Leopold Auer facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Leopold von Auer
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Leopold Auer
June 7, 1845 |
| Died | July 15, 1930 (aged 85) Loschwitz, Germany
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| Resting place | Ferncliff Cemetery |
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| Years active | 1858-1930 |
Leopold von Auer (Hungarian: Auer Lipót; June 7, 1845 – July 15, 1930) was a famous Hungarian violin player, teacher, conductor, and composer. He is best known for being an amazing violin teacher who taught many of the world's greatest violinists.
Contents
Early Life and Career
Leopold Auer was born in Veszprém, Hungary, on June 7, 1845. His family was poor. He started learning the violin from a local concertmaster, who is the lead violinist in an orchestra. Auer later said the violin was a good choice because it "didn't cost much." He continued his studies at the Budapest Conservatory.
When Auer was 13, some wealthy music lovers heard him play. They gave him money to study more in Vienna. There, he learned from Jakob Dont, who taught him the basics of violin playing. He also took classes on playing in a string quartet, which is a group of four string instruments.
By age 13, his scholarship money ran out. His father wanted him to start his career. After some difficult concerts, Auer sought advice from Joseph Joachim, a famous violinist in Hanover. Auer spent two important years with Joachim (1861–63). Joachim taught him to focus on the true meaning of music, not just showing off. Auer later said, "Joachim was an inspiration to me... I worked not only with my hands, but with my head as well."
In the summers of 1864 and 1865, Auer met other important musicians. He met violinist Henryk Wieniawski and pianists Anton Rubinstein and Nicholas Rubinstein. He also met Clara Schumann, Johannes Brahms, and Johann Strauss Jr..
Auer gave concerts in 1864 with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. He was invited by Ferdinand David, a well-known conductor. This success led him to become the concertmaster in Düsseldorf at age 19. In 1866, he took the same job in Hamburg and also led a string quartet there.
In 1868, Auer played concerts in London. He performed Beethoven's famous Archduke Trio with pianist Anton Rubinstein and cellist Alfredo Piatti.
Life in Russia
Anton Rubinstein asked Auer to become a violin professor at the Saint Petersburg Conservatory in Russia. Auer agreed to a three-year contract. He also became a soloist for the Grand Duchess Helena's court. At first, some critics didn't like his playing as much as the previous violinist, Wieniawski. But Tchaikovsky admired Auer's playing, which helped him gain acceptance.
Auer stayed in Russia for 49 years, from 1868 to 1917. During this time, he was the main violinist for the St. Petersburg Imperial Theatres. This included playing for the famous Imperial Ballet and Opera. Until 1906, Auer played almost all the violin solos in the ballets. Many of these ballets were created by Marius Petipa.
Auer also led the string quartet for the Russian Musical Society (RMS) until 1906. Their concerts were very important in St. Petersburg. His group played music by famous composers like Tchaikovsky, Alexander Borodin, Alexander Glazunov, and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. They also played music by Johannes Brahms and Robert Schumann.
Around 1870, Auer decided to become a member of the Russian Orthodox Church.
At the Conservatory, Auer met Anna Yesipova, a talented piano student. Auer performed with many great pianists, but Yesipova was his favorite. They played together until she died in 1914. He also played with Anton Rubinstein and Eugen d'Albert. One of his favorite pieces to perform was Tartini's "Devil's Trill" Sonata. In the 1890s, he performed all 10 of Beethoven's violin sonatas.
From 1914 to 1917, Auer toured Russia with pianist Wanda Bogutska Stein.
Moving to America
Before 1917, Auer did not perform in the United States. His friends told him that American tours were very tiring. But in 1918, it became impossible to work in Russia because of the Russian Revolution. So, he moved to the United States. Because of his age, he didn't do a big concert tour. He played at Carnegie Hall in New York City on March 23, 1918, and also performed in Boston, Chicago, and Philadelphia.
He taught private students at his home in Manhattan. In 1926, he joined the Institute of Musical Art, which later became the famous Juilliard School. In 1928, he also taught at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Leopold Auer passed away in 1930 in Loschwitz, Germany. He was buried in the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York.
Auer's Playing Style
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky really admired Auer's playing. He praised Auer's "great expressivity, the thoughtful finesse and poetry of the interpretation." Auer had to work very hard to keep his technique strong because his hands were not naturally suited for the violin. He once wrote that if he didn't play for a few days, he felt like he had "altogether lost the facility of playing."
Even with this challenge, Auer achieved a lot through constant practice. His sound was not huge, but it was very pleasing. His technique was smooth and elegant. While his playing might have lacked extreme fire, he made up for it with a classic, noble style. Recordings he made in the United States show his excellent technique and clear, tasteful playing.
Auer liked traditional and refined music. He enjoyed difficult pieces by composers like Henri Vieuxtemps and Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst. He used these pieces in his teaching. Once, a student didn't want to play a piece, saying it was "bad music." Auer firmly told the student, "You'll play it until it sounds like good music, and you'll play nothing else."
Bach's Violin Works
Concertos
Auer never taught Bach's solo violin concertos to his students. However, the Double Concerto for two violins was one of his favorites. Auer called it "the most important" of Bach's concertos.
Unaccompanied Sonatas
Auer believed that Ferdinand David helped the violin world greatly by finding and publishing Bach's 'solo sonatas for violin'. Joseph Joachim was the first to introduce these works to a wider audience. These pieces are now a very important part of violin music. Auer especially focused on the Chaconne from Bach's Partita No. 2.
