Heinrich Grünfeld (21 April 1855, Prague – 26 August 1931, Berlin) was a

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the historical Lands of the Bohemian Crown ruled by the Bohem ...

n-Austrian

cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...

; a brother of

Alfred Grünfeld Alfred Grünfeld (4 July 1852 in Prague – 4 January 1924 in Vienna) was an Austrian pianist and composer. Life Alfred Grünfeld was born as the second of eight children to Jewish leather merchant Moritz Grünfeld (born 1817 Kolín nad Labem) a ...

. He published his autobiography, 'In Dur und Moll' in 1923, an historically important source for Brahms, Joachim, and Richard Strauss.

Early life

Heinrich Grünfeld was born into an affluent Jewish family in Prague, the son of merchant Moritz Grünfeld (1817, Kolín – 1882, Vienna) and his wife Regina, née Pick (1826, Dobruška – 1881, Vienna). After the discovery of his elder brother Alfred’s musical talent, the family home became a key part of Prague’s music scene. Grünfeld thus became acquainted with many of the prominent Czech musicians of the time, including Bedřich Smetana,

Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák ( ; ; 8 September 1841 – 1 May 1904) was a Czechs, Czech composer. Dvořák frequently employed rhythms and other aspects of the folk music of Moravian traditional music, Moravia and his native Bohemia, following t ...

and David Popper, with the latter of whom he became close friends. Popper later dedicated two Spanish dances to Grünfeld. Grünfeld studied the cello from the age of fourteen, first with Alois Neruda and then with Frantisek Hegenbarth at the Prague Conservatory, graduating in 1873, where he was a contemporary of

Hanuš Wihan Hanuš Wihan (5 June 1855 – 1 May 1920) was a renowned Czech cellist, considered the greatest of his time. He was strongly associated with the works of Antonín Dvořák, whose Cello Concerto in B minor, Rondo in G minor, and the short pie ...

Karel Halíř Karel Halíř (1 February 1859 – 21 December 1909) was a Czech violinist who lived mainly in Germany. "Karel" is also given as Karol, Karl or Carl; "Halíř" is also given as Halir or Haliř. Life Karel Halíř was born in Hohenelbe, Bohem ...

Otakar Ševčík Otakar Ševčík (22 March 185218 January 1934) was a Czech violinist and influential teacher. He was known as a soloist and an ensemble player, including his occasional performances with Eugène Ysaÿe. Biography Ševčík was born in Horaž ...

and Florián Zajíc.Heinrich Grünfeld, ''In Dur und Moll, Leipzig and Zürich: Brethlein & Co., 1923. Three of Grünfeld's four brothers also went on to have careers in the music industry: Alfred as a famous pianist in Vienna, Siegmund as a repetiteur at the Royal Court Opera, and Ludwig as an agent.

Life

After graduation, Grünfeld toured Bohemia before taking a job in Vienna at the Komische Oper (later known as the Ringtheater). He remained in Vienna for two years, living with his two elder brothers, until leaving the Komische Oper following the appointment of Wilhelm Hasemann as director. In December 1875, Grünfeld moved to Berlin. His first job was with the Berliner Symphoniekapelle under the direction of

Ludwig von Brenner Ludwig von Brenner (19 September 1833 – 9 February 1902) was a German conductor and composer. He was born in Leipzig, and studied at Leipzig conservatoire, later going to Saint Petersburg to play in the court orchestra of the Tsar.Baker (1 ...

, and he also took an engagement with the Kroll Opera House. Grünfeld taught at Theodor Kullak's Neue Akademie der Tonkunst from 1876-1884, and in 1878 he founded a popular series of subscription concerts in the Singakademie, initially with Xaver Scharwenka and Gustav Hollaender. Hollaender was subsequently replaced on the violin by

Émile Sauret Émile Sauret (22 May 1852 – 12 February 1920) was a French violinist and composer. Sauret wrote over 100 violin pieces, including a famous cadenza for the first movement of Niccolò Paganini's First Violin Concerto, and the "Gradus ad Par ...

and then Florián Zajíc, and Scharwenka by a series of rotating pianists. Grünfeld celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of these concerts in 1928. In 1886 Grünfeld was appointed court violoncellist to King William of Prussia. Grünfeld can be heard in an arrangement of Mendelssohn's

Song Without Words ''Song Without Words: A Book of Engravings on Wood'' is a wordless novel of 1936 by American artist Lynd Ward (1905–1985). Executed in twenty-one wood engravings, it was the fifth and shortest of the six wordless novels Ward completed, prod ...

op. 53, no. 2, together with violinist

Alfred Wittenberg Alfred Wittenberg (14 January 1880 – 18 July 1952) was a German violinist, pianist and music educator. Life Born in Breslau, Wittenberg was born into a Jewish family. As a wunderkind, the ten-year-old performed in a concert with a violin con ...

and pianist

Moritz Mayer-Mahr Moritz Mayer-Mahr (17 January 1869 – 30 July 1947) was a German pianist and music educator. Life Born in Mannheim, Mayer-Mahr was the youngest of five children of the merchant Michael Mayer-Mahr and his wife Clara ''née'' Rice(s). Already ...

, on acoustic Parlophon P 1736-I. These three artists toured widely as members of an established piano trio.Lengowski, Sara Janina, biographical sketch of Moritz Mayer-Mahr, University of Hamburg Music Research Institute, accessed December 13, 2010
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Personal life

Grünfeld met Adleheid Zimmermann, the daughter of

Richard Andree Richard Andree (26 February 1835 – 22 February 1912) was a German geographer and cartographer, noted for devoting himself especially to ethnographic studies. He wrote numerous books on this subject, dealing notably with the races of his own co ...

the German geographer and cartographer, at Bayreuth. They remained married until his death.

References

Bibliography

Hugo Riemann Karl Wilhelm Julius Hugo Riemann (18 July 1849 – 10 July 1919) was a German musicologist and composer who was among the founders of modern musicology. The leading European music scholar of his time, he was active and influential as both a musi ...

, '' Musik-Lexikon''; **

Theodore Baker Theodore Baker (June 3, 1851"Passed Away," ''Musical America'' (Nov. 10, 1934), p. 32."Dr. Theodore Baker," ''Musical Courier'' (Nov. 3, 1934), p. 20. – October 12, 1934)Biographical Dictionary of Music and Musicians A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Gruenfeld, Heinrich 1855 births 1931 deaths 19th-century classical composers 20th-century classical composers Musicians from Prague People from the Kingdom of Bohemia Czech Jews Austro-Hungarian Jews 19th-century Austrian people Jewish songwriters Jewish classical composers Austrian classical cellists Austrian classical composers Czech classical cellists Czech male classical composers Austrian male classical composers Czech Romantic composers 20th-century Czech male musicians 19th-century Czech male musicians 20th-century cellists