well-defined melodies, and incorporated ever-changing rhythmic patterns. The reorientation of Copland’s musical style first became apparent in El Salon Mexico. As a simple tourist, he began looking for the spirit of the Mexican people and found it in a local dance hall. Regarded as a highly popular overture dominated by popular Mexican folk tunes, El Salon Mexico is a concise, uncomplicated work.

After a series of infectious, catchy phrases, one lone, high-pitched trumpet enters with the song “El Mosco.” Other tunes follow in rapid succession; one has the sensuous quality of a Spanish tango, while a jaunty tune for solo clarinet contributes a mood of cheerful “devil-may-care” attitude. The moods run from garish and lusty to lyrical and sentimental. El Salon Mexico received immediate, universal acceptance. Copland was convinced that he had found a compositional style leading in the direction of the recognition and permanent success he personally desired. Fritz Kreisler | Biography, Albums, Streaming Links | AllMusic Fritz Kreisler Biography by Erik Eriksson Austrian-born American violinist whose mastery of the instrument is reflected in the brilliant pieces he wrote and arranged for it.

Presto Classical - Composer: Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962) - Buy music CDs & DVDs online Wiener Philharmoniker , Valery Gergiev Vienna’s musical year shines with two dates that always dazzle: The New Year’s Day concert with the Vienna Philharmonic, and the Vienna Philharmonic’s open-air June concert in the gardens of the palace of Schönbrunn, the Summer Night Concert. The program will be devoted to works by Liszt, but detailed information will not be available until later in 2011. Suffice it to say that Valery Gergiev, in the opinion of The Guardian “the greatest conductor of his generation”, will be leading the orchestra. A renowned soloist will take part in the concert for an extra dose of musical excitement As OÖNachrichten last year summed up: for the more than 100,000 people attending the concert, it was “a heavenly summer night with the Vienna Philharmonic”. The concert will be recorded and filmed by Austrian Television. It will be broadcast live or delayed by over 60 television stations worldwide. CD and DVD versions will both be rush-released.

Valse-scherzo in C major for violin & orchestra (or violin & piano), Op. 34 Amy Schwartz Moretti (violin), Elizabeth Pridgen (piano) Violinist Amy Schwartz Moretti is recognized for her musical elegance and grace. Her playing has been described as “breathtakingly rich in tone and color” (St. Petersburg Times). Praised by The American Record Guide as a “brilliant soloist” and The Oregonian for “a performance that glowed with inner warmth...” she has received numerous accolades for her musical artistry and technique. Many of her performances have been streamed online and broadcast on FM radio, including Performance Today. Her extensive solo and chamber music appearances have taken her across the United States and abroad, performing in such venues as New York’s Weill Recital Hall, Seattle’s Benaroya Hall, Cleveland’s Severance Hall, Phillips Collection in Washington D.C., Atlanta’s Spivey Hall, Tampa’s Morsani Hall, Gonfalone Oratory in Rome, Italy, and Edinburgh Castle. Praised for her “big piano presence” (American Record Guide), Elizabeth Pridgen has distiguished herself as a soloist and avid chamber musician. Ms.

Pridgen has recently joined the Georgian Chamber Players and is a member of Trio RPM with violinist Amy Schwartz Moretti and cellist Christopher Rex. A graduate of the Juilliard School and Peabody Conservatory of Music, Ms. Pridgen is currently a Distinguished Artist and Piano Chair at the McDuffie Center for Strings and holds the G. Leslie Fabian Chair of Music at the Townsend School of Music at Mercer University. Robert McDuffie has appeared as soloist with most of the major orchestras of the world. He gave the World Premiere, with the Toronto Symphony, of Violin Concerto No. 2, “The American Four Seasons” - a work written by Philip Glass for Robert McDuffie. McDuffie is a GRAMMY® nominated artist, whose acclaimed recordings include the violin concertos of Mendelssohn, Bruch, Adams, Glass, Barber, Rozsa, Bernstein, William Schuman, and Viennese favorites. Robert McDuffie holds the Genelle and Mansfield Jennings Distinguished University Professor Chair at Mercer University in his hometown of Macon, Georgia. He is also the founder of The Rome Chamber Music Festival.

Recorded by Multi-GRAMMY award winning engineer Leslie Anne Jones, this album is truly a sonic feast for lovers of the violin and chamber music. Fritz Kreisler | Biography & History | AllMusic google+ Artist Biography by Erik Eriksson Violinist Fritz Kreisler was one of the most beloved and best known of early recording era musicians. His burnished tone and patrician phrasing were quintessentially Viennese, and the warmth of his playing won him devoted followers wherever he appeared. So great was his fame and the affection in which he was held that he survived a blaze of controversy when he revealed in 1935 that many of the short pieces he had performed as transcriptions of such composers as Couperin , Vivaldi , and Pugnani were, in fact, his own work. While the critics fumed, the public expressed little concern and continued to pack his concert appearances. Kreisler was the son of a famous surgeon, a good amateur musician who gave young Fritz his first violin lessons. Kreisler made his public debut at seven in a collection of short works.

