Josef Slavík

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Josef Slavík
Josef Slavik.jpg
Background information
Born(1806-03-26)March 26, 1806
Jince, Czech Republic
DiedMay 30, 1833(1833-05-30) (aged 27)
Budapest, Hungary
InstrumentsViolin

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[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b "Josef Slavik". www.czechmusic.net. Retrieved 2020-03-10.
  2. ^ "Musik lexikon". Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  3. ^ Delphi Great Composers - Frédéric Chopin. Delphi Classics, 2018. 4 June 2018. ISBN 9781786561244. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
  4. ^ Niecks 2018, pp. 165–166.
  5. ^ Niecks 2018, p. 152.
  6. ^ Walker, Dr Alan (2018-10-16). Fryderyk Chopin: A Life and Times. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-71437-6.
  7. ^ Richard Wigmore. Liner notes to Schubert: Complete works for violin and piano. Hyperion CDA67911/2, 2013. EAN 034571179117

Sources[]

External links[]

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