Carl Flesch (born Károly Flesch, 9 October 1873 – 14 November 1944) was a Hungarian violinist and teacher. Flesch’s

compendium A compendium (plural: compendia or compendiums) is a comprehensive collection of information and analysis pertaining to a body of knowledge. A compendium may concisely summarize a larger work. In most cases, the body of knowledge will concern a s ...

''Scale System'' is a staple of violin

pedagogy Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken as ...

Life and career

Flesch was born in Moson (now part of

Mosonmagyaróvár Mosonmagyaróvár (; german: Wieselburg-Ungarisch Altenburg; also known by other alternative names) is a town in Győr-Moson-Sopron County in northwestern Hungary. It lies close to both the Austrian and Slovakian borders and has a population ...

) in Hungary in 1873. He began playing the violin at seven years of age. At 10 he was taken to Vienna to study with

Jakob Grün Jakob Moritz Grün ( hu, Grün Jakab; 13 March 1837 – 1 October 1916) was an Austrian violinist of Hungarian origin. After positions as principal violinist in the court orchestras of Weimar and Hannover, he was, from 1868 to 1897, concertmaste ...

. At 17 he left for

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, and joined the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), also known as the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue ...

, studying with

Martin Pierre Marsick Martin Pierre Joseph Marsick (9 March 1847, in Jupille-sur-Meuse – 21 October 1924, in Paris), was a Belgian violin player, composer and teacher. His violin was made by Antonio Stradivari in 1705 and has since become known as the Ex Marsick St ...

. He settled in 1903 in Amsterdam, in 1908 in Berlin, and in 1934 in London. He was known for his solo performances in a very wide range of repertoire (from

Baroque music Baroque music ( or ) refers to the period or dominant style of Western classical music composed from about 1600 to 1750. The Baroque style followed the Renaissance period, and was followed in turn by the Classical period after a short transiti ...

to contemporary), gaining fame as a

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

performer. He also taught in Bucharest (1897–1902), Amsterdam (1903–08),

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

(1924–28) and Berlin (Hochschule fuer Musik, 1929–34). He published a number of instructional books, including ''Die Kunst des Violin-Spiels'' (''The Art of Violin Playing'', 1923) in which he advocated for the violinist as artist rather than merely virtuoso. Among his pupils were Charles Barkel,

Edwin Bélanger Edwin Bélanger (18 November 1910 – 14 January 2005) was a Canadian conductor, violinist, violist, arranger, and music educator. He had an association with the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec for more than 50 years, including serving as t ...

Norbert Brainin Norbert Brainin, OBE (12 March 1923 in Vienna – 10 April 2005 in London) was the first violinist of the Amadeus Quartet, one of the world's most highly regarded string quartets. Because of Brainin's Jewish origin, he was driven out of Vie ...

Felix Galimir Felix Galimir (May 20, 1910, Vienna – November 10, 1999, New York) was an Austrian-born American violinist and music teacher. Born in a Sephardic Jewish family Vienna; his first language was Ladino. Allan Kozinn,"Felix Galimir, 89, a Viol ...

, Bronislaw Gimpel,

Ivry Gitlis Ivry Gitlis ( he, עברי גיטליס;‎ 25 August 1922 – 24 December 2020) was an Israeli virtuoso violinist and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador. He performed with the world's top orchestras, including the London Philharmonic, New York Philh ...

Szymon Goldberg Szymon Goldberg (1 June 190919 July 1993) was a Polish-born Jewish classical music, classical violinist and Conducting, conductor, latterly an American. Born in Włocławek, Congress Poland, Goldberg played the violin as a child growing up in Warsa ...

Ida Haendel Ida Haendel, (15 December 19281 July 2020) was a Polish-British-Canadian violinist. Haendel was a child prodigy, her career spanning over seven decades. She also became an influential teacher. Early career Born in 1928 to a Polish Jewish fam ...

, Zvi (Heinrich) Haftel, Josef Hassid, Adolf Leschinski,

Alma Moodie Alma Mary Templeton Moodie (12 September 18987 March 1943) was an Australian violinist who established an excellent reputation in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s. She was regarded as the foremost female violinist during the inter-war years, and s ...

Ginette Neveu Ginette Neveu (11 August 191928 October 1949) was a French classical violinist. She was killed in a plane crash at the age of 30. Early life Neveu was born on 11 August 1919 in Paris into a musical family. Her brother Jean-Paul became a class ...

Yfrah Neaman Professor Yfrah Neaman, OBE FGSM (13 February 1923 – 4 January 2003), was a concert violinist and an instructor. Early life Neaman was born in Sidon, Lebanon. He lived in Tel Aviv until 1932 when he moved to Paris to study at the Paris ...

Ricardo Odnoposoff Ricardo Odnoposoff (February 24, 1914 – October 26, 2004) was a Jewish Argentine-Austrian-American violinist of the 20th century. He was a former concertmaster of the Vienna State Opera and Vienna Philharmonic. He was dismissed on September 1, 19 ...

Eric Rosenblith Eric Rosenblith (December 11, 1920 – December 16, 2010) was an Austrian-born American violinist. He was the former concertmaster of the Indianapolis and San Antonio Symphony Orchestras, and had performed as a soloist and chamber musician thro ...

