Description

BERNHARD BEREND MOSES DESSAU (PSEUDONYM: B. DESSOUX; BORN MARCH 1, 1861 IN HAMBURG; † APRIL 28, 1923 IN BERLIN-CHARLOTTENBURG)

Bernhard Dessau was the son of Chasan Moses Berend Dessau (1821–1881) and his wife Eva nee. Müller (1825–1877) and had six siblings. His youngest brother was the cigar manufacturer Sally Dessau (1849–1923). Bernhard Dessau studied violin under Henry Schradieck in Hamburg and Leipzig and under Joseph Joachim and Henryk Wieniawski in Berlin. Dessau worked as a concertmaster in Görlitz, Königsberg, Brno, Prague, Rotterdam and other cities. In 1898 he became concertmaster of the Staatskapelle Berlin and the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin. Dessau taught at the Stern Conservatory and became a professor in 1906. Dessau also appeared as a soloist and was a member of the well-known Berlin trio together with Moritz Mayer-Mahr and Heinrich Grünfeld. He gave violin and piano lessons to the student Marlene Dietrich. He owned a Stradivarius violin (Nicola Gagliano Filius Alexandri fecit. Naples. 1738). He had given his first violin to his nephew Paul Dessau in 1900. Jean Paul Ertel dedicated his Hebraikon string quartet (on Hebrew themes) to Bernhard Dessau in 1912. Dessau composed numerous pieces for violin, especially an old style concert op.55. Dessau married the actress Therese Leeder (1857–1941) in 1885. In 1898 he married Elise Sophie Müller (1873-1935), with whom he had the daughters Gertrud (1899-1976) and Lotte (1902-1983). Both daughters emigrated to England with their husbands after Hitler came to power.

TRACKLIST

1. Alt-Wiener Tanzweisen Nr 1 – Liebesfreud (Kreisler) Gramophone 2-47901 2172ak 21- 4-13
2. Alt-Wiener Tanzweisen Nr 2 – Liebesleid (Kreisler) Gramophone 2-47902 2173ak 21- 4-13
3. Charakterstück in kanonischer Form, Op. 56 (Schumann) with Heinrich Grünfeld and Moritz Mayer-Mahr Gramophone 028030 1284s
4. Extase (Reverie) Louis Ganne with Moritz Mayer-Mahr and Heinrich Grünfeld Gramophone 048039 1282s 28-11-13
5. Fantasiestück, Op 88 (Schumann) with Heinrich Grünfeld and Moritz Mayer-Mahr Gramophone 028031 397AL
6. Légende Op. 17 (Wieniawski) G&T 047902 36y -03
7. Mazurka in E-Moll Op. 11 (Dessau) G&T 047900 34y -03
8. Melodie in F (Rubinstein) with Moritz Mayer-Mahr and Heinrich Grünfeld Gramophone 048026 393AL
9. Morceaux Op. 52 Nr. 2 – Serenade Schutt G&T 2-47907 13118r 9-10-13
10. Morceaux Op. 52 Nr. 4 – Mazurka Schutt G&T 2-47908 13119r 9-10-13
11. 12. String Quartet No. 1 in D Major, Op. 11, TH 111 – 2. Andante cantabile (Arr. for Piano Trio) (Tchaikovsky) with Moritz Mayer-Mahr and Heinrich Grünfeld Gramophone
12. Sylvia Ballett Pizzicato (Delibes) G&T 47919 3064g -03