Ferdinand Laub (January 19, 1832March 17, 1875) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

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 ...

ist and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

Life and career

Laub was born in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

from a

German Bohemian German Bohemians (german: Deutschböhmen und Deutschmährer, i.e. German Bohemians and German Moravians), later known as Sudeten Germans, were ethnic Germans living in the Czech lands of the Bohemian Crown, which later became an integral part o ...

family which had assimilated into the ethnic Czech community. His father Erasmus (1794–1865) arranged for Ferdinand's first public appearance at age six. His first solo concert was at age ten in the Stavovské divadlo (a theater in Prague). From 1843 to 1846, he studied at the Prague Conservatory. He began his adult career as a virtuoso in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, at the imperial court. In 1850, he traveled across Europe with a series of exhibitions. He stayed for a longer time in

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

(1855–62 as professor at the

Stern Conservatory The Stern Conservatory (''Stern'sches Konservatorium'') was a private music school in Berlin with many distinguished tutors and alumni. The school is now part of Berlin University of the Arts. History It was founded in 1850 as the ''Berliner Musi ...

). From 1866 to 1874 he was professor of violin at the

Moscow Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (russian: Московская государственная консерватория им. П. И. Чайковского, link=no) is a musical educational inst ...

, where his many notable students included

Stanisław Barcewicz Stanisław Barcewicz (16 April 18581 September 1929) was a noted Polish violinist, conductor and teacher. Although his repertoire included almost all of the classical and romantic violin literature, he was valued primarily for his interpretati ...

. Laub was a well-admired violinist, winning awards all over Europe;

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

called him "the best violinist of our time". He was the first violinist in the premiere performances of both Tchaikovsky's

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and

Second The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...

String Quartets, and the posthumous dedicatee of the

Third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * Second#Sexagesimal divisions of calendar time and day, 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (d ...

of 1876. In January 1868, during

Hector Berlioz In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...

's second trip to Moscow, Laub performed the solo

viola The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...

part of his ''

Harold en Italie ''Harold en Italie,'' ''symphonie avec un alto principal'' (English: ''Harold in Italy,'' ''symphony with viola obbligato''), as the manuscript calls and describes it, is a four-movement orchestral work by Hector Berlioz, his Opus 16, H. 68, w ...

'' at the Moscow Conservatory under the composer's baton.Berlioz in Russia, The second visit: 1868
/ref> In 1874, lung disease forced him to stop working. He was succeeded at Moscow Conservatory by

Jan Hřímalý Jan Hřímalý (russian: Иван Войцехович Гржимали, also ''Ivan Voitsekhovich Grzhimali''; 13 April 1844 – ) was an influential Czech violinist and teacher, who was associated with the Moscow Conservatory for 46 years in 186 ...

. He died on the way to a spa in

Meran Merano (, , ) or Meran () is a city and ''comune'' in South Tyrol, northern Italy. Generally best known for its spa resorts, it is located within a basin, surrounded by mountains standing up to above sea level, at the entrance to the Passeier ...

, in near

Bolzano Bolzano ( or ; german: Bozen, (formerly ); bar, Bozn; lld, Balsan or ) is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third la ...

, and is interred in the

Vyšehrad cemetery Vyšehrad (Czech for "upper castle") is a historic fort in Prague, Czech Republic, just over 3 km southeast of Prague Castle, on the east bank of the Vltava River. It was probably built in the 10th century. Inside the fort are the Basilica ...

. His son Váša Laub (1857–1911) was also a violinist and composer.

Selected works

Concertante

* Cadenzas to Beethoven's Violin Concerto, Op. 61 (1859) * Concerto in A minor for violin and orchestra; lost

Chamber music

* ''Élégie'' for violin and piano, Op. 3 (1857) * ''6 Morceaux caractéristiques'' for violin and piano, Op. 4 (1858) *# Nocturne *# Ballade in A minor *# Romance *# Saltarello in D minor *# *# * ''Rondo scherzoso'' for violin and piano or orchestra, Op. 6 (1859) * ''2 Morceaux'' for violin and piano, Op. 7 (1861) *# Romance in A major *# Impromptu in G major * ''Polonéza'' (Polonaise de concert) in G major for violin and piano, Op. 8 (1861) or violin and orchestra (1862) * ''Velké brillantní duo na české národní písně'' () for violin and piano (1865); co-composed with Guillaume Graf * ''4 Morceaux'' for violin and piano, Op. 12 (published 1884) *# Canzonetta in B minor *# Bonheur perdu *# Romance sans paroles (Píseň beze slov; Song without Words; Lied ohne Worte) in B major *# Impromptu in A major * ''Études de concert'' (3 Concert Etudes; 3 Concert-Etüden) for violin solo, Op. 13 (published 1881) *# Moderato in D minor *# Andante in C major *# Moderato vivace in E minor (Tarantelle aus der Stummen von Portici) * ''3 Morceaux'' for viola (or violin) and piano, Op. 14 (published 1883) * ''Adagio'' for violin and piano * ''Holubice od Staňka'' for violin and piano * String Quartet in C minor

Vocal

* ''České písně'' (Czech Songs; Böhmische Lieder) for voice and piano, Op. 2 (1857) *# Minka a včely (Das Minchen und die Bienen) *# Naděje (Hope; Hoffnung) *# Holubice (The Dove) * ''3 Písně'' (3 Songs) for voice and piano, Op. 9 (1865) *# Pravdu mluv *# České písně *# Až mne nebude

References

External links

Biography (in Czech)

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Laub, Ferdinand 1832 births 1875 deaths Czech male classical composers Czech classical violinists Czech people of German descent Academic staff of Moscow Conservatory Musicians from Prague Pupils of Simon Sechter Czech Romantic composers 19th-century classical composers 19th-century classical violinists Male classical violinists 19th-century Czech male musicians Burials at Vyšehrad Cemetery