Karel Halíř (1 February 1859 – 21 December 1909) was a Czech violinist who lived mainly in Germany. "Karel" is also given as Karol, Karl or Carl; "Halíř" is also given as Halir or Haliř.
Karel Halíř was born in Hohenelbe, Bohemia (now Vrchlabí, Czech Republic), and studied with Antonín Bennewitz at the Prague Conservatory(1867–73) and with Joseph Joachim in Berlin (1874–76). For the next four years (1876-1879) he was concertmaster of the Benjamin Bilse Kapelle in Berlin. After short periods as concertmaster of the orchestras at Königsberg (1879) and Mannheim (1881), he spent ten years at Weimar (1884–94). He first attracted widespread notice in Germany as a soloist with his playing of Bach's Double Concerto with Joseph Joachim at the Bach Festival at Eisenach in 1884.[1] In 1894 Halíř took over as concert master of the Berlin opera orchestra, the Königliche Kapelle, and joined the faculty of the Berlin Königliche Hochschule für Musik. At that time he started his own quartet in Berlin with Carl Markees, Adolf Müller, and Hugo Dechert, which had a subscription series for fifteen years.[2] Later he also founded a Piano Trio group with his Hochschule colleague Georg Schumann on piano and Hugo Dechert on cello. Halíř additionally joined the Joachim Quartet in 1897, playing second violin with Joseph Joachim, Emanuel Wirth on viola, and Robert Hausmann on cello.
Halíř maintained his career as a soloist while playing in orchestras and ensembles all his life. He toured the United States in 1896 and 1897, and admired particularly for his playing of the Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D major,[3] which he performed at his debut with the New York Philharmonic on 13 November 1896;[4] his performance was described as "one of the most interesting and admirable pieces of violin playing that have been heard in New York". The performance was compared favorably to the previous performance of the work in New York by Eugène Ysaÿe, and the review concluded, "To hear Herr Halir play ... is to understand what is meant by classical violin playing".[5] On 4 December 1896 he gave the first performance in Carnegie Hall of Louis Spohr’s Violin Concerto No. 8, with the New York Symphony Orchestra conducted by Walter Damrosch.[6]
Although not the soloist at the premiere (that was Adolph Brodsky), Karel Halíř championed Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D major, which was not popular in its early years. When Tchaikovsky attended a performance of the work by Halíř in Leipzig in 1888, he called it "a memorable day".[7] On October 19, 1905, Halíř premiered the revised version of Sibelius’s Violin Concerto in D minor in Berlin, with the Berlin Philharmonic under the baton of Richard Strauss. That same program had Halíř playing the premiere of Charles Martin Loeffler’s Divertissement for violin and orchestra, which Fritz Kreisler and Eugène Ysaÿe had declined to play owing to its technical demands. He premiered other works, such as the Violin Concerto by the Danish composer Eduard Lassen, which was dedicated to him, in Frankfurt in 1889. He gave the European premiere of Amy Beach’s Violin Sonata in Berlin on 28 October 1899, with Teresa Carreño.[8][9] He wrote a cadenza for Brahms's Violin Concerto in D major.[10] As a member of the Joachim Quartet, Halíř toured extensively. They played a series of concerts every year in London, and were regulars at the bi-annual Beethoven Haus Festival in Bonn. In 1905 they performed the complete Beethoven Quartets in London, Paris, and Rome.[11] The Quartet disbanded after Joachim’s death in August 1907. Halíř died suddenly in Berlin on 21 December 1909, at age fifty.
Halíř’s successor at the Hochschule was the Joachim student Willy Hess, who also took over Halíř’s Quartet and Trio ensembles.
In 1888 Karel Halíř married Therese Zerbst (1859-1910), a noted soprano from Berlin.[12] His pupils included David Mannes, Arthur M. Abbell and Gustav Adolf Huber.[13]
Referencesedit
^W. L. Hubbard, The American History and Encyclopedia of Music
^Theodore Baker, A Biographical Dictionary of Musicians
^"Gustav Adolf Huber - composer, musician, educationist".
Sourcesedit
Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed.
Hugo Riemann. Riemann Musiklexikon 1919. Accessed August 27, 2018. http://archive.org/details/RiemannMusiklexikon10tea1922. p. 453.
External linksedit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Carl Halir.
