Famous Violinists of To-day and Yesterday

by Henry Charles Lahee

FRANZ KNEISEL

Mr. Louis Svecenski, an excellent artist, who studied in the Vienna Conservatory, under Hellmesberger and Grün, plays the viola, and the 'cellist is Alwyn Schroeder, an artist, who had achieved a high reputation as a 'cello virtuoso, before he came to America.

After a few years the Kneisel Quartet began to appear in other cities, and now gives regular series of subscription concerts in New York, Washington, Baltimore, Hartford, and Worcester, also Harvard, Yale, and Princeton Universities, besides occasional

performances in more remote cities. In 1896 the quartet had given over eight hundred concerts since its formation.

At the end of the Symphony season in Boston, in 1896, the Kneisel Quartet made a visit to London and gave several concerts. In London it was obliged to stand comparison with the finest quartets in existence. The Joachim Quartet and the Bohemian Quartet gave concerts the same season, but the unanimous verdict was to the effect that none could equal the Kneisel Quartet in absolute ensemble and perfection of detail. While the Bohemian Quartet played with a great deal of abandon and enthusiasm, and the Joachim Quartet contained players of a greater reputation in Europe, yet the Kneisel Quartet simply confirmed the reputation it had acquired in America. "It would, indeed, be impossible to conceive greater perfection in the matter of ensemble, precision, delicacy, and all the qual ities requisite for the proper interpretation of chamber music."

In the spring of 1899 the Kneisel Quartet made an extended tour in America, and found the musical condition of the great cities in the United States, as evidenced by the appreciation of music, fully equal to that of the European centres. Brahms and Beethoven were played in Denver and in San Francisco to audiences who were fully equal to the enjoyment of the highest class of music, and everywhere the quartet was greeted with enthusiasm.

The success of the Kneisel Quartet is due to the long and arduous practice which the members have enjoyed together, for perfection in quartet playing is only possible through long association.

While virtuosity is not essential for quartet playing, good musicianship is very necessary. Patient and self-denying practice are absolute requisites.

The love of chamber music is apparently growing in the United States, for in many of the large cities quartets have been established by good musicians, and the opportunities for hearing fine interpretations of the best chamber music are increasing each year. It is a branch of musical art which appeals only to cultivated taste, for it is necessarily free from sensationalism and individual display. Therefore, the love of quartet playing may be considered to be a true index of the growth of musical culture.

THE END.