Bronislav Gimpel was a Polish

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

-American violin

Violin

The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....

ist, and teacher. He was born in Lvov, Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...

, part of Polish Galicia (now Lviv

Lviv

Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following...

, Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...

), to a family of Jewish origin. Gimpel's older brother, Jakob Gimpel

Jakob Gimpel

Jakob Gimpel was a Polish concert pianist and educator.Jakob Gimpel was born in Lvov...

, was a noted concert pianist who also recorded music for motion pictures.

Early career

Bronislav Gimpel started piano and violin lessons with his father at the age of five. At the age of eight, he studied with Moritz Wolfstahl at the Lwów Conservatory. After 1922 he continued his studies with Robert Pollack at the Vienna Conservatory. At the age of fourteen, he played the Goldmark Concerto with the Vienna Philharmonic. A year later, an extended concert tour in Italy resulted in a succession of triumphs of historic proportion, with command performances before King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy

Victor Emmanuel III of Italy

Victor Emmanuel III was a member of the House of Savoy and King of Italy . In addition, he claimed the crowns of Ethiopia and Albania and claimed the titles Emperor of Ethiopia and King of Albania , which were unrecognised by the Great Powers...

 and Pope Pius XI

Pope Pius XI

Pope Pius XI , born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, was Pope from 6 February 1922, and sovereign of Vatican City from its creation as an independent state on 11 February 1929 until his death on 10 February 1939...

, and invitations to play on Paganini's famous Guarneri and to perform at the grave of the legendary virtuoso. Tours of South America and Europe followed. In 1930 he attended the Berlin Hochschule für Musik

Berlin University of the Arts

The Universität der Künste Berlin, UdK is a public art school in Berlin, Germany, one of the four universities in the city...

 under the guidance of Prof. Carl Flesch

Carl Flesch

Carl Flesch was a violinist and teacher.Carl Flesch was born in Moson in Hungary in 1873. He began playing the violin at seven years of age. At 10, he was taken to Vienna, and began to study with Jakob Grün. At 17, he left for Paris, and joined the Paris Conservatoire...

. Thereafter he continued his solo career while holding the lead posts in Königsberg

Königsberg

Königsberg was the capital of East Prussia from the Late Middle Ages until 1945 as well as the northernmost and easternmost German city with 286,666 inhabitants . Due to the multicultural society in and around the city, there are several local names for it...

 and Göteborg.

Move to United States

Gimpel immigrated to the United States in 1937. The outbreak of the War brought Gimpel to Los Angeles and to the concertmastership of the Los Angeles Philharmonic

Los Angeles Philharmonic

The Los Angeles Philharmonic is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, United States. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from July through September...

. After serving in the U.S. Army from 1942 to the end of the war, Gimpel resumed his solo career in Europe, where he was received, once again, with great acclaim. In 1963, he and Władysław Szpilman formed "The Warsaw Piano Quintet". His recording of Dvorak

Dvorák

- Dvořák or Dvorak :* Ann Dvorak , American film actress* Antonín Dvořák , Czech composer of Romantic music* August Dvorak , American psychologist, co-creator of the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard...

's Violin Concerto

Violin concerto

A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin and instrumental ensemble, customarily orchestra. Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up through the present day...

 is considered one of the best interpretations of this concerto.

Teaching positions

In 1967 Gimpel accepted a professorship at the University of Connecticut

University of Connecticut

The admission rate to the University of Connecticut is about 50% and has been steadily decreasing, with about 28,000 prospective students applying for admission to the freshman class in recent years. Approximately 40,000 prospective students tour the main campus in Storrs annually...

. From 1973 Gimpel was a Professor at the Royal Northern College of Music

Royal Northern College of Music

The Royal Northern College of Music is a music school in Manchester, England. It is located on Oxford Road in Chorlton on Medlock, at the western edge of the campus of the University of Manchester and is one of four conservatories associated with the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music...

 in Manchester, England. In this period of time he resumed his solo concert appearances in Europe, the United States and South America.

Gimpel died in Los Angeles.

External links

• http://www.gimpelmusicarchives.com/