Rudolf Deman (20 April 1880 – 19 March 1960) was an Austrian-German violinist and academic teacher. He was

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 Orchestra of the Berlin State Opera from 1918 to 1930 and first violinist of the Deman String Quartet which made several recordings.

Life

Rudolf Diamant was born in Vienna, the youngest of eight children of goldsmith Moritz Diamant (1838–1927) and Anna, ''née'' Bohenzky (1837–1924). The name was changed from "Diamant" to "Deman" in 1892. He graduated from the Vienna Conservatory in 1898 with distinction, in the class of

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 ...

. He possibly received additional training with

Joseph Joachim Joseph Joachim (28 June 1831 – 15 August 1907) was a Hungarian violinist, conductor, composer and teacher who made an international career, based in Hanover and Berlin. A close collaborator of Johannes Brahms, he is widely regarded as one of ...

in Berlin. He served three years in the military and worked as

at the

Lviv Theatre of Opera and Ballet The Solomiya Krushelnytska Lviv State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet ( uk, Львівський Національний академічний театр опери та балету імені Соломії Крушельницької ...

from 1901 to 1908. From 1908 to 1918, he was concertmaster of the orchestra at the

Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe The Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe is a theatre and opera house in Karlsruhe, Germany. It has existed in its present form and place at Ettlinger Tor since 1975. Achim Thorwald became the Intendant in summer 2002 and held that post until the en ...

, appointed court concertmaster in May 1909. In 1911, Deman married the actress Edith Ausfeld (1886–1960), who was also engaged there. Their son Hans Eduard Maximilian Deman (1912–1986) later worked in the German diplomatic service. From 1914, Deman also played in the

Bayreuth Festival The Bayreuth Festival (german: link=no, Bayreuther Festspiele) is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner are presented. Wagner himself conceived ...

orchestra. During his enlistment in World War I, he worked as a courier in the Vienna War Ministry in 1917/1918. After the First World War, Deman was for some time a member of the Poźniak Trio. From the 1918/19 season to 1930, Deman was one of the concertmasters of the Orchestra of the Berlin State Opera. In the 1920s he was appointed professor at the

Hochschule für Musik Berlin ' (, plural: ') is the generic term in German language, German for institutions of higher education, corresponding to ''universities'' and ''colleges'' in English. The term ''Universität'' (plural: ''Universitäten'') is reserved for institutions ...

. He formed the Deman String Quartet with Emil Kornsand (second violin), Karl Reitz (viola) and Carl Dechert (cello). On 29 October 1923, he was one of the musicians who took part in the first German radio broadcast from the Berlin . In 1930, Deman married the soprano

Frida Leider Frida Leider (18 April 1888 – 4 June 1975) was a German operatic soprano. Leider was a dramatic soprano. Her most famous roles were Wagner's Isolde and Brünnhilde, Beethoven's Fidelio, Mozart's Donna Anna, and Verdi's Aida and Leonora. She ...

, whom he had met in July 1923 while working together at the Waldoper festival. He gave up his concertmaster duties to accompany her on her international tours. As a Jew, he was no longer allowed to engage in public activity from 1933, though as an Austrian citizen he was protected from further attacks until 1938. After the

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...

and the 1938

Kristallnacht () or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from ...

, Deman emigrated to Switzerland. To enable his economic survival, Frida Leider tried to support him through guest performances abroad and money sent in a roundabout way. In 1943, the marriage was officially dissolved, but the couple resumed their marital union in 1946, after Deman's return from exile. Deman continued to teach and was again professor at the Hochschule für Musik. On 2 April 1955, he was awarded the

Federal Cross of Merit The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (german: Verdienstorden der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, or , BVO) is the only federal decoration of Germany. It is awarded for special achievements in political, economic, cultural, intellect ...

1st class. Friedhof heerstraße berlin 2018-05-21 (21)

Deman died in Berlin on 19 March 1960, one month before his 80th birthday. He was buried at the state-owned

Heerstraße ''Heerstraße'' is the German word for military road, a type or road that was built to enable the rapid movement of armies. Specific roads built for this purpose include the: * Aachen-Frankfurter Heerstraße * Bernauer Heerstraße * Lüneburger ...

cemetery near the

Olympiapark Berlin Olympiapark Berlin (German for ''Berlin Olympic Park''), previously the () and the (), is a sports and entertainment complex located in Berlin, Germany. The complex served as the Olympic Park of the 1936 Summer Olympics.

in the in what is now the district of

Berlin-Westend Westend () is a locality of the Berlin borough Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf in Germany. It emerged in the course of Berlin's 2001 administrative reform on the grounds of the former Charlottenburg borough. Originally a mansion colony, it is today a qu ...

(grave location: 19-N-26/27). His wife was also buried there, in 1975.

Hans-Jürgen Mende Hans-Jürgen Mende (19 May 1945 in Berlin-Kreuzberg – 21 September 2018 in Rostock) was a German historian. He was a lecturer in the history of philosophy at the Weißensee Academy of Art Berlin. After the reunification of Germany (1989/90) he ...

: ''Lexikon Berliner Begräbnisstätten''. Pharus-Plan, Berlin 2018, . .

Recordings

Deman made his first trio recordings for

Odeon Records Odeon Records is a record label founded in 1903 by Max Straus and Heinrich Zuntz of the International Talking Machine Company in Berlin, Germany. The label's name and logo come from the Odéon-Théâtre de l'Europe in Paris. History Straus an ...

around 1921, and in 1923 he accompanied singers on Homocord. In 1923 and 1924, he made numerous recordings for Vox, rather light music in duo and trio, but also the Lento from the

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 ...

by Richard Strauss. Finally, from 1926 to 1930, he recorded with the Deman String Quartet for

Deutsche Grammophon Deutsche Grammophon (; DGG) is a German classical music record label that was the precursor of the corporation PolyGram. Headquartered in Berlin Friedrichshain, it is now part of Universal Music Group (UMG) since its merger with the UMG family of ...

: string quartets by

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

( op. 18.4, op. 59.3 and op. 132),

Dittersdorf Dittersdorf is a municipality in the district Saale-Orla-Kreis, in Thuringia, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Rus ...

(E flat major quartet), Glasunov (Interlude),

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...

(Quartet K 464) and

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

(Quartets D 87, D 804, D 810 and 5 German Dances) in complete recordings.

References

External links

Edith Deman-Delkamp
Stadtwiki Karlsruhe * {{DEFAULTSORT:Deman, Rudolf German violinists 20th-century classical violinists Male classical violinists Academic staff of the Berlin University of the Arts 1880 births 1960 deaths Musicians from Vienna Officers Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 20th-century German male musicians Austrian emigrants to Germany

Life

Recordings

References

Further reading

External links