Louis Svećenski ( hr, Ljudevit "Lujo" Svećenski, born Ljudevit Kohn; November 7, 1862 – June 18, 1926) was notable Croatian-

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violist, violinist and rector of the

Boston Academy of Music The Boston Academy of Music is an institute of higher education in the field of music, located in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1833 by Lowell Mason and William Channing Woodbridge. It was the first music school of its kind in the countr ...

. Svećenski was born in

Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...

Donji grad Donji grad ("Lower Town") may refer to: * Donji grad, Zagreb, Croatia * Donji grad, Osijek, Croatia * Donji Grad, Zemun, Serbia See also * Gornji Grad (disambiguation) * Stari Grad (disambiguation) * Novi Grad (disambiguation) * Grad (toponymy) ...

district on November 7, 1862 to a Jewish family. His father Adolf Abraham Kohn was from Bonyhád in Hungary, and his mother Terezija (

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Fried) was from Darda just north of Osijek. Svećenski finished elementary and high school in Osijek. In 1877, with only 15 years of age, Svećenski was recognized by Osijek cultural public as the potential future musician. He graduated from the Croatian Music Institute in Zagreb on August 26, 1882 with compliments from Ivan Zajc. In September 1882, Svećenski enrolled at University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna with the scholarship from the Croatian government in the amount of 500

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. He studied violin. On July 15, 1885 he graduated from the Vienna University as a violinist with excellent grade. After graduation Svećenski returned to Zagreb where he asked Croatian authorities to let him croaticize his surname from Kohn to Svećenski. His surname Kohn is variation of surname Kohen which means priest in Hebrew, while Svećenski is derived from Croatian word svećenik which also means priest. How much he cared about his new surname is witnessed through the records from the time of his great popularity in the United States, where he requested that his last name is written with the right Croatian spelling, a letter "ć". On July 10, 1885 Svećenski moved to Boston, Massachusetts. He was a founding member of the famous

Kneisel Quartet The Kneisel Quartet was a string quartet founded in 1885 by violinist Franz Kneisel, then concertmaster of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It continued to perform until 1917, and was generally considered the leading string quartet of its time in t ...

and besides

Franz Kneisel Franz Kneisel (born January 26, 1865, Bucharest - died March 26, 1926, New York) was a violinist and music teacher. He completed early musical training at the Bucharest Conservatory and moved to Vienna in 1879, where he studied under Jakob Grün. ...

was the only original member to play with the quartet during its entire history from 1885–1917. He also played in the

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for 18 years (1885–1903), serving variously as a violist and violinist. He taught for several years at the Juilliard School and was one of the original faculty members at the

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(1924–1926). Some of his notable pupils include conductor and violinist Robert Talbot, and violist and composer Carlton Cooley. Svećenski is credited with the erection of Osijek memorial plaque in 1895, for his friend Franjo Krežma. He stayed in touch with his hometown and family until the day he died on June 18, 1926.

Pedagogical works

* ''25 Technical Exercises for Viola'' (1917) * ''Preparatory Exercises on the Violin for the Trill, the Vibrato and the Staccato, Preceded by Corrective Studies for the First and Fourth Fingers'' (1922) * ''Specialized Exercises for Violin in Shifting and in Crossing the Strings'' (1923)

References

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Svecenski, Louis 1862 births 1926 deaths People from the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia People from Osijek Austro-Hungarian Jews Croatian Jews University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna alumni Jewish violinists American classical violists American classical violinists Male classical violinists American male violinists Curtis Institute of Music faculty Juilliard School faculty Austro-Hungarian emigrants to the United States