Arnold Rosé
Encyclopedia
Arnold Josef Rosé was a Romania
n-born Austria
n Jewish violin
ist. He was leader of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
for over half a century. He worked closely with Brahms
. Gustav Mahler
was his brother-in-law. Although not known internationally as a soloist he was a great orchestral leader (concertmaster
) and player of chamber music, leading the famous Rosé Quartet
for several decades.
(Jassy) in what is now Romania
. As he and his three brothers showed musical potential the family moved to Vienna
where his father established a thriving business as a carriage builder. Arnold began his musical studies at the age of seven, and at ten entered the first class in violin
at the Vienna Conservatory, receiving instruction from Karl Heissler.
concert, and on 10 April 1881 he appeared with the Vienna Philharmonic Society in the first Viennese performance of Goldmark
's violin concerto
under Hans Richter
. Shortly thereafter he received an engagement as solo violinist and leader of the orchestra at the Hoftheater or Vienna Court Opera (later the Staatsoper). This orchestra, in unique Viennese tradition, played both in the orchestra pit and on the concert platform, and were the parent of the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra. He remained leader of these two venerable institutions until the 1930s. His reputation as an orchestral leader became legendary. For Sir Adrian Boult
he was quite simply “Europe’s greatest orchestral leader of his time”.
In 1882 he founded the famous Rosé Quartet
who were regarded as the finest string quartet
of their time.
From 1893 to 1901 Rosé taught at the Vienna conservatory; he rejoined the faculty in 1908 and stayed until 1924. In 1888 Rosé made successful tours through Romania and Germany, and in 1889 was appointed concert-master at the Bayreuth Festival
s. The story is told that during a performance of Wagner
’s Die Walküre
the orchestra were losing their way. Rosé stood up and gave a confident lead, bringing the orchestra back together in pitch and tempo. Mahler, who was in the audience, is said to have exclaimed: “Now there IS a concertmaster!” Both Arnold and his brother Eduard, the cellist, were to marry sisters of Mahler.
Gustav Mahler moved from Hamburg
to Vienna in 1897 in order to take up the directorate of the Vienna Opera. His sisters Justine and Emma joined him in Vienna a year later. Eduard married Emma that very same month. Justine continued to live with her brother Gustav, keeping house for him. It was not long before a romantic attachment formed between her and Arnold. However, it was kept a secret, Justine being unwilling to marry until her brother had found himself a wife. This happened in 1902 when Gustav married Alma Schindler who was nearly 20 years his junior. She was considered “the most beautiful girl in Vienna”, and was the daughter of the landscape artist Emil Jakob Schindler. They were married on 9 March 1902 and Arnold and Justine were married the following day.
had guaranteed “freedom of religion and conscience” in 1867, but the reality was often different. They had two children: Alfred
(1902-1975), who became a pianist and conductor, and Alma
(1906-1944) who was a very successful violinist, but whose career took a highly tragic turn as she ended up directing an orchestra of prisoners in the concentration camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau. She eventually died in the camp.
Justine Rosé died on 22 August 1938. Arnold was devastated by her death. Unable to continue living under Nazi occupation, he left Vienna four weeks later and travelled via Holland to England
where he spent the last six years of his life. He continued to play chamber music with Buxbaum and other colleagues. His last appearances were in 1945; thus his career stretched over 65 years. After he learned the terrible news of Alma's death at Birkenau, he found it difficult to continue with his work, and died soon afterward. He published editions of the violin sonatas of Bach
and Beethoven
and of Beethoven’s Quartets op 18.
, Spanish
and Italian
courts, the republic of Austria, and the city of Vienna. He was a member of the royal musical establishment with the rank of k.u.k.Hofmusiker (Royal and Imperial Court Musician), and as such he had the privilege of a court carriage to carry him to the opera. He also had his own carriage, with fine livery, which took him to concerts at other venues.
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n-born Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n Jewish violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist. He was leader of the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
The Vienna Philharmonic is an orchestra in Austria, regularly considered one of the finest in the world....
for over half a century. He worked closely with Brahms
Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms was a German composer and pianist, and one of the leading musicians of the Romantic period. Born in Hamburg, Brahms spent much of his professional life in Vienna, Austria, where he was a leader of the musical scene...
. Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
was his brother-in-law. Although not known internationally as a soloist he was a great orchestral leader (concertmaster
Concertmaster
The concertmaster/mistress is the spalla or leader, of the first violin section of an orchestra. In the UK, the term commonly used is leader...
) and player of chamber music, leading the famous Rosé Quartet
Rosé Quartet
The Rosé Quartet was a string quartet formed by Arnold Rosé in 1882.It was active for 55 years, until 1938.- Members :Its members changed over time....
for several decades.
Early life
Arnold Rosé was born in IașiIasi
Iași is the second most populous city and a municipality in Romania. Located in the historical Moldavia region, Iași has traditionally been one of the leading centres of Romanian social, cultural, academic and artistic life...
(Jassy) in what is now Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. As he and his three brothers showed musical potential the family moved to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
where his father established a thriving business as a carriage builder. Arnold began his musical studies at the age of seven, and at ten entered the first class in violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
at the Vienna Conservatory, receiving instruction from Karl Heissler.
Career in Vienna
He made his first appearance in 1879 at a Leipzig GewandhausLeipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra is one of the the oldest symphony orchestras in the world...
concert, and on 10 April 1881 he appeared with the Vienna Philharmonic Society in the first Viennese performance of Goldmark
Karl Goldmark
Karl Goldmark, also known originally as Károly Goldmark and later sometimes as Carl Goldmark; May 18, 1830, Keszthely – January 2, 1915, Vienna) was a Hungarian composer.- Life and career :...
