Dragomir Krančević (

Serbian Cyrillic The Serbian Cyrillic alphabet ( sr, / , ) is a variation of the Cyrillic script used to write the Serbian language, updated in 1818 by Serbian linguist Vuk Karadžić. It is one of the two alphabets used to write standard modern Serbian, th ...

: Драгомир Кранчевић, hu, Dragomir Krancsevics, link=no, italic=no; 4 October 1847 – 19 May 1929) was a

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * someone or something related to Serbia, a country in Southeastern Europe * someone or something related to the Serbs, a South Slavic people * Serbian language * Serbian names See also

* * * Old Serbian (disambiguat ...

violinist The following lists of violinists are available: * List of classical violinists, notable violinists from the baroque era onwards * List of contemporary classical violinists, notable contemporary classical violinists * List of violinist/composers, ...

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

Biography

Born in

Pančevo Pančevo (Serbian Cyrillic: Панчево, ; german: Pantschowa; hu, Pancsova; ro, Panciova; sk, Pánčevo) is a city and the administrative center of the South Banat District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It is located on ...

Banat Military Frontier The Banat Military Frontier or simply Banat Frontier ( sr, Банатска крајина/Banatska krajina; ro, Granița militară Bănățeană) was a district of the Habsburg monarchy's Military Frontier located in the Banat region. It was for ...

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...

, Krančević was the son of a wealthy and respected merchant's family from

( hu, Pancsova, link=no, italic=no). He attended the

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

and the gymnasium of his native place. The little boy received his first

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

lessons during the school education. Karl Heisler, his private violin instructor of

Danube Swabian The Danube Swabians (german: Donauschwaben ) is a collective term for the ethnic German-speaking population who lived in various countries of central-eastern Europe, especially in the Danube River valley, first in the 12th century, and in grea ...

origin, recommended further promotion of his musical talent in Vienna. At the age of ten years, Krančević arrived in the capital city of the

and continued his education. In 1859, he completed the entrance examination at the Viennese Conservatory of the

Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde The Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien (), also known as the Wiener Musikverein (German for 'Viennese Music Association'), is an Austrian music organization that was founded in 1812 by Joseph Sonnleithner, general secretary of the Court Theat ...

Joseph Hellmesberger Sr. Josef Hellmesberger Sr. (3 November 182824 October 1893) was an Austrian violinist, conductor, and composer. Born in Vienna, he was the son of musician and pedagogue, Georg Hellmesberger Sr. (1800–1873), and was taught violin by his fath ...

immediately recognized his extraordinary talent and accepted him as a student. In 1861, Krančević gave his first public performance in Pančevo, a charity concert for the benefit of the city hospital. In March 1862, he made his Viennese debut at the ballroom of the old

Musikverein The ( or ; ), commonly shortened to , is a concert hall in Vienna, Austria, which is located in the Innere Stadt district. The building opened in 1870 and is the home of the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra. The acoustics of the building's 'Great ...

's building, a charity concert in favor of the

Serbian Orthodox Church The Serbian Orthodox Church ( sr-Cyrl, Српска православна црква, Srpska pravoslavna crkva) is one of the autocephalous (ecclesiastically independent) Eastern Orthodox Christian denomination, Christian churches. The majori ...

. Until the end of his studies in 1867, the young man gave several charity performances with the

Hellmesberger Quartet The Hellmesberger Quartet was a string quartet formed in Vienna in 1849. It was founded by Joseph Hellmesberger Sr. and was the first permanent named String Quartet. Composition Violinist Leopold Jansa had started a string quartet in 1845. Hellme ...

in favor of the Concordia Association of Writers and other Viennese organizations at the , the

Sofiensaal The Sofiensaal is a concert hall and recording venue located in Vienna, Austria. It is situated on Marxergasse, in the city's third district of Landstraße. The building burned down on 16 August 2001, but it was rebuilt and opened once again in ...

and the Little Redoute Ballroom of the

Hofburg The Hofburg is the former principal imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty. Located in the centre of Vienna, it was built in the 13th century and expanded several times afterwards. It also served as the imperial winter residence, as Schönbrunn ...

