Jacob
Dont (Jakob Dont) was an Austrian violinist, composer, and teacher born (in
Vienna) on March 2, 1815. Although he
was a well-known musician in his day, he is now mostly remembered as a composer
of several violin etude books. His
father, Joseph Valentin Dont, was a cellist who was well-acquainted with
Beethoven. I don’t know who Dont’s first
teachers were but he eventually studied with Josef Bohm and Georg
Hellmesberger, Sr. at the Vienna Conservatory. (Josef Bohm was also the teacher of Joachim,
Ernst, Hubay, Remenyi, and Grun. Interestingly,
there are two Georg Hellmesbergers and two Josef Hellmesbergers – all four were related and all four were violinists.) In
1831, Dont joined the Hofburgtheater orchestra and three years later the Vienna
Hofkapelle. He began concertizing while
still a teenager but decided against a solo career. One source states he taught at the Academy of
Art (Akademie der Tonkunst) and the Seminary at St Anna at around this time, although
I have no idea what or where those places are - I suspect they are both located
in or near Vienna. He simply continued
to play in the imperial orchestras until he was appointed violin professor at
the Pedagogical Institute in Vienna in 1853.
He was 38 years old by then. In 1871
(some sources say 1873) Dont became violin professor at his old school, the
Vienna Conservatory. He was now 56 years
old. Ironically, Dont’s many
instructional books for violin were not allowed to be used at the
Conservatory. His Opus numbers 17, 18,
20, 33, 35, and 37 are his best known works for violin studies – most violin
students are familiar with these etudes.
Dont also wrote considerable vocal music, some chamber music, piano
music, and solo works for violin and piano. Almost all of this music was published during his lifetime. His most famous pupil is Leopold Auer, the
Hungarian violinist and pedagogue. This
fact alone makes Dont nearly immortal as a musician and violinist. Dont died (in Vienna) on November 17, 1888,
at age 73.