's violin concerto
Violin concerto
A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin and instrumental ensemble, customarily orchestra. Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up through the present day...
under Hans Richter
Hans Richter (conductor)
Hans Richter was an Austrian orchestral and operatic conductor.-Biography:Richter was born in Raab , Kingdom of Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Empire. His mother was opera-singer Jozsefa Csazenszky. He studied at the Vienna Conservatory...
. Shortly thereafter he received an engagement as solo violinist and leader of the orchestra at the Hoftheater or Vienna Court Opera (later the Staatsoper). This orchestra, in unique Viennese tradition, played both in the orchestra pit and on the concert platform, and were the parent of the Vienna Philharmonic orchestra. He remained leader of these two venerable institutions until the 1930s. His reputation as an orchestral leader became legendary. For Sir Adrian Boult
Adrian Boult
Sir Adrian Cedric Boult CH was an English conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London for the Royal Opera House and Sergei Diaghilev's ballet company. His first prominent post was...
he was quite simply “Europe’s greatest orchestral leader of his time”.
In 1882 he founded the famous Rosé Quartet
Rosé Quartet
The Rosé Quartet was a string quartet formed by Arnold Rosé in 1882.It was active for 55 years, until 1938.- Members :Its members changed over time....
who were regarded as the finest string quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
of their time.
From 1893 to 1901 Rosé taught at the Vienna conservatory; he rejoined the faculty in 1908 and stayed until 1924. In 1888 Rosé made successful tours through Romania and Germany, and in 1889 was appointed concert-master at the Bayreuth Festival
Bayreuth Festival
The Bayreuth Festival is a music festival held annually in Bayreuth, Germany, at which performances of operas by the 19th century German composer Richard Wagner are presented...
s. The story is told that during a performance of Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
’s Die Walküre
Die Walküre
Die Walküre , WWV 86B, is the second of the four operas that form the cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner...
the orchestra were losing their way. Rosé stood up and gave a confident lead, bringing the orchestra back together in pitch and tempo. Mahler, who was in the audience, is said to have exclaimed: “Now there IS a concertmaster!” Both Arnold and his brother Eduard, the cellist, were to marry sisters of Mahler.
Gustav Mahler moved from Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
to Vienna in 1897 in order to take up the directorate of the Vienna Opera. His sisters Justine and Emma joined him in Vienna a year later. Eduard married Emma that very same month. Justine continued to live with her brother Gustav, keeping house for him. It was not long before a romantic attachment formed between her and Arnold. However, it was kept a secret, Justine being unwilling to marry until her brother had found himself a wife. This happened in 1902 when Gustav married Alma Schindler who was nearly 20 years his junior. She was considered “the most beautiful girl in Vienna”, and was the daughter of the landscape artist Emil Jakob Schindler. They were married on 9 March 1902 and Arnold and Justine were married the following day.
Persecution and exile
The Rosé family lived in comfortable circumstances, but life was never to be easy for Jews anywhere in Europe. Emperor Franz JosefFranz Joseph I of Austria
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I was Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Galicia and Lodomeria and Grand Duke of Cracow from 1848 until his death in 1916.In the December of 1848, Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria abdicated the throne as part of...
had guaranteed “freedom of religion and conscience” in 1867, but the reality was often different. They had two children: Alfred
Alfred Rosé
Alfred Edward Rosé was an Austrian composer and conductor.He was the elder brother of Alma Rosé, son of Arnold Rosé, and the nephew of Gustav Mahler.-See also:*Arnold Rosé*Eduard Rosé...
(1902-1975), who became a pianist and conductor, and Alma
Alma Rosé
Alma Rosé was an Austrian violinist of Jewish descent. Her uncle was the composer Gustav Mahler. Alma Rosé was deported by the Nazis to the infamous concentration camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau. There she directed an orchestra of terrified prisoners who played to their captors in order that they...
(1906-1944) who was a very successful violinist, but whose career took a highly tragic turn as she ended up directing an orchestra of prisoners in the concentration camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau. She eventually died in the camp.
Justine Rosé died on 22 August 1938. Arnold was devastated by her death. Unable to continue living under Nazi occupation, he left Vienna four weeks later and travelled via Holland to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
where he spent the last six years of his life. He continued to play chamber music with Buxbaum and other colleagues. His last appearances were in 1945; thus his career stretched over 65 years. After he learned the terrible news of Alma's death at Birkenau, he found it difficult to continue with his work, and died soon afterward. He published editions of the violin sonatas of Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
and Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
and of Beethoven’s Quartets op 18.
Honours
In 1890 Rosé received the Grosse Goldene Verdienstkreuz from King Ludwig II of Bavaria. On the occasion of his 60th birthday he received the honorary title of “Hofrat” (Court Counsellor) which was a professional rank above “Professor”. He received numerous other awards from the HabsburgHabsburg
The House of Habsburg , also found as Hapsburg, and also known as House of Austria is one of the most important royal houses of Europe and is best known for being an origin of all of the formally elected Holy Roman Emperors between 1438 and 1740, as well as rulers of the Austrian Empire and...
, Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
and Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
courts, the republic of Austria, and the city of Vienna. He was a member of the royal musical establishment with the rank of k.u.k.Hofmusiker (Royal and Imperial Court Musician), and as such he had the privilege of a court carriage to carry him to the opera. He also had his own carriage, with fine livery, which took him to concerts at other venues.