Fritz Kreisler

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Lore & Background

Kreisler was born in Vienna, the son of Anna and Samuel Kreisler, a doctor. Of Jewish descent, he was baptised at age 12. At seven, he entered the Vienna Conservatory, studying under Anton Bruckner, Jakob Dont, and Joseph Hellmesberger Jr., and studied composition and violin at the Paris Conservatory between 1885 and 1887, where his teachers included Léo Delibes, Lambert Massart, and Jules Massenet. He graduated with the highest "Premier Prix" in violin at age 12, competing against 40 other players, most of whom were at least 20. He made his U.S. debut at Steinway Hall in New York City on November 10, 1888, and toured the U.S. in 1888–1889 with Moriz Rosenthal. After being turned down by the Vienna Philharmonic's concertmaster Arnold Rosé, he left music to study medicine and spent a brief time in the army before returning to the violin in 1899 with a concert by the Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Arthur Nikisch. In 1901 he met Harriet Lies, a New York-born divorcée and Vassar graduate; they married a year later and were together for 60 years until his death. He gave the premiere of Sir Edward Elgar's Violin Concerto in 1910, served briefly in the Austrian Army in WWI before being honourably discharged after being wounded, and arrived in New York on November 24, 1914. He returned to Europe in 1924, living in Berlin then moving to France in 1938, and settled again in the U.S. at the outbreak of WWII, becoming a naturalized citizen in 1943. On April 26, 1941, he was struck by a truck in New York, suffering a fractured skull and a coma for over a week. In later years he suffered hearing loss and sight deterioration from cataracts. He died in New York City in 1962 of a heart condition aggravated by old age, and was interred in a private mausoleum in Woodlawn Cemetery, the Bronx.

Reader's Guide

Kreisler's significance lies in his distinctive violin style and his prolific output. He wrote pieces including "Liebesleid" and "Liebesfreud," and created pastiches ostensibly in the style of other composers, originally ascribed to figures like Gaetano Pugnani, Giuseppe Tartini, and Antonio Vivaldi. In 1935 he revealed he wrote them, replying to critics: "The name changes, the value remains." He also wrote operettas including Apple Blossoms (1919) and Sissy (1932), a string quartet, and cadenzas for Brahms's, Paganini's, and Beethoven's violin concertos — his Beethoven cadenzas are the ones most often played today. He wrote music for the 1936 film The King Steps Out. He performed and recorded his own version of Paganini's D major Violin Concerto, rescored and reharmonised with a rewritten orchestral introduction. He owned antique violins by Stradivari, Pietro Guarneri, Giuseppe Guarneri, and Carlo Bergonzi, as well as a Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume violin of 1860 which he often used as his second violin and lent to Josef Hassid. In 1952 he donated his Giuseppe Guarneri to the Library of Congress. His recordings for Victor/RCA Victor and His Master's Voice preserve his style — expansive tempi, continuous vibrato, expressive phrasing, and considerable use of portamento and rubato — resembling that of Mischa Elman in smaller pieces. His final recordings were made in 1950.

Did You Know?

• Kreisler graduated from the Paris Conservatory with the highest 'Premier Prix' in violin at age 12, competing against 40 other players, most of whom were at least 20.
• He was turned down by the Vienna Philharmonic's concertmaster Arnold Rosé, which led him to leave music and study medicine.
• On April 26, 1941, he was struck by a truck in New York, suffering a fractured skull and remaining in a coma for over a week.
• In 1935 he revealed that many of his compositions were pastiches originally ascribed to earlier composers, stating 'The name changes, the value remains.'
• He owned a Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume violin of 1860 which he often used as his second violin and frequently lent to the young prodigy Josef Hassid.