Charles
Loeffler (Charles Martin Loeffler) was a German violinist, composer, and
teacher born (in Schoneberg, Germany – the outskirts of Berlin) on January 30,
1861. While claiming to be French
(Alsatian), he spent most of his career in the U.S. and rose to prominence
before being almost forgotten. He was
resentful toward his native Germany because his father had been imprisoned for
being on the wrong political side of things and died in prison. Not unlike violinist Nicolai Berezowsky many
years later, he was considered a major composer in his day but gradually fell
out of favor. Many music critics called
him one of America’s greatest composers.
He began his violin studies at about age 9, in 1870. Several sources state that he entered the
Advanced School for Music in Berlin at age 13, that is, 1874. There, he studied with Joseph Joachim and Edouard
Rappoldi. Composition he studied with
Clara Schumann’s half-brother, Woldemar Bargiel. After three years, he traveled to France
where he further studied (presumably at the Paris Conservatory) - violin with
Joseph Lambert Massart (pupil of Rodolphe Kreutzer) and composition with Ernest
Guiraud, teacher also of Claude Debussy.
Loeffler played in the famous Pasdeloup Orchestra and later on (1979 to
1881) in a private orchestra engaged by Paul von Derwies. Cesar Thomson also played in this private
orchestra although he was not there by the time Loeffler arrived. Loeffler was 20 years old when he left for
the U.S. One source states Loeffler set
foot in the U.S. on July 27, 1881. By
then, he had already lived in Germany, France, Russia, Hungary, and
Switzerland. He soon got a job playing
in the New York Symphony. He also played
in orchestras put together for occasional concerts by Theodore Thomas. In 1882, he was engaged by the Boston
Symphony, where he was assistant concertmaster for over twenty years. Franz Kneisel was concertmaster during most
of those years (1885-1903.) Loeffler
played with the orchestra until 1903. His first appearance as soloist with the
Boston Symphony took place on November 20, 1891. He played one of his own works, his first
orchestral composition. His works were
often played by American Orchestras during his lifetime. In 1905, none other than violinist Karl Halir
and composer Richard Strauss presented one of his works for violin and
orchestra in Berlin. It has been said
that Loeffler was a very careful and conscientious composer. Here is one example of a chamber music
work. His music has been described as
eclectic, influenced by the Symbolist movement.
He even wrote music for jazz band, possibly the first classical composer
to do so. His most famous work is
something called A Pagan Poem. Opinions vary, of course, but in my estimation, this work is worthy of being included in the repertoire of every orchestra in the world. As far as I know, the Pagan Poem has only been recorded 3 times. As did violinist
Richard Burgin much later, Loeffler frequently traveled to France and other parts of
Europe. After leaving the Boston
Symphony, he was very active not only composing but in various musical
endeavors. He was on the Board of
Directors of the Boston Opera Company at its inception in 1908. He was instrumental in establishing the
Juilliard School of Music in New York in 1924.
Other composers dedicated works to him.
He lived long enough to count George Gershwin among his friends. After his death, his manuscripts and
correspondence went to the Library of Congress.
The rest of his possessions went to the French Academy and the Paris
Conservatory. His best-known students are
probably Arthur Hartmann and Katherine Swift (George Gershwin’s lover.) Loeffler died (in Medfield, Massachusetts) on
May 19, 1935, at age 74. Among other
violins, Loeffler played a JB Vuillaume from (about) 1840 and a 1710
Stradivarius now known as the Duc De Camposelice or Camposelice for short. He used the violin between 1894 and 1928, at
which time it was returned to its Boston owner.
That Stradivarius was later owned by Vasa Prihoda, husband of Austrian
violinist Alma Rose for a time, and then eventually ended up with the Nippon
Foundation until it was sold at auction in 2006.
Nicolai Berezowsky (Nicolai Tikhonovich Berezowsky) was a Russian violinist,
composer, and conductor born (in St Petersburg, Russia) on May 17, 1900. It has been said that at one time he was more
famous than Aaron Copland, the iconic American composer – today, Berezowsky is
all but forgotten. The 1953 edition of
Grove’s Dictionary of Music makes no mention of him. He studied violin, piano, and singing at the
Imperial Chapel in St Petersburg, graduating in 1916. One source has him studying violin in Vienna
as well with an obscure teacher named Robert Pollak (aka as Robert Pollack), an
Austrian violinist who made his New York recital debut on December 18, 1913 and
who taught at the Vienna Conservatory from 1919 to 1926. Pollak is said to be one of Isaac Stern’s
teachers, too. After graduation from the
Imperial Chapel, Berezowsky played violin with the opera or ballet orchestras
in Saratov (1917-1919) and Moscow (1919-1920.)
According to one source, he left Russia in 1920 – other sources say
1922. He arrived in the U.S. in 1922 and
studied at Juilliard (New York) with Paul Kochanski for some time. He also played for a while with the Capitol
Theatre Orchestra of New York – the same orchestra which hired Eugene Ormandy
as a violinist when he first arrived in the U.S. and it is quite possible they
played in that orchestra at the same time.
