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Scan 1164
Biographical dictionary of musicians, 1940
16 lines. Read by computer on 8 September 2026. Printed page 1144. See the scan on archive.org.
1U. S. and st. at the Master Inst. of the Roerich Museum (1925–27), at the Inst. of Mus. Art (grad. 1929), and at the Mannes Mus. School (grad. 1932); in 1929–30 he held a fellowship in comp. at the Juilliard School of Mus. From 1932–38 he taught voice, comp. and orch. at the Master Inst. of the Roerich Museum; since 1928 lecturer on Byzantine music at Union Theological Seminary, N. Y.; from 1929–35, cond. the 'V. Sinfonietta', and from 1932–7 the Master Inst. Orch.; since 1924 cond. of the 'Byzantine Vocal Ensemble' (transcontinental tours in 1935–6 and 1936–7). His mus. setting of the liturgy of the Greek Orthodox Church is official for Greek churches in North and South America.
3Vuillaume [vüē-yohm'], Jean-Baptiste, violin-maker; b. Mirecourt, France, Oct. 7, 1798; d. Paris, Feb. 19, 1875. He came of a family of violin-makers, and learned the trade from his father, Claude V. [1772–1834]. At 19 he went to Paris, and worked with Chanot till 1821, and from 1821–5 for Lété, with whom he then entered into partnership. After Lété's retirement in 1828, V. worked alone, and put his own name on several instrs. which he had constructed with the greatest care; but sales were slow, as the craze for old Italian violins had just set in. Unable to make headway against the prevailing fashion, he deftly turned it to account; after long and patient labor he placed a 'Stradivarius' violin on the market for 300 francs, bearing the master's lable, and possessing a full, sonorous tone. Thenceforward he could hardly keep pace with the orders for similar instrs.; he also built 'celli for 500 francs. The sight of a Duiffopruggar viola da gamba inspired him with the idea of further imitations; hence the hundreds of 'Duiffopruggar' violins and 'celli with their quaint shape, carved scrolls, inlays, and the motto 'viva fui in sylvis, etc.' By dint of indefatigable researches and experiments, V. carried the construction of these various instrs. to the highest perfection. His own inventions were numerous:—in 1851 the huge 'Octobasse,' a double-bass 4 metres in length, 3-stringed (CC-GG-C), with a special lever-mechanism to aid the left hand (an 'octobasse' is in the Museum of the Paris Cons.); in 1855 a viola of broader and higher model, the 'contre-alto,' with double strength of tone, but clumsy to play; in 1867 a kind of mute, the 'pédale sourdine'; also a machine for manufacturing gut-strings of perfectly equal thickness. He likewise formulated the laws governing the tapering of the stick of the Tourte bow.
5Vuillermoz [vüē-yěhr-mōhz'], Émile, writer on music; b. Lyons, France, May 23, 1878. St. org. and pf. in Lyons, comp. at the Paris Cons. under Fauré; from 1911, ed. of the 'Rev. mus. S. I. M.'; contrib. to many magazines and papers, esp. 'L'Excelsior' and 'Le Temps'; author of Musiques d'aujourd'hui (Paris, 1923).
7Vulpius, Melchior, German composer; b. Wasungen, ca. 1560; d. Weimar, 1615 (buried Aug. 7). From 1596 cantor in Weimar. Publ. 2 books of Cantiones sacrae (1602 [2nd ed. 1603] and 1604 [2nd ed. 1611]); Kirchengesänge und geistliche Lieder … for 4 and 5 vcs. (1604); Canticum beatissimae Virginis Mariae, 4—8 vcs. (1605); Lateinische Hochzeitstücke (1608); Opusculum … cantionum sacrarum, 4—6 vcs. (1610); Das Leiden und Sterben unseres Herrn … [Passion after Matthew] (1613); 3 books of Sonntägliche Evangelische Sprüche for 4 vcs. (1619, '20, '21); also a new ed. of Heinrich Faber's Compendiolum musicae (1610) with a Germ. transl. and a supplementary chapter. Modern eds.: The Matthew-Passion by Ziebler (1934); hymns by Heyden (1932); Christmas choruses by Twittenhoff and Heyden (1932); other comps. by Schöberlein.—Cf. C. von Winterfeld, Zur Gesch. heiliger Tonkunst, I (1850).
9Vycpálek, Ladislav, Czech composer; b. Vršovice, n. Prague, Feb. 23, 1882. Pupil of V. Novák at the Prague Cons.; also st. at Prague Univ. (Dr. phil.), of which he was made secretary. His cantata Of the Last Things of Man, for soli, chor. and orch., was very succ. Other works: Songs with orch., op. 17; a str.-quartet, op. 3; Moravian songs and ballads, and other songs for voice and pf.; pf.-pcs.; mixed and men's choruses; etc.
11Vyshnegradsky, Ivan, composer; b. St. Petersburg, May 5, 1893. Pupil of Sokolov at the Cons. there; also st. law; in 1922 settled in Paris, where he has been prominent as an advocate of the quarter-tone system. He built a quarter-tone pf. with 2 keyboards, and wrote a textbook on quarter-tone harmony (in French; Paris, 1933).—Works: Dithyramb (1926), and Prélude et Fugue (1929), for orch.; str.-quartet; vln.-solos; pcs. for quarter-tone clar. and quarter-tone pf.
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15Waack, Karl, b. Lübeck, Mar. 6, 1861; d. Neumünster (Holstein), Mar. 7, 1922. Pupil of the grand-ducal Musikschule in Weimar; 1882–3, cond. in Åbo, Finland; settled in 1883 in Riga as teacher and cond. of the 'Harmonie' (orchl. soc.); 1890–1, studied further with H. Riemann in Hamburg and Sondershausen (pf. and theory); on his return to Riga he was chosen cond. of the 'Wagnerverein'; 1903–14, also cond. of the 'Liedertafel' and 'Bachverein'; after the outbreak of the war he fled to Lübeck, where he was cond. (from 1915) of the 'Verein der
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