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Jan KubelÃk
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Jan Kubelík (5 July 1880 – 5 December 1940) was a Czech violinist and composer.
He was born in Michle (now part of Prague). His father, a gardener by occupation, was an amateur violinist. He taught his two sons the violin and after discovering Jan's talent, who was aged five at the time, arranged for him to study with Karel Weber and Darel Ondrícek. Aged eight he studied at the Prague Conservatory with Otakar Ševcík, of whose technique he became the most famous representative.
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Encyclopedia
Jan Kubelík (5 July 1880 – 5 December 1940) was a Czech violinist and composer.
He was born in Michle (now part of Prague). His father, a gardener by occupation, was an amateur violinist. He taught his two sons the violin and after discovering Jan's talent, who was aged five at the time, arranged for him to study with Karel Weber and Darel Ondrícek. Aged eight he studied at the Prague Conservatory with Otakar Ševcík, of whose technique he became the most famous representative. As a child, he used to practice 10 to 12 hours a day, or "until my fingers started to bleed." After 1898, he toured as a soloist, soon becoming renowned for his great virtuosity and flawless intonation, and his very full and noble tone. He played a Guarneri del Gesù and also two Stradivarius violins: he acquired the 1715 Stradivarius Emperor in 1910.
After great success following his debut in Vienna, and in London (where he first appeared at a Hans Richter concert in 1900), Kubelík toured in the USA in 1901 for the first time. He made his first appearance for the Royal Philharmonic Society, London in the season of 1901-2, and in 1902 was awarded the Society's Gold Medal (in succession to Eugène Ysaÿe). In 1902 he brought the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra to London, having assisted it financially in the previous year.
In his personal life, in 1903 he married countess Marianne Czáky-Szell, with whom he had eight children, five violinist daughters and three sons, among them conductor Rafael Kubelík.
In 1903 his portrait was painted by Philip de László. The Gramophone Company recorded him as obbligato to Dame Nellie Melba in 1904, a match which reflected the classical phrasing, tonal purity and security of his art and was an ideal complement to it. Their early version of the Bach-Gounod Ave Maria (G.C. 03033) was recorded twice, in October 1904 and again in February 1905, and this was one of the great early classics of the gramophone, one of those records which 'made' the instrument a popular success, though the double celebrity single-sided title retailed at one guinea. Nine years later (when technology had improved) the partnership was reformed to re-make the record (as 03333), in May 1913 with organ accompaniment and again in October 1913. It was the latter version which then survived in the inter-war catalogue in two-sided form.
Kubelík made a number of recordings; wrote music, including six violin concertos; and continued to perform in public until his death, with a pause between the end of World War I and 1920, during which period he composed. In 1920 he resumed his concert career, but with the advent of Jascha Heifetz, his career dwindled somewhat. Jan Kubelík died in Prague.
Jan Kubelík's acoustic recordings were made for The Gramophone Company, and for Fonotipia/Polydor (who also recorded Váša Príhoda, Ferenc von Vecsey and Jacques Thibaud). His 1935 Carnegie Hall concert was also recorded and has been reissued.
Carl Sandburg mentions Jan Kubelík in his Chicago Poems, 1916. He is also referred to in Robert Ludlum's 2002 novel The Janson Directive.
Selected works
Violin and orchestra
- Concerto No.1 in C Major for Violin and Orchestra (published 1920)
- Concerto No.2 for Violin and Orchestra
- Concerto No.3 for Violin and Orchestra
- Concerto No.4 in B Major for Violin and Orchestra (published c.1932)
- Concerto No.5 for Violin and Orchestra
- Concerto No.6 for Violin and Orchestra
Violin
- Burlesque for Violin and Piano
- Oriental Scene for Violin and Piano (published c.1931)
- Menuett for Violin and Piano (published 1931)
- Cadenzas for the Violin Concerto in D Major, Op.61 by Ludwig van Beethoven
- Cadenzas for the Violin Concerto in D Major, Op.77 by Johannes Brahms
- Cadenzas for the Violin Concerto No.5 in A Major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Discography of Fonotipia titles
- 39162 Souvenir (Drdla) XPh 270 (27cm)
- 39163 Danse Hongroise (Nachez) XPh 272 (27cm)
- 39164 Variazioni sulla ballata di Mefisto (Gounod) XPh 2732 (27cm)
- 39191 Serenade (d'Ambrosio) (27cm)
- 39192 Perpetuum mobile (Paganini) XPh 276 (27cm)
- 39193 Serenade (Drdla) (27cm)
- 39194 Traumerei (Schumann) XPh 285? (27cm)
- 39195 La Ronde des Lutins (Bazzini) XPh 295 (27cm)
- 39884 Scherzo Tarantella (Wieniawski) XPh 2231 (27cm)
- 39925 Der Zephir (Hubay) XPh 2228 (27cm)
- 62036 Cavatina (Raff) XPh 2400 (27cm)
- 62037 Vision (Drdla) (27cm)
- 62496 Serenata napolitana (Sgambati) (27cm)
- 62497 Le cygne (Saint-Saens) (27cm)
- 62573 Poeme (Fibich) (27cm)
- 62574 Berceuse (Drdla) (27cm)
- 62603 Serenade de Pierrot (Randegger) (27cm)
- 69010 Sextet, Lucia di Lammermoor (Donizetti) (35cm)
- 69013 Variazioni sull'Inno Nazionale Inglese XXPh 275 (35cm)
- 74083 Danza Spagnola Zapateado (Sarasate) 5526F (30cm)
- 74084 Zingaresca (Sarasate) 5526F (30cm)
- 75085 Capriccio in Sol minore (Paganini) 5527F (30cm)
- 75086 Cadenza del Concerto Paganini in Re Maggiore (Kubelik) 5527F (30cm)
Source: J.R. Bennett, Dischi Fonotipia Numerical Catalogue - A Golden Treasury (J. Dennis/Record Collector Shop, Ipswich 1953).
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