From 1923 to 1929, Berezowsky played with the New York Philharmonic –
actually, the New York Philharmonic Society merged with the New York Symphony
in 1928 so it could have been with one or the other orchestra that he played;
internet sources are not clear on that. From
1932 to 1936 he was an assistant conductor at CBS. From 1929 to about 1931 he must have been a
freelance conductor and violinist playing and conducting for radio since it
wasn’t until 1932 that he again had a steady job. He played second violin in the Coolidge
String Quartet with William Kroll (on first violin) from 1935 until 1940. From 1941 to 1946 he again worked at
CBS. As far as composition, Serge
Koussevitsky (the Boston Symphony conductor) was a great champion of his and
gave the premieres of many of his major works.
His cello concerto was premiered by Gregor Piatigorsky and the Boston
Symphony. It seems not to have been
terribly popular with the public since Piatigorsky played it only three times
in quick succession – once in New York also - then never played it again. The concerto was premiered in Boston on February 22, 1935, then repeated on February 23 and finally played in New York's Carnegie Hall on March 2, 1935. (Thanks to Bridget Carr, archivist for the Boston Symphony, for these details.) Nevertheless, Berezowsky’s other music was
performed far and wide and enjoyed much success while he lived – Carl Flesch
performed his violin concerto and William Primrose played his viola concerto. Berezowsky began composing while still a
teenager. His Hebrew Suite was premiered
by the New York Philharmonic on December 6, 1928 – Willem Mengelberg was the
conductor. Later on, the philharmonic
played other works of his as well. The
last Berezowsky work to be performed by that orchestra was his Christmas
Festival Overture back in December of 1953 so, for 60 years now, Berezowsky’s
music has been absent from its programs. Be that as it may, his music is still
occasionally performed and some of it has been recorded. Of all his compositions, the most popular is
probably his children’s opera, Babar, the Elephant. That was one of his last works. He also wrote concertos for violin, cello,
viola, and harp; an oratorio, two operas, four symphonies, various light
orchestral pieces, and many chamber music works, including no fewer than 5
string quartets. Columbia University and
the New York Public Library have substantial archives on Berezowsky. It would not be difficult to resurrect his
music, if someone wanted to. Here is a
YouTube audio file featuring the Coolidge Quartet in 1938, playing a 1921 quartet
by Paul Hindemith. It is superb and Berezowsky’s
magnificent, warm, clean violin playing can be distinguished from Kroll’s more
austere sound. Berezowsky also did some
recording as an orchestral conductor. Berezowsky’s
first wife (Alice Newman) published a 1943 memoir which covered much of their
life together, titled “Duets with Nicky.”
Berezowsky died (in New York City) on August 27, 1953, at age 53. As was violinist Christian Ferras much later
(in 1982), Berezowsky was a victim of suicide.
William Kroll was an American violinist, teacher, and composer born
(in New York) on January 30, 1901. As were violinists
Joseph Achron, Christian Sinding, Benjamin Goddard, Ottokar Novacek, and Arthur
Hartmann, he is famous for a single composition, Banjo and Fiddle, which most
concert violinists learn and play at one time or another. He began his violin studies with his father
(a violinist) at age 4. At age 9 or 10,
he went to Berlin to continue his studies with Henri Marteau, Joseph Joachim’s
successor at the Berlin Advanced School for Music. He returned to the U.S. after World War I
broke out in 1914. In New York, he
studied at Juilliard (Institute of Musical Arts) with Franz Kneisel from 1916
to 1921. He actually made his public
debut in New York at age 14. One source
describes his debut as “prodigious.” Although
Kroll concertized as a soloist in Europe and the Americas, he dedicated a great
deal of time to chamber music as a member of various chamber music ensembles,
well-known in their time: the Elshuco Trio (William Kroll, Willem Winneke, and
Aurelio Giorni, 1922-1929), the South Mountain Quartet (1923-), the Coolidge
Quartet (William Kroll, Nicolai Berezowsky, Nicolas Moldavan, and Victor
Gottlieb, 1936-1944), and the Kroll Quartet (William Kroll, Louis Graeler,
Nathan Gordon, and Avron Twerdowsky, 1944-1969.) The Coolidge Quartet was being paid $400.00
per concert in 1938, a good sum in those days – the equivalent of $6,550.00
today. From a very early age, he taught
at several music schools, namely Juilliard (1922-1938), Mannes College (1943-),
the Peabody Conservatory (1947-1965), the Cleveland Institute (1964-1967), and
Queens College (1969-) Kroll made very
few commercial recordings but an interesting one is a recording of three Mozart
Sonatas available here for about $120.00.
It includes the famous K454 sonata which Mozart wrote in 1784 for Regina
Strinasacchi, one of the very first female concert violinists. You can listen to a short Kroll recording on
YouTube here. Among his violins were a 1709
Stradivarius (the Ernst Strad, aka as the Lady Halle Strad, owned and played by
Heinrich Ernst, and, later, by Wilma Neruda) and a 1775 G.B. Guadagnini. Kroll died (in Boston) on March 10, 1980, at
age 79.
