Description

ALEXANDER SEBALD (PEST, APRIL 29, 1869 – CHICAGO, JUNE 30, 1934)

 

 

 

 

From the age of thirteen he studied at the Budapest Academy of Music, and later improved his skills under the guidance of Cesar Thomson.

At the turn of the century he played viola in the Gewandhaus Orchestra and in the string quartet of Felix Berber (1898-1903). On 30 January 1904 he took part in the premiere of the Trio for clarinet, viola and piano Op. 264 by Carl Reinecke , together with Edmund Heinecke (clarinet) and the composer. He attracted attention with his concert programs, which consisted entirely of works by J. S. Bach and Paganini for solo violin, but he lost the competition for the position of first concertmaster of the Gewandhaus Orchestra (after Berber’s departure for Dresden); in connection with this, Carl Flesch in his memoirs gives a devastating characterization of Sebald, noting that he “possessed a pseudo-technique, poorly founded, imprecise and bad-sounding”.

From 1907 to 1914 he worked in Berlin, including as the head of his own violin school. He performed as a soloist with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra three times (1905, 1907, 1913).

After spending several years in Paris, he moved to the United States, headed the violin department at the Chicago College of Music, and taught at the Chicago Conservatory. He played violin in several opera orchestras and viola in a piano quartet with Henry Szostak (1884–1963), Frank Mannheimer, and Jarosław Gons.

Author of the textbook “Technique of Playing the Violin” (German:  Geigentechnik), a few violin and vocal works.

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

 

Devil’s Trill Sonata (Tartini) Part 1 Brunswick 4226 C2655

Devil’s Trill Sonata (Tartini) Part 2 Brunswick 4226 C2656

Devil’s Trill Sonata (Tartini) Part 3 Brunswick 4227 C2657

Devil’s Trill Sonata (Tartini) Part 4 Brunswick 4227 C2658

Obertass mazurka (Wieniawski) Joseph Brinkman (piano) Brunswick 4225 C2723

Military caprice (Paganini) Joseph Brinkman (piano) Brunswick 4225 C2724