Ljerko Spiller (22 July 1908 – 9 November 2008) was a famous

Croat The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, Ge ...

and

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

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.

Early life and education

Spiller was born in

Crikvenica Crikvenica () is a city in Croatia, located on the Adriatic in the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County. Names The names of the town in various languages include: * la, Ad Turres * it, Cirquenizza * hu, Cirkvenica, Cirkvenicza, Czirkvenicza, Czirkweni ...

to a Croatian

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

ish family. After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Spiller moved with his family to

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

, where he studied violin at the Music School of

Croatian Music Institute Croatian Music Institute ( hr, Hrvatski glazbeni zavod, HGZ) is the oldest music institution in Croatia. Also, after the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall, it is the second most important concert hall in Zagreb. It was founded in 1827 under title ...

under Vaclav Huml.

Later life, education and career

As a

scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researche ...

of the French government Spiller perfected his knowledge of education at the

École Normale de Musique de Paris The École Normale de Musique de Paris "Alfred Cortot" (ENMP) is a leading conservatoire located in Paris, Île-de-France, France. At the time of the school's foundation in 1919 by Auguste Mangeot, Alfred Cortot. The term ''école normale'' (Engl ...

, starting in 1928 when he began to study under

Gaston Poulet Gaston Poulet (10 April 1892 – 14 April 1974) was a French violinist and conductor. He played an important part in the diffusion of the contemporary music of the first half of the 20th century. His son Gérard Poulet, born in 1938, is also a viol ...

, and continued his study under famous

Jacques Thibaud Jacques Thibaud (; 27 September 18801 September 1953) was a French violinist. Biography Thibaud was born in Bordeaux and studied the violin with his father before entering the Paris Conservatoire at the age of thirteen. In 1896 he jointly won the ...

. On Thibaud's recommendation Spiller played in freshly based chamber orchestra by

Alfred Cortot Alfred Denis Cortot (; 26 September 187715 June 1962) was a French pianist, conductor, and teacher who was one of the most renowned classical musicians of the 20th century. A pianist of massive repertory, he was especially valued for his poeti ...

, along with

Zino Francescatti René-Charles "Zino" Francescatti (August 9, 1902 – September 17, 1991) was a French virtuoso violinist. Zino Francescatti was born in Marseilles, to a musical family. Both parents were violinists. His father, who also played the cello, had stu ...

and

Maurice Vieux Maurice Edgard Vieux (14 April 1884 in Savy-Berlette near Valenciennes – 28 April 1951 in Paris) was a French violist whose teaching at the Conservatoire de Paris plays a key role in the history of the viola in France. Vieux received his 1st Pr ...

. When Francescatti Spiller replaced him place as a

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 ...

. Spiller graduated in 1930 and soon after his graduation he got a job as a lecturer at the Paris École Normale de Musique. He achieved great success in 1935 at

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition The International Henryk Wieniawski Violin Competition (Polish: ''Międzynarodowy Konkurs Skrzypcowy im. Henryka Wieniawskiego'') is a competition for violinists up to age 30 that takes place every five years in Poznań, Poland, in honor of the vi ...

, one of the top competitions in the world in general. On the eve of the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Spiller left Europe to escape, as a Jew, the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

persecution Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these term ...

. He moved to

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

where he began his life of a violinist, teacher, conductor and organizer of musical life. Spiller became active in a lengthy list classical groups, organizations and related professions, including: symphony orchestra concertmaster for LRA Radio del Mundo and the Amigos de la Musica; conductor, founder and artistic director of the Conjunto de Cámara; associate professor emeritus at the

University of La Plata The La Plata National University ( es, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, UNLP) is one of the most important Argentine national universities and the biggest one situated in the city of La Plata, capital of Buenos Aires Province. It has over 90, ...

; and conductor and violinist of festival in Córdoba. He also taught in the discipline in

San Carlos de Bariloche San Carlos de Bariloche, usually known as Bariloche (), is a city in the province of Río Negro, Argentina, situated in the foothills of the Andes on the southern shores of Nahuel Huapi Lake. It is located within the Nahuel Huapi National Park. ...

