Books › Modern violin culture in America, 1916 › scan 5
Scan 5
Modern violin culture in America, 1916
8 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1MATURE MASTERS
3IN discussing the latest developments of modern violin writing, the order of precedence quite naturally falls to Fritz Kreisler, acknowledged not only as one of the greatest players of our age, but as a veritable genius in arranging and composing for his instrument. In examining into the factors which have combined in so remarkable a manner in this artist and helped him to such success, it must be understood that he is not to be classed with violinists of the past or present, who owe their fame merely to the possession of exceptional gifts as players. Kreisler is as expert in every branch of musical art as he is on the violin. He plays the piano as well as he does the violin and is as intimately acquainted with the orchestral, operatic, vocal, choral works of the classic masters as he is with the most advanced compositions of all modern writers. In addition he is a past-master of the art of scoring and it may confidently be expected that his exceptional creative talents will lead him, ere long, towards production of important works in larger form.
5To begin with, the sensational success of Kreisler's violin works are largely due to his abilities to play them all in his own inimitable style. But judging him merely as a writer, it must be acknowledged that nothing in the history of violin music can compare with the loving devotion and artistic taste he expended upon his Classical Manuscripts and Classical Masterpieces (in modernized arrangements), a monument to the chaste, inventive powers of the old masters, as well as to his own skill in rejuvenating these rare classics and making them practically indispensable for every modern soloist's repertoire. Nor must we lose sight of his fine Free Transcriptions of Compositions by Anton Dvořák (Indian Lament, Slavonic Fantasie, and three Slavonic Dances) as well as his concert transcriptions of Chopin's A minor Mazurka Ballet Music from Schubert's Rosamunde, and a Spanish Dance by E. Granados, all done with expert judgment as to technical possibilities, effect and that rare refinement, which characterises all of his work.
7Some of Kreisler's best work as an arranger for the violin has furthermore been accomplished in his transcriptions of Austrian Folk-Songs represented at best by his Liebesfreud, Liebesleid
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