Description
Liebesleid: Alt-Wiener Tanzweisen ( Old Viennese Dance Airs ) is a collection of three short pieces for violin and piano composed by him.
The date of their composition is unknown. They were published in 1905 and deliberately and falsely attributed to Joseph Lanner . They were part of Kreisler’s repertoire from before 1910, when he deposited them under his own name.
The three pieces of the collection are generally played independently. Those are :
- Liebesfreud ( Pleasure of Love );
- Liebesleid ( Heartache )
- Schön Rosmarin ( Pretty Rosemary).
the young Fritz Kreisler could read music at the age of three. He received his first violin lessons from his father, who was an enthusiastic amateur, and from Jacques Auber.
In 1882 he became the youngest student to be admitted to the Vienna conservatoire (aged 7). He graduated at the age of 10, a gold medalist, then he worked in Paris with Joseph Massart , from whose class he graduated at 12, sharing the first prize with other students in 1887.
At age 14, he made his first tour of the USA. Back in Europe, he spent two years expanding his education (by studying art and medicine) and his experience (by spending a year in the Austrian army). Music remained his true profession, however, and he resumed his career in 1896 by touring Russia.
Vienna welcomed him in 1898 when he played Max Bruch’s concerto there under the direction of Hans Richter, and the same was true in Berlin the following year when he made his concert debut. He returned to America in 1900 and performed for the first time in the UK in 1902 . It was also in 1902 that he married Harriet Lies who took on the primary task of organising his life.
In 1910 , Fritz Kreisler created the concerto by Elgar , and was famous during the First World War (during which he served briefly, before being wounded and returned to civilian life). After spending some time in America, he moved to Berlin in 1924, but from 1933 he moved to France and refused to perform in Germany . In 1938 , he took French nationality, then in 1939 he settled permanently in the USA (he took American nationality in 1943).
In 1941, he was hit by a van in a New York street and remained in a coma for a week. Although this accident ended his professional career, he would continue to play until 1950. His wife died in 1963.
His art is characterised by the intensity of his vibrato and the economy of his bowing movements.
I was brought to this work as a young trumpeter listening to the first Dockshitzer album where he played the piece with such vibrant enthusiasm. Played by the Fairey Band conducted by Frank Renton.
