Sam Franko (January 20, 1857 – May 6, 1937) was an American

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 regu ...

ist and conductor. He was the brother of violinist, conductor and

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variet ...

promoter

Nahan Franko Nahan Franko (July 23, 1861 – June 7, 1930) was an American violinist, conductor and concert promoter. His brother was violinist and conductor Sam Franko. Biography Franko was born in New Orleans on July 23, 1861. He studied the violin ...

. A native of

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

, Franko studied the

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

, working 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 t ...

and

Henri Vieuxtemps Henri François Joseph Vieuxtemps ( 17 February 18206 June 1881) was a Belgian composer and violinist. He occupies an important place in the history of the violin as a prominent exponent of the Franco-Belgian violin school during the mid-19th ce ...

among others. Upon his return to the United States he joined the Mendelssohn Quartet, later working with the Theodore Thomas Orchestra and the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

. Franko soon grew disgusted with prejudice against American musicians, and created the

American Symphony The ''American Symphony'' is a symphony for orchestra by the American composer Adam Schoenberg. The work was commissioned by the Kansas City Symphony and was completed in early 2011. It was first performed by the Kansas City Symphony under the d ...

, made up entirely of American performers, in 1894. With this group he gave many American premieres. Franko also taught violin and arranged 17th- and 18th-century music, and

transcribe Transcription refers to the process of converting sounds (voice, music etc.) into letters or musical notes, or producing a copy of something in another medium, including: Genetics * Transcription (biology), the copying of DNA into RNA, the fir ...

d numerous pieces for the violin. His work with old music won him accolades from the German press. His autobiography, ''Chords and Discords'', was published in 1938, and he died in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

in 1937. The set of cadenzas he wrote for Mozart's Violin Concerto in G-major K. 216 has become a standard part of the concert repertoire, more so than all of the numerous other cadenzas that have been written for this piece.

References

Bibliography

*David Ewen, ''Encyclopedia of Concert Music''. New York; Hill and Wang, 1959.

External links

Sam Franko scores
(the composer's manuscripts) in th
Music Division
o

1857 births 1937 deaths Musicians from New Orleans American violinists American male violinists American conductors (music) American male conductors (music) {{US-violinist-stub