Shortly thereafter, he was permitted to enter the Vienna Conservatory despite a policy that no one younger than 14 be accepted. After three years of study with Joseph Hellmesberger , he was awarded a gold medal. Kreisler was sent to Paris for further studies with Delibes and Massart. At the age of 12, he won the Premier Grand Prix de Rome gold medal competing against 40 other players, all of whom were at least 20 years of age. In 1888, Kreisler sailed to the United States for a concert tour with pianist Moriz Rosenthal , earning many complimentary reviews. When he returned to Vienna, he applied to the Vienna Philharmonic for a position but was turned down. Feeling discouraged, he resolved to abandon music and chose to pursue a career in medicine. After several years, he rejected that course and began the study of painting. First in Paris, then in Rome, he worked toward mastering his technique, but soon this, too, became tiresome. He returned to Vienna and enlisted in the army. A full year as a soldier was sufficient to cause yet more rethinking and Kreisler resigned his commission and returned to the study of violin.

He spent eight weeks in country solitude readying himself for his return to the concert stage. His "second debut" in Berlin was successful, but widespread acclaim came during several American tours between 1901 and 1903. In the United States, he was hailed as one of the foremost violinists of his time and, soon after, Europe followed suit in recognizing his extraordinary artistry. In 1910 in London, Kreisler gave the premiere performance of Elgar 's Violin Concerto, a work dedicated to him. While vacationing in Switzerland in 1914, Kreisler received the news that Austria was at war. Returning to his native country, he rejoined his former division, now stationed in Galicia. An attack by the Russians resulted in an injury and his discharge with high honors. Wishing to help his country, Kreisler embarked on a lengthy concert tour of America. The United States' entry into the war, however, put him in the awkward position of being an ex-Austrian officer aiding what was now an enemy nation. Negative reaction obliged him to withdraw from concertizing and retire to Maine to pass the remaining period of hostilities.

At his return to the New York concert stage in 1919, however, he was given a tumultuous reception. He took up residence in Berlin for ten years beginning in 1924. With the Anschluss in 1938, he moved to France, but returned to the United States before the Nazi invasion and lived his remaining years in America, where he gave his final public concert in 1947. He continued to perform on broadcasts until 1950. Violin by Giuseppe Guarneri, Cremona, ca. 1730, "Goldberg-Baron Vitta" | Library of Congress Violin by Giuseppe Guarneri, Cremona, ca. 1730, "Goldberg-Baron Vitta" Violin by Giuseppe Guarneri, Cremona, ca. 1730, "Goldberg-Baron Vitta." Performing Arts Reading Room, Library of Congress.

A violinmaker from Cremona, Italy, Giuseppe Guarneri del Gesú (1698-1744), created a small group of violins used by virtually every virtuoso from Nicolo Paganini to Jascha Heifetz to Fritz Kreisler, and, more recently, by extraordinary violinists such as Szymon Goldberg. In around 1730 in Cremona, Italy, Guarneri del Gesu made two violins from the same piece of wood. One was the "Kreisler" Guarneri, acquired by Fritz Kreisler in 1926, which he gave to the Library in 1952. The other violin was the "Baron Vitta," named after its first known owner and acquired by Szymon Goldberg in 1958. The "Baron Vitta" was given to the Library of Congress by Szymon Goldberg's wife, Miyako Yamane Goldberg, in May 2007 to reside with its "twin." Placed side by side at the Library, the instruments show seemingly identical wood-grain patterns, suggesting that they were derived from the same parent tree.

There is little information about the early history of these violins. It is known, however, that the legendary Austrian-American violinist Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962) bought his famous Guarneri violin in 1926. Kreisler's recordings since that time constitute one of the earliest sets of documentation to establish the quality of a particular instrument during a particular period. After Kreisler gave his Guarneri to the Library in 1952, visiting violinists kept the instrument in shape by playing it regularly in Library concerts. A few blocks away, the "Kreisler's" sibling, the "Baron Vitta," had been on deposit at the Smithsonian Institution since the mid-1990s. The "Baron Vitta's" previous owner was Polish-born violinist Szymon Goldberg, who had made his debut in prewar Germany at age 12, had served as concertmaster of the Dresden Philharmonic at age 16, and as concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic at age 19, in 1929.

He fled to the United States from Nazi Germany and was interned by the Japanese during a concert tour in Java, in 1943. He later established the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and served as its soloist and music director for 22 years. Goldberg died in 1993 at the age of 84; his trust loaned the "Baron Vitta" to the Smithsonian. In the spring of 2007, Goldberg's widow, pianist Miyoko Yamane, donated the "Baron Vitta" to the Library of Congress. In turn, the Library loaned the violin to Nicholas Kitchen, a former student of Goldberg's and an eminent soloist and founding member of the Borromeo String Quartet. Before taking the violin on a concert tour, Kitchen and Mrs. Goldberg brought the "Baron Vitta" to the Library. She accompanied Kitchen, who played the first movement (Allegro) of Johannes Brahms' Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 3 in D minor, op.

