Rudolf Kolisch
Encyclopedia
Rudolf Kolisch was a Viennese violinist and leader of string quartets, including the Kolisch Quartet
and the Pro Arte Quartet
. He played a right-handed violin left-handed—an extremely rare occurrence in classical music settings.
, Lower Austria
and raised in Vienna
. His father (also named Rudolf Kolisch) was a prominent physician and a Dozent at the University
. Following service in World War I, Kolisch attended both the University and the Musikakademie, where he studied violin with Ottokar Ševčik, composition with Franz Schreker
and conducting with Franz Schalk
, intending at first to make a career as a conductor. His sister was Gertrud Schoenberg.
, who later became his brother-in-law (1924). He put Kolisch to work in the "Society for Private Musical Performances
in Vienna" . This led to the creation of a string quartet ("") to perform both Schoenberg's music and the classical string quartet repertoire in a manner that would take into account the principles of Schoenberg's teaching. Schoenberg directed many rehearsals of this quartet. By 1927 the ensemble had become known as the Kolisch Quartet
. Numerous works were written for this ensemble by composers including Alban Berg
, Anton Webern
, Schoenberg, and Béla Bartók
.
Stranded in New York by the entrance of the United States into World War II
, Kolisch at first tried to keep the Quartet together. When this failed, he took a position on the faculty of The New School
, lecturing on "Musical Performance: The Realization of Musical Meaning". With Otto Klemperer
, he co-founded a chamber orchestra at the school, with which he gave the first U.S. performances of Bartók's Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta
, Igor Stravinsky
's l'Histoire du Soldat
and Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony No. 1. During this time he prepared the ensemble and participated in the recording of Schoenberg's Pierrot lunaire
, conducted by the composer. He researched and wrote an article, "Tempo and Character in Beethoven's Music" which was presented to the New York chapter of the American Musicological Society
and later published in two installments in the magazine Musical Quarterly.
In 1944 Kolisch was invited to the University of Wisconsin–Madison
to become the new leader of the Pro Arte String Quartet
(recorded as the first "Quartet in Residence" at any U.S. university). He was also granted a full Professorship. In the 1950s he began to tour in Europe again as a recitalist. He became a member of the faculty at the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik
in Darmstadt, Germany, along with his close friends and long-time associates Eduard Steuermann
and Theodor Adorno. Except for one year (1956) spent in Darmstadt, he remained active in Madison until reaching the mandatory retirement age in 1966.
At that time he was invited by Gunther Schuller
to become head of the Chamber Music department at the New England Conservatory in Boston
. He remained on the faculty until the end of his life. During the summers of 1974 through 1977, he also taught chamber music performance at the annual Schoenberg Seminars in Mödling, Austria near Vienna.
Kolisch Quartet
The Kolisch Quartet was a string quartet musical ensemble founded in Vienna, originally as the New Vienna String Quartet for the performance of Schoenberg's works, and settling to the form in which it was later known. It had a worldwide reputation and made several recordings...
and the Pro Arte Quartet
Pro Arte Quartet
The Pro Arte String Quartet was founded in Belgium in 1912, and transferred permanently to Madison, Wisconsin in 1941. After becoming the Court Quartet to Queen Elizabeth of Belgium, the Pro Arte began the first of many international tours in 1919. Bartok, Milhaud and Honegger entrusted the...
. He played a right-handed violin left-handed—an extremely rare occurrence in classical music settings.
Early life and education
Kolisch was born in Klamm, SchottwienSchottwien
Schottwien is a town in the district of Neunkirchen in the Austrian state of Lower Austria....
, Lower Austria
Lower Austria
Lower Austria is the northeasternmost state of the nine states in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria since 1986 is Sankt Pölten, the most recently designated capital town in Austria. The capital of Lower Austria had formerly been Vienna, even though Vienna is not officially part of Lower Austria...
and raised in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. His father (also named Rudolf Kolisch) was a prominent physician and a Dozent at the University
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...
. Following service in World War I, Kolisch attended both the University and the Musikakademie, where he studied violin with Ottokar Ševčik, composition with Franz Schreker
Franz Schreker
Franz Schreker was an Austrian composer, conductor, teacher and administrator. Primarily a composer of operas, his style is characterized by aesthetic plurality , timbral experimentation, strategies of extended tonality and...
and conducting with Franz Schalk
Franz Schalk
Franz Schalk was an Austrian conductor. From 1918 to 1929 he was director of the Vienna State Opera, a post he held jointly with Richard Strauss from 1919 to 1924. Later, Schalk was involved in the establishment of the Salzburg Festival.-Biography:Schalk was born in Vienna, Austria, where he later...
, intending at first to make a career as a conductor. His sister was Gertrud Schoenberg.
Career
In 1919 he began studying composition with Arnold SchoenbergArnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
, who later became his brother-in-law (1924). He put Kolisch to work in the "Society for Private Musical Performances
Society for Private Musical Performances
The Society for Private Musical Performances was an organization founded in Vienna in the Autumn of 1918 by Arnold Schoenberg with the intention of making carefully rehearsed and comprehensible performances of available to genuinely interested members of the musical public...
in Vienna" . This led to the creation of a string quartet ("") to perform both Schoenberg's music and the classical string quartet repertoire in a manner that would take into account the principles of Schoenberg's teaching. Schoenberg directed many rehearsals of this quartet. By 1927 the ensemble had become known as the Kolisch Quartet
Kolisch Quartet
The Kolisch Quartet was a string quartet musical ensemble founded in Vienna, originally as the New Vienna String Quartet for the performance of Schoenberg's works, and settling to the form in which it was later known. It had a worldwide reputation and made several recordings...
