Franz Drdla
Franz Drdla was born in Saar, Moravia on November 28, 1868. He attended the Conservatories in Prague and Vienna, winning at the latter place first prize in violin playing and the medal of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde. After serving for several years as a violinist in the orchestra of the Vienna Court Opera, he toured Europe as a concert violinist. From 1923 to 1925 he lived in the United States, making many concert appearances. He died in Bad Gastein, Austria, on September 3, 1944.
Drdla’s most famous compositions are slight but lyrical pieces for the violin, of which he wrote over two hundred fifty. His most famous composition is the Souvenir, with its familiar upward skip in the main melody and its broad sentimental middle section in double stops. In a similarly sentimental and gentle melodic vein (they might aptly be described as instrumental songs) are the Romance, Serenade in A (No. 1), and Vision. All are familiar to violin students, and to lovers of light classics in transcriptions for orchestra.
Riccardo Drigo
Riccardo Drigo was born in Padua, Italy, on June 30, 1846. He first became famous as conductor of orchestral concerts at the Imperial Theater in St. Petersburg. After World War I, he continued his activities as conductor in his native city. He died there on October 1, 1930.
Drigo was the composer of ballets and operas, none of which have survived. He is today remembered almost exclusively for two slight but well loved items. One is the melodically suave Serenade, popular in every conceivable transcription. It comes out of a ballet entitled I milioni d’Arlecchino (Harlequin’s Millions) and consequently is sometimes known as the Harlequin’s Serenade. The other is Valse bluette, an elegant waltz melody, which the composer originally wrote for salon orchestra, but which is in the violinist’s repertory by virtue of a famous transcription.
Arcady Dubensky
Arcady Dubensky was born in Viatka, Russia, on October 15, 1890. After being graduated from the Moscow Conservatory in 1909 he played the violin in the orchestra of the Moscow Opera. In 1921 he came to the United States, where he later became a citizen. He served as violinist of the New York Symphony Society, and after that of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, until his retirement in 1953.
Dubensky had written many works for orchestra, whose sound technique and fresh approaches command respect. One or two of these are of popular appeal without sacrificing sound musical values. Of particular interest is the Stephen Foster Suite for orchestra (1940), in which Dubensky quotes five Stephen Foster songs: “My Old Kentucky Home,” “Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair,” “Some Folks,” “I See Her Still in My Dreams,” and “Camptown Races.” The composer goes on to explain: “The first part represents to me a beautiful summer evening in the country. From far away I hear a choir, coming gradually closer and then fading into the distance. It sings to me the wonder song, ‘My Old Kentucky Home.’ The second part is built around ‘Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair.’ Here the melody is given to a tenor solo, with a soft, gentle orchestral accompaniment beginning with a short introduction. The last two parts are for orchestra. The fourth part centers around the song ‘I See Her Still In My Dreams.’ It is a dreamy song, and I have given it the character of an intermezzo played by string orchestra, muted. If this movement is played in slow tempo, and pianissimo, it sounds not at all realistic but like the dream it portrays. The fifth part, ‘Camptown Races’ is the focal point of the suite. The theme is treated in a number of different keys and always in a different character. Sometimes it is delicate and graceful, and sometimes rude and robust, but always it is gay.”