. The young violinist became a recognized virtuoso and he performed brilliantly in concert tours, which led him to

Linz Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846. In 2009, it was a European Capital of ...

Bad Ischl Bad Ischl (Austrian German ) is a spa town in Austria. It lies in the southern part of Upper Austria, at the Traun River in the centre of the Salzkammergut region. The town consists of the Katastralgemeinden ''Ahorn'', ''Bad Ischl'', ''Haiden' ...

, Salzburg, Prague, Leipzig, Bratislava, Belgrade,

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; hu, Újvidék, ; german: Neusatz; see below for other names) is the second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pan ...

and many other cities. A highlight during his concert tour of 1872 was a multi-day celebration with

Davorin Jenko Davorin Jenko (born Martin Jenko; 9 November 1835 – 25 November 1914) was a Slovene composer. He is sometimes considered the father of Slovenian national Romantic music. Among other songs, he composed the melody for the Serbian national anthem " ...

, the

First Belgrade Singing Society First Belgrade Singing Society ( sr, Прво Београдско Певачко Друштво; Prvo Beogradsko Pevačko Drustvo) was founded in Belgrade on 14 January 1853. It is the second oldest choir in today's Serbia after the choir from Pan ...

and other artists in honor of the beginning of Milan IV Obrenovic's reign. He was enthusiastically acclaimed by the audience after his performances at the

Serbian National Theater The Serbian National Theatre ( sr, Српско народно позориште, Srpsko narodno pozorište), located in Novi Sad, is one of the major theatres of Serbia. History The current building of the theatre was opened in March 1981. The ...

during two summer evenings. Since 1873, he was a member of the orchestra of Budapest's Royal

Hungarian National Theater The National Theatre, located in Budapest originally opened in 1837. Since then, it has occupied several locations, including the original building at Kerepesi Street, the ''People's Theatre'' at Blaha Lujza Square, as well as Hevesi Sándor Squ ...

and in 1888, he was appointed first

concertmaster The concertmaster (from the German ''Konzertmeister''), first chair (U.S.) or leader (U.K.) is the principal first violin player in an orchestra (or clarinet in a concert band). After the conductor, the concertmaster is the second-most signifi ...

of the Royal Hungarian Opera Orchestra during the tenure of

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

. Krančević finished his career in 1901, retired into private life and went back to Vienna. There he lived very withdrawn from the society and the artist no longer appeared publicly. In 1922, he sold his Stradivari violin to

Jan Kubelík Jan Kubelík (5 July 18805 December 1940) was a Czech violinist and composer. Biography He was born in Michle (now part of Prague). His father, a gardener by occupation, was an amateur violinist. He taught his two sons the violin and after dis ...

for twenty-five thousand Czech crowns because of his personal life situation during the

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen, see Austrian nationality law * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ...

economic crisis An economy is an area of the production, distribution and trade, as well as consumption of goods and services. In general, it is defined as a social domain that emphasize the practices, discourses, and material expressions associated with the p ...

. Krančević died in Vienna, aged 81. The archive of the Institute of Musicology of the

Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts The Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts ( la, Academia Scientiarum et Artium Serbica, sr-Cyr, Српска академија наука и уметности, САНУ, Srpska akademija nauka i umetnosti, SANU) is a national academy and the ...

preserves some personal materials of Krančević's legacy including some postcards and letters to the violinist, written by

Johannes Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...

and a few other artists of that time. His nephew Petar Krančević (1869-1919) was a composer and

choirmaster A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which sp ...

of the Serbian Singing Society of

Sremska Mitrovica Sremska Mitrovica (; sr-Cyrl, Сремска Митровица, hu, Szávaszentdemeter, la, Sirmium) is a city and the administrative center of the Srem District in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, Serbia. It is situated on the left bank ...

.Petar Krančević – Sremci nisu zaostalaji
Retrieved on 2017-04-27.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Krančević, Dragomir 1847 births 1929 deaths People from Pančevo Serbian Austro-Hungarians Serbian classical violinists Austrian classical violinists