. Numerous works were written for this ensemble by composers including Alban Berg
Alban Berg
Alban Maria Johannes Berg was an Austrian composer. He was a member of the Second Viennese School with Arnold Schoenberg and Anton Webern, and produced compositions that combined Mahlerian Romanticism with a personal adaptation of Schoenberg's twelve-tone technique.-Early life:Berg was born in...
, Anton Webern
Anton Webern
Anton Webern was an Austrian composer and conductor. He was a member of the Second Viennese School. As a student and significant follower of Arnold Schoenberg, he became one of the best-known exponents of the twelve-tone technique; in addition, his innovations regarding schematic organization of...
, Schoenberg, and Béla Bartók
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
.
Stranded in New York by the entrance of the United States into World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Kolisch at first tried to keep the Quartet together. When this failed, he took a position on the faculty of The New School
The New School
The New School is a university in New York City, located mostly in Greenwich Village. From its founding in 1919 by progressive New York academics, and for most of its history, the university was known as the New School for Social Research. Between 1997 and 2005 it was known as New School University...
, lecturing on "Musical Performance: The Realization of Musical Meaning". With Otto Klemperer
Otto Klemperer
Otto Klemperer was a German conductor and composer. He is widely regarded as one of the leading conductors of the 20th century.-Biography:Otto Klemperer was born in Breslau, Silesia Province, then in Germany...
, he co-founded a chamber orchestra at the school, with which he gave the first U.S. performances of Bartók's Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta
Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta
Music for Strings, Percussion and Celesta, Sz. 106, BB 114 is one of the best-known compositions by the Hungarian composer Béla Bartók. Commissioned by Paul Sacher to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Basel Chamber Orchestra, the score is dated September 7, 1936...
, Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
's l'Histoire du Soldat
Histoire du soldat
Histoire du soldat , composed by Igor Stravinsky, is a 1918 theatrical work "to be read, played, and danced" . The libretto, which is based on a Russian folk tale, was written in French by the Swiss universalist writer C.F. Ramuz...
and Schoenberg's Chamber Symphony No. 1. During this time he prepared the ensemble and participated in the recording of Schoenberg's Pierrot lunaire
Pierrot Lunaire
Dreimal sieben Gedichte aus Albert Girauds 'Pierrot lunaire' , commonly known simply as Pierrot Lunaire, Op. 21 , is a melodrama by Arnold Schoenberg...
, conducted by the composer. He researched and wrote an article, "Tempo and Character in Beethoven's Music" which was presented to the New York chapter of the American Musicological Society
American Musicological Society
The American Musicological Society is a membership-based musicological organization founded in 1934 to advance scholarly research in the various fields of music as a branch of learning and scholarship; it grew out of a small contingent of the Music Teachers National Association and, more directly,...
and later published in two installments in the magazine Musical Quarterly.
In 1944 Kolisch was invited to the University of Wisconsin–Madison
University of Wisconsin–Madison
The University of Wisconsin–Madison is a public research university located in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1848, UW–Madison is the flagship campus of the University of Wisconsin System. It became a land-grant institution in 1866...
to become the new leader of the Pro Arte String Quartet
Pro Arte Quartet
The Pro Arte String Quartet was founded in Belgium in 1912, and transferred permanently to Madison, Wisconsin in 1941. After becoming the Court Quartet to Queen Elizabeth of Belgium, the Pro Arte began the first of many international tours in 1919. Bartok, Milhaud and Honegger entrusted the...
(recorded as the first "Quartet in Residence" at any U.S. university). He was also granted a full Professorship. In the 1950s he began to tour in Europe again as a recitalist. He became a member of the faculty at the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik
Darmstadt New Music Summer School
Initiated in 1946 by Wolfgang Steinecke, the Internationale Ferienkurse für Neue Musik, Darmstadt , held annually until 1970 and subsequently every two years, encompass both the teaching of composition and interpretation and include premières of new works...
in Darmstadt, Germany, along with his close friends and long-time associates Eduard Steuermann
Eduard Steuermann
Eduard Steuermann was an Austrian pianist and composer. The actress Salka Viertel was his sister...
and Theodor Adorno. Except for one year (1956) spent in Darmstadt, he remained active in Madison until reaching the mandatory retirement age in 1966.
At that time he was invited by Gunther Schuller
Gunther Schuller
Gunther Schuller is an American composer, conductor, horn player, author, historian, and jazz musician.- Biography and works :...
to become head of the Chamber Music department at the New England Conservatory in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
. He remained on the faculty until the end of his life. During the summers of 1974 through 1977, he also taught chamber music performance at the annual Schoenberg Seminars in Mödling, Austria near Vienna.
Marriage and family
Kolisch was married in the 1930s to Josefa Rosanska (b. 1904, d. 1986), a concert pianist; the marriage ended in divorce. In the early 1940s he married Lorna Freedman (b. 1917, d. 2006), a professional violinist and violist.Legacy and honors
- The papers of Rudolf Kolisch are held in the Manuscript Department of the Houghton Library at Harvard UniversityHarvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
.