Scan 90
Groves Dictionary Of Music And Musicians,vol.3, 1907
16 lines. Read by computer on 18 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1Czech painter who in his travels has been an assiduous collector of the Slavonic folk-songs. The results of his labour have recently been published by the Hudební Matice, Prague, under the general title Slovanstvo ve svých zpěvech (The Slavs in their Songs); the volumes which have so far appeared deal with Russian, Czech, Moravian, Slovak, Slovene Ruthenian, Serb, Croat and Montenegrin folk-songs. Before he became a painter Kuba studied music at the Organ School, Prague.
3R. N.
5KUBELIK, JAN (b. Michle, near Prague, July 5, 1880), violinist, was born of Czech parents. When the young Kubelik at the age of 5 years expressed a desire to learn the violin, he received from his father, a gardener by profession and a keen amateur of music, a thorough training which laid an excellent foundation for the virtuosity exhibited in later years. In an incredibly short space of time he was able to play the earlier studies of Kreutzer, and in 1888 made his first appearance in public at Prague, playing a concerto of Vieuxtemps and pieces by Wieniawski. In 1892 he entered the Conservatorium, and was favoured by the circumstance that Ottakar Sevčik returned in the same year from Russia. Taking the youth in hand at the most receptive age, the professor saw his laboriously thought-out theories of violin teaching carried to a triumphant issue by his pupil, who, after six years devoted to hard practice under the Sevčik method, played the Brahms concerto, with his own cadenzas, at a students' concert given in the German theatre, and on the occasion of his final appearance as a student in 1898, gave a brilliant performance of the D major concerto of Paganini, with Sauret's cadenza, and was recognised by examiners and critics as a virtuoso player of the first rank. He was no less successful on the occasion of his first appearance away from home in the autumn of 1898, before a critical audience at Vienna. He then went to Budapest, and later made a prolonged tour through Italy, receiving, when in Rome, the order of St. Gregory at the hands of Pope Leo XIII. In 1900 he visited many continental cities, including Paris, and on June 18 of the same year made his London début at a Richter concert, giving also, during the season, five concerts of his own at St. James's Hall.
7The moment was ripe for the appearance of such an artist as Kubelik. When it was perceived that he was able to execute the most dangerous flights of the virtuoso school with consummate ease and precision, there was a scene of wild enthusiasm; it was pronounced that the mantle of Paganini had fallen on his shoulders, and from that day to this he has secured crowded audiences whenever and wherever he has appeared.
9His trip to America in 1902-03 produced remarkable financial results. He was less appreciated in Germany than elsewhere, but was the recipient of honours and decorations at several European courts. At Linz on the Danube he was once unable to appear through hostile demonstrations made by the anti-Czech population. In Hungary he married (Aug. 1903) the Countess Czaky Szell, daughter of an ex-President of the Senate at Debreczin, becoming at the same time a 'Polgar' or naturalised Hungarian citizen. He visited Rome for the second time in 1905, and, in company with his wife, was received in audience by Pope Pius X. If his subsequent career has not quite equalled the brilliance of his first appearance, he yet holds an assured place as one of the foremost virtuosi of his age.
11With regard to his technique, it may briefly be said that he possesses the complete equipment of the virtuoso player, but mention should be made of his exceptional facility in the playing of double harmonics. He has written three violin concertos, but has not achieved much success as a composer.
13W. W. C.
15KÜCKEN, FRIEDRICH WILHELM (b. Bleckede, Hanover, Nov. 16, 1810; d. Schwerin, Apr. 3, 1882), composer. His father, a country gentleman, was averse to the musical proclivities of his son, and the boy had to thank his brother-in-law, Lührss, music-director and organist of Schwerin, for being allowed to follow his bent, which he did under Lührss and Aron in Schwerin, and as flute, viola and violin player in the Duke's orchestra there. His early compositions, 'Ach wie war's möglich dann' and others, became so popular that he was taken into the palace as teacher and player. But this did not satisfy him, and he made his way in 1832 to Berlin, where, while studying hard at counterpoint under Birnbach, he gradually composed the songs which rendered him famous. His opera, 'Die Flucht nach der Schweiz' (the Flight to Switzerland), was produced at Berlin in 1839, and proved very successful throughout Germany. In 1841 he went to Vienna to study under Sechter. In 1843 he conducted the great festival of male singers at St. Gall and Appenzel. Thence he went to Paris, where he studied orchestration with Halévy, and writing for the voice with Bordogni. His stay in Paris lasted for three and a half years; thence he went to Stuttgart, and brought out (Apr. 21, 1847) a new opera, 'Der Prätendent' (the Pretender), with the greatest success, which followed it to Hamburg and elsewhere in Germany. In 1851 he received a call to Stuttgart as joint Kapellmeister with Lindpaintner, filling the place alone after Lindpaintner's death (Aug. 21, 1856) till 1861, when he resigned. In 1863 he joined Abt and Berlioz as judges of a competition in Strassburg, and had an extraordinary reception. He composed sonatas for pianoforte and violin, pianoforte and violoncello, etc., but his immense popularity sprang from his songs and duets,
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.