, and among his students was the virtuoso and

Camerata Bariloche The Camerata Bariloche is a chamber music ensemble from Argentina, founded in 1967. The ensemble has achieved international recognition for excellence. Origins The Camerata was formed by musician Alberto Lysy, who organized the Camping Musical ...

conductor,

Alberto Lysy Alberto Lysy (February 11, 1935 – December 30, 2009) was a prestigious Argentine violinist and conductor of Ukrainian ancestry. The violin gifted to him was a very old Stradivarius. Among his friends were Charlie Chaplin and family whose Swis ...

. Spiller was frequent guest at master classes in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and Croatia. He was, for several consecutive years, a lecturer at

Altensteig Altensteig (; Swabian German, Swabian: ''Aldaschdaeg'') is a town in the Calw (district), district of Calw, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. History Altensteig was most likely given German town law, town rights by the Counts of Hohenberg around ...

castle near

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

. Spiller achieved many recognitions: the Sirlin Award in 1971 as the best Argentine professor of instruments in the past ten years; OEA and CIDEM honorary diplomas in Washington; two

Konex Award Konex Foundation Awards, or simply Konex Awards, are cultural awards from the Konex Foundation honouring Argentine cultural personalities. History and purpose Konex Awards are granted by the Konex Foundation, created in 1980 in Argentina. The pur ...

s as a teacher for classical music; appointment as a Consejo de Música adviser to the governments of Germany, France, Switzerland and Austria; honorary member of the Association of Musical Artists in 1985 and of the

Association in

. On the occasion of the Vaclav Huml sixth international violin competition, Ljerko Spiller received the

Order of Danica Hrvatska The Order of Danica Hrvatska ( hr, Red Danice hrvatske; lit. "Order of the Croatian Morning Star") is the fourteenth most important medal given by the Republic of Croatia. The order was founded on 1 April 1995. The medal is awarded for different p ...

in February 1997, which was awarded to him by Croatian President

Franjo Tuđman Franjo Tuđman (; 14 May 1922 – 10 December 1999), also written as Franjo Tudjman, was a Croatian politician and historian. Following the country's independence from Yugoslavia, he became the first president of Croatia and served as p ...

. Spiller frequently performed works of

Ivan Mane Jarnović Ivan Mane Jarnović ( it, Giovanni Mane Giornovichi; 26 October 1747 – 23 November 1804) was a violinist and composer during the 18th century, often said to have been Italian but whose family was of Ragusan (today in Croatia) origin. There is n ...

, Franjo Dugan,

Milko Kelemen Milko Kelemen (30 March 1924 – 8 March 2018) was a Croatian composer. Life Milko Kelemen was born in Slatina, Croatia (then Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes). He studied under Stjepan Šulek in Zagreb, under Olivier Messiaen in Paris ...

, Krsto Odak,

Josip Štolcer-Slavenski Josip Štolcer-Slavenski (Serbian Cyrillic: Јосип Штолцер-Славенски; 11 May 1896 – 30 November 1955 ) was a Croatian composer and professor at the Music Academy in Belgrade. British musicologist Jim Samson described Š ...

, Miroslav Šlik and Miroslav Spiller. Long is a list of Spiller appearances with famous conductors, as well as various soloists with his conducting. Spiller is the author of one of the best violin textbook by which generations of young people study.

Death

Spiller died on 9 November 2008 in Buenos Aires. He was 100 years old.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Spiller, Ljerko 1908 births 2008 deaths Musicians from Zagreb Croatian Jews Austro-Hungarian Jews Croatian Austro-Hungarians Croatian classical musicians Yugoslav emigrants to Argentina Argentine violinists Jewish violinists Jewish Argentine musicians 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century violinists École Normale de Musique de Paris alumni Academic staff of the École Normale de Musique de Paris Naturalized citizens of Argentina Croatian centenarians Argentine centenarians Men centenarians