Carl Halir Obituary from the March, 1910, issue of "The Etude" Magazine
January 01, 1970
karel, halíř, february, 1859, december, 1909, czech, violinist, lived, mainly, germany, karel, also, given, karol, karl, carl, halíř, also, given, halir, haliř, contents, life, references, sources, external, linkslife, edit, nbsp, trio, georg, schumann, hugo, . Karel Halir 1 February 1859 21 December 1909 was a Czech violinist who lived mainly in Germany Karel is also given as Karol Karl or Carl Halir is also given as Halir or Halir Karel Halir Contents 1 Life 2 References 3 Sources 4 External linksLife edit nbsp Trio of Georg Schumann Hugo Dechert and Karel Halir Karel Halir was born in Hohenelbe Bohemia now Vrchlabi Czech Republic and studied with Antonin Bennewitz at the Prague Conservatory 1867 73 and with Joseph Joachim in Berlin 1874 76 For the next four years 1876 1879 he was concertmaster of the Benjamin Bilse Kapelle in Berlin After short periods as concertmaster of the orchestras at Konigsberg 1879 and Mannheim 1881 he spent ten years at Weimar 1884 94 He first attracted widespread notice in Germany as a soloist with his playing of Bach s Double Concerto with Joseph Joachim at the Bach Festival at Eisenach in 1884 1 In 1894 Halir took over as concert master of the Berlin opera orchestra the Konigliche Kapelle and joined the faculty of the Berlin Konigliche Hochschule fur Musik At that time he started his own quartet in Berlin with Carl Markees Adolf Muller and Hugo Dechert which had a subscription series for fifteen years 2 Later he also founded a Piano Trio group with his Hochschule colleague Georg Schumann on piano and Hugo Dechert on cello Halir additionally joined the Joachim Quartet in 1897 playing second violin with Joseph Joachim Emanuel Wirth on viola and Robert Hausmann on cello Halir maintained his career as a soloist while playing in orchestras and ensembles all his life He toured the United States in 1896 and 1897 and admired particularly for his playing of the Beethoven s Violin Concerto in D major 3 which he performed at his debut with the New York Philharmonic on 13 November 1896 4 his performance was described as one of the most interesting and admirable pieces of violin playing that have been heard in New York The performance was compared favorably to the previous performance of the work in New York by Eugene Ysaye and the review concluded To hear Herr Halir play is to understand what is meant by classical violin playing 5 On 4 December 1896 he gave the first performance in Carnegie Hall of Louis Spohr s Violin Concerto No 8 with the New York Symphony Orchestra conducted by Walter Damrosch 6 nbsp Joachim Quartet from left to right Robert Hausmann cello Joseph Joachim 1st violin Emanuel Wirth viola and Karel Halir 2nd violin Although not the soloist at the premiere that was Adolph Brodsky Karel Halir championed Tchaikovsky s Violin Concerto in D major which was not popular in its early years When Tchaikovsky attended a performance of the work by Halir in Leipzig in 1888 he called it a memorable day 7 On October 19 1905 Halir premiered the revised version of Sibelius s Violin Concerto in D minor in Berlin with the Berlin Philharmonic under the baton of Richard Strauss That same program had Halir playing the premiere of Charles Martin Loeffler s Divertissement for violin and orchestra which Fritz Kreisler and Eugene Ysaye had declined to play owing to its technical demands He premiered other works such as the Violin Concerto by the Danish composer Eduard Lassen which was dedicated to him in Frankfurt in 1889 He gave the European premiere of Amy Beach s Violin Sonata in Berlin on 28 October 1899 with Teresa Carreno 8 9 He wrote a cadenza for Brahms s Violin Concerto in D major 10 As a member of the Joachim Quartet Halir toured extensively They played a series of concerts every year in London and were regulars at the bi annual Beethoven Haus Festival in Bonn In 1905 they performed the complete Beethoven Quartets in London Paris and Rome 11 The Quartet disbanded after Joachim s death in August 1907 Halir died suddenly in Berlin on 21 December 1909 at age fifty Halir s successor at the Hochschule was the Joachim student Willy Hess who also took over Halir s Quartet and Trio ensembles In 1888 Karel Halir married Therese Zerbst 1859 1910 a noted soprano from Berlin 12 His pupils included David Mannes Arthur M Abbell and Gustav Adolf Huber 13 References edit W L Hubbard The American History and Encyclopedia of Music A Ehrlich Das Streich Quartett in Wort und Bild Leipzig 1898 46 7 https archive org details dasstreichquarte0000ehrl page 46 mode 2up q Halir New York Times archives New York Philharmonic Program 13 14 November 1896 New York Philharmonic Leon Levy Digital Archives 1896 Retrieved 27 August 2018 New York Times THE PHILHARMONIC CONCERT American Debut of Carl Halir A Fine Programme Violinist com John Warrack Tchaikovsky p 211 The Violin Sonata of Amy Beach Archived 2010 07 17 at the Wayback Machine Adrienne Fried Block Amy Beach Passionate Victorian Cadenza Collection Archived 2008 12 29 at the Wayback Machine Kritik Die Musik IV 15 46 223 1905 Theodore Baker A Biographical Dictionary of Musicians Gustav Adolf Huber composer musician educationist Sources editGrove s Dictionary of Music and Musicians 5th ed Hugo Riemann Riemann Musiklexikon 1919 Accessed August 27 2018 http archive org details RiemannMusiklexikon10tea1922 p 453 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Carl Halir Carl Halir Obituary from the March 1910 issue of The Etude Magazine Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Karel Halir amp oldid 1216998540, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
