Josef Slavík
Josef Slavík | |
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Background information | |
Born | Jince, Czech Republic | March 26, 1806
Died | May 30, 1833 Budapest, Hungary | (aged 27)
Instrument(s) | Violin |
Josef Slavík (26 March 1806 – 30 May 1833), also known as Josef Slawjk or Joseph Slawik, was a Bohemian violin virtuoso and composer, who was expected by Vienna musical critics to become Paganini's successor after composing a supposedly unplayable Concerto in F-sharp minor and teaching himself to play Paganini's "La Campanella" after a single hearing.[1][circular reference]
Career
The first son of Barbora (born Krásová) and Antonín Slavík, teacher and musician, who started to teach Josef violin in the age of four.
Later on, he was a student of violin by Friedrich Wilhelm Pixis and music theory and composition by Friedrich Dionys Weber[2] at the Prague Conservatory. Pixis wondered how anyone could write down such mad, unplayable stuff after seeing some of Slavík's compositions (a concerto, variations, etc.).[3] Before leaving Prague, Slavík proved at a farewell concert at the Prague Conservatory that there was at least one who could play the mad stuff. He went to Vienna in 1825 and became a sensation.[4] He was then a young man of nineteen, but already technically superior to other violinists that had been heard in the Austrian capital. The celebrated Mayseder called him a second Lipinski.[5]
Frédéric Chopin who heard Slavík on several occasions described his skills as: "With the exception of Paganini, I have never heard a player like him. Ninety-six staccatos in one bow! It is almost incredible! He plays like a second Paganini, but a rejuvenated one, who will perhaps in time surpass the first. Slavík fascinates the listener and brings tears into his eyes... he makes humans weep, more he makes tigers weep."[6]
Franz Schubert composed two violin sonata-like pieces for Slavík and pianist Carl Maria von Bocklet: the Rondo in B minor, D 895 (1826), and the Fantasy in C major, D 934 (1827).[7]
Works
Source[1][circular reference]
- Variations in E Major (1820)
- Violin Concerto in F-sharp minor (1823, conservatory graduation work)
- Capriccios in D Major (1824)
- Grand-potpourri (1825)
- Rondino for violin and piano (1826)
- Violin concerto in A Minor (1827)
- Piano Polonese in D Major (1828)
- Violin variations on G String for Violin and Piano "Il Pirata" (1832)
References
- ^ a b "Josef Slavik". www.czechmusic.net. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
- ^ "Musik lexikon". Retrieved 11 March 2020.
- ^ Delphi Great Composers - Frédéric Chopin. Delphi Classics, 2018. 4 June 2018. ISBN 9781786561244. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
- ^ Niecks 2018, pp. 165–166.
- ^ Niecks 2018, p. 152.
- ^ Walker, Dr Alan (2018-10-16). Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-71437-6.
- ^ Richard Wigmore. Liner notes to Schubert: Complete works for violin and piano. Hyperion CDA67911/2, 2013. EAN 034571179117
Sources
- Niecks, Frederick (2018). Frederick Chopin as a Man and Musician. Books on Demand. ISBN 978-3-73404-572-1.
External links
- Scores by Josef Slavík at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)
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- 1806 births
- 1833 deaths
- 19th-century classical violinists
- Czech Romantic composers
- People from Příbram District
- Burials at Vyšehrad Cemetery