Alfred Dubois was a Belgian
violinist and teacher born (in Brussels) on November 19, 1898. He is one of many brilliant violinists who
enjoyed wide recognition during his lifetime but was (undeservedly) relegated
to the realm of forgotten artists after his death. (The 1953 edition of Grove’s Dictionary does
not mention him.) Many of his recordings
were made prior to the high-fidelity era and were not until recently released
as remastered CDs. They are now easy to
find on the internet. It has been said
that his recordings of Bach and Franck works have rarely been equaled. Understandably, during his career, he was
more famous as a teacher than as a concert violinist. I don’t know who his first teachers were, but
it is known that Dubois entered the Royal Conservatory in Brussels in 1910 – he
was 12 years old. His main teacher there
was Alexandre Cornelis. (Cornelis is
said to have composed piano accompaniments to the 42 famous Kreutzer etudes for
violin.) Dubois graduated in 1913 (at
age 15) but continued to study with Cornelis until Cornelis’ death in 1917 -
another four years. It has been said
that he also studied with Eugene Ysaye afterward although some people dispute
that. (When Ysaye died in 1931, Dubois
took his place teaching at the conservatory.
He also played at Ysaye’s funeral that year.) Dubois won the Vieuxtemps Prize in 1920. He then embarked on a solo career – he was
twenty-one years old. He played in the
Trio of the Court of Belgium from 1925 onward (with pianist Emile Bosquet and cellist
Maurice Dambois.) He began teaching at
the Royal Conservatory in 1927 – he was 29 years old. He taught there until the day he died. He also formed a duo with pianist Marcel Maas
with whom he toured the U.S. in 1938. During
the war, Dubois played in the Artis Quartet with Arthur Grumiaux on second
violin, Robert Courte on viola, and Robert Maas on cello. It is widely reported that the quartet did
not play for German officials during the war (Belgium was a neutral country),
but I find that hard to believe. One
source states that he spent the war years in France. After Dubois died, his pupil, Grumiaux, took
his place at the conservatory – he had already been serving as Dubois’
assistant for eight years. Having been
regarded as an extraordinary teacher, Dubois served on violin competition
juries often. Here is an audio file from
YouTube in which Dubois plays the Vieuxtemps concerto number five. You might find his tone resembling Heifetz’
sound, with very precise rhythmic control and superb intonation. It has been said that Dubois was also a
skilled violin maker although I don’t know where any of his violins are. He may have played a Stradivarius violin made
in 1667 and another from 1713, but that is not at all certain. Alfred Dubois died (in Brussels) on March 24,
1949. He was 50 years old.
