Joseph Achron

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Joseph Achron

Joseph Isidor Achron (born May 13, 1886 in Lazdijai , Russian Empire , † April 29, 1943 in Hollywood ) was a Lithuanian- American composer and violinist .

Life

Family, childhood and studies, until 1904

Joseph Achron was the second of four musical siblings. In 1890 the family moved to Warsaw . His father was an amateur violinist and lay cantor in the synagogue . He recognized Joseph's talent at an early stage and initially taught him himself. He received his first lessons from the age of five. Izydor later taught him Lotto . At the age of seven he composed his first piece, a lullaby. Joseph Achron made his first public appearance in Warsaw at the age of seven. Appearances in what was then the Russian Empire followed.

From 1899 to 1904 he studied violin with Leopold Auer and composition and music theory with Anatoli Lyadow at the St. Petersburg Conservatory . He graduated with the highest distinction in 1904 and received the Grand Duke Mikhail Cash Award .

Time after graduation from 1904

After completing his studies, he went to Berlin ; here he was mainly active as a violinist. He gave highly regarded concerts. He has played with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under Artur Nikisch the Violin Concerto by Beethoven with its own cadence . In 1907 he returned to Saint Petersburg to study composition with Lyadow and instrumentation with Maximilian Steinberg .

Around 1911 he began to deal with Jewish music culture. He joined the Society for Jewish Folk Music founded in 1908 and was active as a composer in this tradition; his first composition against this background was the Hebrew Melody (op. 33) , composed in 1911 , an instrumental composition for violin and piano. Above all, the interpretations of Jascha Heifetz made them Achron's most famous work. Achron was soon named chairman of the company's music committee.

In 1913 Achron accepted a position at the Kharkiv Conservatory of Music , but returned to Saint Petersburg in 1916.

After completing his military service in the music corps of the Russian Army, he worked at the St. Petersburg Jewish Chamber Theater. Between 1918 and 1922 he gave over 1,000 concerts and composed a lot. He married the singer Marie Raphof. In 1922 the company's St. Petersburg branch was closed and Achron returned to Berlin; here he directed the Jewish music publishing house Ibneh with Michail Gnessin . In 1924 he wrote the incidental music for the play Belshazzar, performed in Hebrew by the theater company TAI-Teatron Eretz Israeli . During the year he went on a concert tour of Palestine . Here he transcribed many oriental, Jewish melodies that influenced his later musical work.

Time in the USA after 1925

In 1925 he followed his brother Isidor Achron and emigrated to the USA . In 1930 he became a citizen of the United States. He first lived in New York . It was here that he composed his violin concerto in 1927. He also composed some stage music for the Yiddish Theater. In 1934 he went to Hollywood and played in studio orchestras there. He composed the violin concertos No. 2 and No. 3 which were performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra .

In the United States, he was never able to establish himself seriously as a composer, despite the first successful performances of his works. His late works even met with rejection. He spent some time in New York City at the Westchester Conservatory, where he gave violin lessons. He later tried his breakthrough as a composer on the west coast of the USA. However, this success was denied him. The young André Previn was one of his students there .

In 1945, after Achron's death, a memorial concert was held in Los Angeles. Here Arnold Schönberg said: "Joseph Achron is one of the most underrated modern composers, but the originality and profound elaboration of his ideas guarantee the durability of his works."

His youngest brother Isidor Achron was a composer, pianist and for more than 10 years the piano accompanist of Jascha Heifetz .

Works (selection)

The publication by Philipp Moddel Joseph Achron contains a catalog of all of Joseph Achron's works. The IMSLP runs the List of works by Joseph Achron page . It is based on this catalog. Many manuscripts of his works are in the Israel National Library .

Achron's compositional work mainly includes sonatas , duets , instrumental concerts , dances, serenades and preludes .

  • Preludes
    • Prelude op.13
  • Duets
    • Souvenir de Varsovie op. 14
    • Coquetterie op. 15
    • Les Sylphides op.18
    • Suite No. 1 en Style Ancien (Première Suite en Style Ancien) , Op. 21, for violin and piano (circa 1914) I Prelude II Gavotte III Sicilienne IV Gigue
    • Hebrew melody op.33
    • Hebrew Lullaby op 35. No. 2
    • Dance improvisation on a Hebrew folk song op.37
    • Fragment mystique (sur un théme hébraique)
    • Shear op. 42
    • Fairy tales op.46
    • Love dedication op. 51
    • Canzonetta op. 52 No. 2
  • Serenades
    • Serenade op.17
  • Sonatas
    • Violin Sonata op.32
  • Dances
    • Dance improvisation
  • Incidental music
    • Les Aveugles , by Maurice Maeterlinck, op.47, 1919
    • Mazeltov , from Shalom Aleichem, 1920
    • Belshazzar , 1924
    • Kiddush Hasem , from Shalom Asch, 1928
    • Golem , by H. Leiwick, 1931
    • The Witch , by Abraham Goldfaden
    • Fartog , from (?). Walter

literature

  • Jascha Nemtsov : The new Jewish school in music . Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2004, ISBN 3-447-05034-9 (Jewish music series; Vol. 2).
  • Jascha Nemtsov (ed.): Jewish art music in the 20th century. Sources, genesis, style analyzes . Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2006, ISBN 978-3-447-05293-1 .
  • Philipp Moddel, Alfred Sendrey: Joseph Achron. Tel Aviv, Israeli Music Publications, 1966. OCLC 906082212. contains a complete catalog of the works of Joseph Achron. the essay A Note about Jewish Music by Joseph Achron and 3 letters Achron to Solomon Rosowsky

Recordings

  • Joseph Achron. The suites for violin and piano. Hagai Shaham, violin. Arnon Erez, piano. Hyperion, 2012

Web links

Commons : Joseph Isidor Achron  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Malcolm Miller: Joseph Achron . Hyperion, 2012 (English, hyperion-records.co.uk [PDF]).
  2. ↑ a b c Jascha Nemtsov: Joseph Achron. Retrieved March 19, 2017 .
  3. ↑ Booklet of the CD Achron - Complete Suites for Violin and Piano with Hagai Shaham and Arnon Eretz, Hyperion, 2012, CDA67841
  4. ^ Neil W. Lewin in the booklet of the CD Joseph Achron - Violin Concerto / Golem Suite , Milken Archive, 2003
  5. ^ Neil W. Levin: Two Tableaux from the Theater Music to Belshazzar. In: http://www.milkenarchive.org . Milken Archive of Jewish Music, accessed May 28, 2020 .
  6. ↑ Something about the Hebrew Palestine Theater . In: Dr. Mayer Ebner (Ed.): Ostjüdische Zeitung . Verlag Ivria, Societate crl, Tscherniwzi December 14, 1924, p. 3 .
  7. ↑ List of works by Joseph Achron - IMSLP / Petrucci Music Library: Free Public Domain Sheet Music. Retrieved March 19, 2017 (English).
personal data
SURNAME Achron, Joseph
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Achron, Joseph Isidor (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Lithuanian-American composer and violinist
DATE OF BIRTH May 13, 1886
PLACE OF BIRTH Lazdijai , Russian Empire
DATE OF DEATH April 29, 1943
Place of death Hollywood