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Fritz KreislerBy 1910, The Austrian Fritz Kreisler had become the leading young violin virtuoso of his day. Kreisler enjoyed an enormous, and deserved, popularity, which was reinforced by his own numerous short tuneful compositions for the instrument of which he was such a master. Many of these gems, written in pastiche styles of seventeenth or eighteenth century minor masters, were at first published by Kreisler as being by those forgotten composers; but when challenged, he had to admit that they were, in fact, his own original compositions. No-one minded the slight deception at all; the music is too good for anyone to take offence, and no harm was intended. But some of these pieces were not 'in the style of any earlier composer', including this little march, one of the very best of the lively Kreisler encores. Another of Kreisler's original pieces for violin and piano, one of a pair (the other being Liebesfreud), is Leibesleid, which sums up the soul of old Vienna - not as a large concert-waltz in the manner of the Strauss dynasty, but as an intimate, gentle reminiscence. It is marked to be played in the style of the Austrian (or German) Ländler, an old dance in slowish 3/4 time, which many believe was the forerunner of the waltz, with which it shares certain similarities. In any event, Kreisler's delightfully languorous piece, with its evocative and dreamy ending, is a magnificent composition of its type, a perfect gem of the composer's craft. Schön Rosmarin is yet another of the wonderful short pieces for violin and piano by Kreisler: a delightful pen-portrait of Rosmarin, who is clearly a beautiful and somewhat vivacious young girl. This is a wholly endearing miniature, a sensuous and charming work of sentiment and splendid craftsmanship. 0 1196 Robert Matthew-Walker Fritz Kreisler on Guild Music
Page revised 09.09.2000 |