Mozart's Violin Concertos
Mozart wrote five concertos for violin and orchestra in 1775. He also wrote a well-loved double concerto called the Sinfonia Concertante, K. 364. Auer mentioned two of Mozart's single-violin concertos: No. 4 in D major and No. 5 in A major.
Conducting
Auer was also a conductor. He led the Russian Musical Society orchestral concerts sometimes in the 1880s and 1890s. He was always happy to conduct for famous soloists who visited Russia, and he did the same for his own students when they performed abroad.
Teaching Style and Students
Auer is known as one of the most important violin teachers ever. He was highly sought after by talented young musicians. Many famous violinists were his students, including Mischa Elman, Jascha Heifetz, Nathan Milstein, Toscha Seidel, and Efrem Zimbalist. These were some of the greatest violinists of the 20th century.
Many of Auer's students, like Kathleen Parlow from Canada, studied with him at the St. Petersburg Conservatory. However, some, like Georges Boulanger from Romania, studied with him in Dresden, Germany. American-born students like Benno Rabinof and Oscar Shumsky studied with him in the United States.
Like the famous pianist Franz Liszt, Auer didn't focus much on small technical details with his students. Instead, he guided them on how to understand and express the music. If a student had a technical problem, Auer wouldn't always offer suggestions or show them how to play. Students often had to help each other. However, he was very strict about playing accurately.
Auer valued talent, but he expected hard work and discipline. He demanded that students be on time and work smartly. Lessons were very demanding and required a lot of preparation. Students had to prepare a full movement of a major piece. When they felt ready, they signed up 10 days before the class. They had to be dressed like they were performing a concert. An accompanist was provided, and an audience, including other students and important musicians, would watch.
Auer was very strict. He would walk around the room, correcting and encouraging. One student remembered, "We did not dare cross the threshold of the classroom with a half-ready performance." Auer loved lively and enthusiastic playing. He hated dull playing and would sometimes poke a student's ribs with his bow, demanding more "krov," which means "blood" but also "fire" or "energy."
While Auer pushed his students hard, he also cared deeply for them. He helped them get scholarships, supporters, and better instruments. He even used his influence to help his Jewish students get permission to live in St. Petersburg.
Jascha Heifetz and His Family
There was a special area in Russia called the Jewish Pale of Settlement where Jewish people were allowed to live. St. Petersburg was outside this area. Auer helped his young student, Jascha Heifetz, and his family stay together. Jascha, who was about ten or eleven, was allowed into the Conservatory because of his talent. But his family needed to stay with him. Auer had a clever idea: he admitted Jascha's father, a violinist of forty, into his own class. This meant the family could legally stay together. Auer had to argue with the Conservatory management often because Papa Heifetz didn't attend all the required classes. This continued until 1917, when the family moved to America.
Auer helped shape his students' personalities. He taught them style, good taste, and how to behave. He also encouraged them to read books, guided their career choices, and polished their social skills. He insisted that his students learn a foreign language if they wanted an international career.
Even after students started their careers, Auer continued to watch over them. He wrote many letters of recommendation for them. When Mischa Elman was getting ready for his first concert in London, Auer traveled there to coach him. He also continued to work with Efrem Zimbalist and Kathleen Parlow after their first performances.
Music Dedicated to Auer
Some composers dedicated their music to Auer. One famous example is Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto. However, Auer initially chose not to play it. He felt that "some of the passages were not suited to the character of the instrument." He did play the piece later in his career, making some changes he felt were necessary. Auer's students also played the Tchaikovsky concerto using his edited version, except for Nathan Milstein. Tchaikovsky also dedicated his Sérénade mélancolique to Auer, but later removed the dedication after their disagreement about the Violin Concerto.
Compositions and Writings
Auer wrote a few pieces for the violin, including the Rhapsodie hongroise for violin and piano. He also wrote special solo sections called cadenzas for violin concertos by other composers, such as Beethoven, Brahms, and Mozart's third.
He wrote three books: Violin Playing as I Teach It (1920), My Long Life in Music (1923), and Violin Master Works and Their Interpretation (1925). He also arranged Paganini's 24th Caprice, which was later performed by famous violinists like Jascha Heifetz. Auer edited many standard violin pieces, concertos, and all of Bach's solo works. He also arranged many other pieces for the violin, including some of Chopin's piano preludes.
Favorite Concertos
In his book Violin Master Works..., Auer ranked some concertos. He called Beethoven's, Brahms', and Mendelssohn's the "Three Master Concertos." He also mentioned Max Bruch's First Violin Concerto as very popular, often played after the three "master" concertos.
Beethoven wrote two Romances for violin and orchestra: Romance No. 1 in G, Op. 40, and Romance No. 2 in F, Op. 50. Auer mentioned these two pieces in his writings.
Family Connections
Auer's first wife was Nadine Pelikan, who was Russian. The jazz vibraphonist Vera Auer is Leopold Auer's niece. The actor Mischa Auer (born Mischa Ounskowsky) was his grandson. The composer György Ligeti was his great-grandnephew. The philosopher Ágnes Heller also said that Leopold Auer was related to her family.
Auer's second wife, Wanda Bogutska Stein (Auer), was his piano accompanist for some concerts and recordings.
Recordings
Leopold Auer made some recordings, including:
- Hungarian Dance No. 1 in G minor, by Brahms, recorded in 1920.
- Mélodie in E-flat major, Op. 42, No. 3 (from Souvenir d'un lieu cher), by Tchaikovsky, recorded in 1920.
These recordings were taken from a live performance at Carnegie Hall near the end of his life.
See also
In Spanish: Leopold Auer para niños
