Otakar Ševčík (22 March 185218 January 1934) was a

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

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 influential teacher. He was known as a soloist and an

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player, including his occasional performances with

Eugène Ysaÿe Eugène-Auguste Ysaÿe (; 16 July 185812 May 1931) was a Belgian virtuoso violinist, composer, and conductor. He was regarded as "The King of the Violin", or, as Nathan Milstein put it, the "tsar". Legend of the Ysaÿe violin Eugène Ysa� ...

Biography

Ševčík was born in

Horažďovice Horažďovice (; german: Horaschdowitz) is a town in Klatovy District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 5,100 inhabitants. The historic town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. Admin ...

, Bohemia,

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. His father was the local village schoolmaster. Although he received his first music lessons from his father, he studied under Antonín Bennewitz at the

Prague Conservatory The Prague Conservatory or Prague Conservatoire ( cs, Pražská konzervatoř) is a music school in Prague, Czech Republic, founded in 1808. Currently, Prague Conservatory offers four or six year study courses, which can be compared to the level ...

(1866–1870) during which period a disease caused him to have his left eye enucleated. He was also taught by Hans Sitt. He began his career in 1870 as

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 the

Mozarteum Mozarteum University Salzburg (German: ''Universität Mozarteum Salzburg'') is one of three affiliated but separate (it is actually a state university) entities under the “Mozarteum” moniker in Salzburg municipality; the International Mo ...

concerts in

Salzburg Salzburg (, ; literally "Salt-Castle"; bar, Soizbuag, label= Austro-Bavarian) is the fourth-largest city in Austria. In 2020, it had a population of 156,872. The town is on the site of the Roman settlement of ''Iuvavum''. Salzburg was founded ...

, where he also taught. After 1873, he was concertmaster at the Prague Interim (Provisional) Theatre and the Komische Opera at the Ring Theatre in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. From 1875-92 he was

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of violin at the music school of the

Russian Music Society The Russian Musical Society (RMS) (russian: Русское музыкальное общество) was the first music school in Russia open to the general public. It was launched in 1859 by the Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna and Anton Rubinstei ...

in Kiev, at the same time appearing frequently as soloist. In 1892 he became head of the violin department at the Prague Conservatory, where he remained until 1906. He then taught privately in

Písek Písek (; german: Pisek) is a town in the South Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 30,000 inhabitants. The town centre is well preserved and is protected by law as an urban monument zone. Písek is colloquially called "''South ...

. In 1909, he became director of the Violin Department at the

Vienna Music Academy The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university located in Vienna, established in 1817. With a student body of over three thousa ...

, until 1918, when at the end of

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 ...

his nationality forced him to leave his position. He returned to the Prague Conservatory, where he stayed until 1921. After that he travelled in the

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and

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as a well known teacher. He died in Písek, in the modern-day Czech Republic. Ševčík taught violin at the Imperial Royal Academy of Music in Vienna, from 1909. He visited the United States four times between 1922 and 1932 to teach. Ševčík was famous as a

teacher in Salzburg, Vienna, Prague,

Kharkiv Kharkiv ( uk, wikt:Харків, Ха́рків, ), also known as Kharkov (russian: Харькoв, ), is the second-largest List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine.London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

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, and

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. His violin studies and violin methods were published in several books and are still important as major teaching tools. These studies include ''The Little Ševčík'', an elementary violin tutor, which teaches the semitone system in 149 exercises, the ''School of Violin Technics'' (''Schule der Violintechnik'', four parts, 1880), First Position, vol. II, 2nd to 7th Positions, and Vol. III, Shifting, and Preparatory Exercises in Double-Stopping, Opus 9, and the ''Schule der Bogentechnik'' (six parts, 1893).

References

Sources

* Ševčík, Otakar. The Little Ševčík, An Elementary Violin Tutor (1901). Miami, Florida: Kalmus/Warner Music. . * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sevcik, Otakar 1852 births 1934 deaths Czech classical musicians Czech classical violinists Male classical violinists Czech male writers People from Horažďovice Prague Conservatory alumni Violin pedagogues