Max Rostal Max Rostal (7 July 1905 – 6 August 1991) was a violinist and a viola player. He was Austrian-born, but later took British citizenship. Biography Max Rostal was born in Cieszyn to a Jewish merchant family. As a child prodigy, he started studyin ...

Henryk Szeryng Henryk Szeryng (usually pronounced ''HEN-r-ik SHEH-r-in-g'') (22 September 19183 March 1988) was a Polish violinist. Early years He was born in Warsaw, Poland on 22 September 1918 into a wealthy Jewish family. The surname "Szeryng" is a Poli ...

Henri Temianka Henri Temianka (19 November 19067 November 1992) was a virtuoso violinist, conductor, author and music educator. Early years Henri Temianka was born in Greenock, Scotland, to parents who were Polish emigrants. He studied violin with Carel Blit ...

Roman Totenberg Roman Totenberg (1 January 1911 – 8 May 2012) was a Polish-American violinist and educator. A child prodigy, he lived in Poland, Moscow, Berlin, and Paris, before formally immigrating to the U.S. in 1938, at age 27. He performed and taught nat ...

and

Josef Wolfsthal Josef Wolfsthal (12 June 1899 – 3 February 1931), born as Josef Wolfthal, was an Austrian violinist and a professor in Germany's capital Berlin. He was born into a musical family in Vienna. It was of Galician origin. His father and his older br ...

, all of whom achieved considerable fame as both performers and pedagogues. He said his favorite pupil was the Australian

, who achieved great fame in the 1920s and 1930s but made no recordings and is little known today. In his memoirs he said, "there was above all Henry .e., HenriTemianka, who did great credit to the urtisInstitute: both musically and technically, he possessed a model collection of talents." One of Flesch's few recordings is a highly distinguished interpretation of Bach's great D minor Double Violin Concerto (Columbia) in which he played second violin to the great

Joseph Szigeti Joseph Szigeti ( hu">Szigeti József, ; 5 September 189219 February 1973) was a Hungarian violinist. Born into a musical family, he spent his early childhood in a small town in Transylvania. He quickly proved himself to be a child prodigy on ...

, with Walter Goehr conducting an anonymous London string orchestra in the late 1930s. He was consulted (as was

Oskar Adler Oskar Adler (4 June 187515 May 1955) was an Austrian violinist, physician and esoteric savant. He was the brother of the political theorist Max Adler and a key early influence on his contemporary Arnold Schoenberg. His friend and student Hans K ...

) by

Louis Krasner Louis Krasner (4 May 1995) was a Russian Empire-born American classical violinist who premiered the violin concertos of Alban Berg and Arnold Schoenberg. Biography Louis Krasner was born in Cherkasy, Russian Empire. He arrived in the United Stat ...

over technical difficulties in Alban Berg's

Violin Concerto A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...

, which Krasner was to premiere. He owned the ''

Brancaccio Brancaccio is a neighbourhood in the municipality of Palermo, Sicily, in Italy. It is a semi-traditional area of the working class. It was important in the history of the Cosa Nostra. Antimafia priest Pino Puglisi Giuseppe "Pino" Puglisi (, ; ...

Stradivarius A Stradivarius is one of the violins, violas, cellos and other string instruments built by members of the Italian family Stradivari, particularly Antonio Stradivari (Latin: Antonius Stradivarius), during the 17th and 18th centuries. They are co ...

, but had to sell it in 1931 after losing all his money on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...

. Because of his Jewish origins, Flesch had to move to London during the 1930s, and was later arrested by the Gestapo in the Netherlands, was released thanks to Furtwängler's intervention, and died in

Lucerne Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic German, High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a city in central Switzerland, in the Languages of Switzerland, German-speaking po ...

, Switzerland, in November 1944.

References

* Carl Flesch: ''The Memoirs of Carl Flesch'' (trans.

Hans Keller Hans (Heinrich) Keller (11 March 19196 November 1985) was an Austrian-born British musician and writer, who made significant contributions to musicology and music criticism, as well as being a commentator on such disparate fields as psychoana ...

and ed. by him in collaboration with C.F.Flesch); foreword by

(1957). * Carl Flesch: ''The Art Of Violin Playing, Books 1 & 2'' Translated & Edited by

. New York:

Carl Fischer Music Carl Fischer Music (founded in 1872) is a sheet music publisher based in New York City's East Village. The company has since moved to the Wall Street area in 2013. After 140 years, the company remains a family-owned business, publishing both perf ...

Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi or Jehudi (Hebrew: יהודי, endonym for Jew) is a common Hebrew name: * Yehudi Menuhin (1916–1999), violinist and conductor ** Yehudi Menuhin School, a music school in Surrey, England ** Who's Yehoodi?, a catchphrase referring to the v ...

External links

Flesch Károly Violin Competition

A page on Flesch by José Sánchez-Penzo
* *
Carl Flesch Archive
in the

Netherlands Music Institute The Netherlands Music Institute (Nederlands Muziek Instituut, NMI) is the central institution for the preservation of the musical heritage of the Netherlands. History of the institute The NMI has existed as a foundation since 1996; it became full ...

, with biography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Flesch, Carl 1873 births 1944 deaths People from Mosonmagyaróvár Hungarian Jews Austro-Hungarian Jews Hungarian classical violinists Male classical violinists Hungarian music educators Violin pedagogues Jewish violinists