108, using alternately the "Kreisler" and the "Baron Vitta." About this Item Fritz Kreisler's violin - snopes.com Fritz Kreisler's violin Join Date: 18 February 2000 Location: California Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962), the world-famous violinist, earned a fortune with his concerts and compositions, but he generously gave most of it away. So, when he discovered an exquisite violin on one of his trips, he wasn't able to buy it. Later, having raised enough money to meet the asking price, he returned to the seller, hoping to purchase that beautiful instrument. But to his great dismay it had been sold to a collector. Kreisler made his way to the new owner's home and offered to buy the violin. The collector said it had become his prized possession and he would not sell it. Keenly disappointed, Kreisler was about to leave when he had an idea. "Could I play the instrument once more before it is consigned to silence?" he asked. Permission was granted, and the great virtuoso filled the room with such heart-moving music that the collector's emotions were deeply stirred.

"I have no right to keep that to myself," he exclaimed. "It's yours, Mr. Kreisler. Take it into the world, and let people hear it." snopes Join Date: 19 August 2005 Location: Durham, UK Posts: 2,559 It looks like this version of the tale originated in the July 26th 2006 edition of the Turning Point Daily Devotional . A similar version from later in 2006 casts a wealthy Englishman as the collector. A couple of Fritz Kreisler quotes pop up in another sermon : Quote: In fact, a woman once came up to Fritz Kreisler after one of his concerts and said to him, “I’d give my life to play as beautifully as you do.” To which Kreisler replied, “I did.” A similar story to the one in the OP appears here: His Master's Touch Quote: One day a stranger wandered through the streets of Stratford, England. As he neared the Stratford Cathedral and heard beautiful strains of music coming from the building, he made his way into the cathedral and took a seat toward the rear of the sanctuary.

He was strangely attracted and enchanted by the strains of music coming from the wonderful organ. After some time, he walked up the long aisle, climbed the steep staircase leading into the choir loft, and edged his way through the seats to take his position near the organ console. He stood there for a moment of two. Then the old organist who was seated before the console looked at him and asked, `What do you want?' `Please, sir,' replied the stranger, `I should like to play your organ, I was attracted by the delightful tone of your organ and would appreciate the privilege of playing upon it.' `No,' snapped the old organist. `This is my instrument, and no one else ever plays on it.' Stoneage Dinosaur Join Date: 01 January 1970 Location: Chapel Hill, NC Posts: 144 Kriesler himself tells a version of this anecdote in "The Story of My Violins," which appeared in The Cremona in May, 1908 (p. 58), though it was first published in Musical Courier (date unknown).

Kreisler describes giving up his Gagliano for a Joseph Guarnerius, which he purchased for $10,000 from "the celebrated dealer, Hart." Quote: For one year I was in truth happy in the ownership of this truly superb instrument; then one day as I entered the rooms of Mr. Hart I heard a Voice, liquid, pure, penetrating; whose divine sweetness pierced my soul as a knife with the anguish of longing. I rushed into the room in a frenzy of emotion. "Whose is it? Where is it?" I cried. "At any cost it must be mine. What is its price? I will give my entire fortune, but I must possess it!" "My poor Fritz," replied my good friend Mr. Hart, "be calm. This is my greatest treasure. It is my 'Hart' Guarnerius, which bears my name, so greatly do I prize the honour of having discovered it. I have never spoken of it to you, for it was not in my power to either sell or give it to you. Before I knew you I parted with it." It was then the property of an English collector of wealth, with a passion for collecting violins.

That this divine Voice should be so doomed to silence under the glass case of a collector was to me a tragedy that rent my heart. More than ever I was determined that I should endow it with life and the power to interpret the great message of our music gods. From that day, with Mr. Hart as an abettor, I laid siege to the fortress which held the imprisoned Guarnerius. I gave no rest to its jailer, who, I must admit, was a gentleman of rare culture and attainments. For weeks and months I assailed him with my pleadings. Finally he took it from his case, saying, "Play." I played as one condemned to death would have played to obtain his ransom. When I had finished he said: "I have no right to keep it; keep it; it belongs to you. Go out into the world and let it be heard." It's a little difficult to figure out which Guarnerius this was supposed to have been, though I think we're to believe that's how Kreisler acquired this one . If this is the case, Kreisler's telling of how he came to possess this violin is somewhat at odds with other published reports of the time. -- Bonnie

Question: Fritz Kreisler who died in 1962, was a virtuoso on which musical instrument?
Answer: THE VIOLIN