Carl Halir

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Carl Halir, violinist

Carl Halir (born February 1, 1859 in Hohenelbe , † December 21, 1909 in Berlin ; also Karol, Karl or Karel and Czech: Karl Halíř ) was a Bohemian violinist of classical music , conductor and music teacher .

Life

Schumann-Halir-Dechert Trio
Joachim Quartet with (from left to right): Robert Hausmann, Joseph Joachim, Emanuel Wirth and Carl Halir. Image: Ferdinand Schmutzer
Joachim Quartet

After finishing school, Carl Halir studied the violin at the old conservatory in Prague with Anton Bennewitz and from 1874 to 1876 in Berlin with Joseph Joachim , the director of the Berlin Conservatory . He was then accepted into the Liegnitz city ​​chapel under Benjamin Bilse , which appeared as the so-called "Bilse'sche Kapelle" both in Berlin and undertook concert tours to the most renowned concert halls of the time. Halir then took on several engagements as concertmaster, first from 1879 in Königsberg , then from 1881 in Mannheim and finally from 1884 to 1894 at the Weimar court orchestra . In 1887/88 he was naturalized in Thuringia.

In 1894 he followed a call to Berlin, where he was taken on as concertmaster at the Royal Court Opera in Berlin . On the initiative of Joseph Joachim, he also received a teaching position at the Berlin Conservatory and was appointed professor there. During these years in Berlin, Halir specialized among other things in the practice of chamber music and from 1897 became a permanent member of the "Joachim Quartet" and the so-called "Joachim Quartet" together with Joseph Joachim (violin), Emanuel Wirth (viola) and Robert Hausmann (cello) “Schumann-Halir-Dechert-Trio”, in which Georg Schumann (piano) and Hugo Dechert (cello) were his companions. He also founded the "Halir Quartet" named after him, where Hugo Dechert, N. Müller (viola) and Gustav Exner (violin) were his partners and to which Felix Weingartner dedicated his string quartet No. 1 .

In addition, he received invitations to numerous guest appearances. Thus, among other things, Halir became the celebrated soloist in the Violin Concerto in D major op.61 by Ludwig van Beethoven together with the New York Philharmonic under Anton Seidl on November 13, 1896, and a few weeks later on, on his American debut in New York City December 4, 1896 in Carnegie Hall with the Violin Concerto No. 8 in A minor op. 47 by Louis Spohr together with the New York Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Walter Damrosch . Halir was also invited to take over the European premiere of the violin sonata in A minor op. 34 by Amy Beach on October 28, 1899, together with Teresa Carreño at the piano, and on October 19, 1905, the solo part in the new version of the violin concerto in D minor op. 47 by Jean Sibelius under the direction of Richard Strauss . In the same year he also took over the solo part in the world premiere of the Divertissement for violin and orchestra by Charles Martin Loeffler with the Berliner Philharmoniker in Berlin.

Carl Halir was active as a violinist and lecturer until shortly before his sudden death in 1909 at the age of 50, but he rarely appeared as a composer. Only one cadenza to the Violin Concerto Op. 77 by Johannes Brahms has come down to us. His better-known students included Paul von Klenau , Karl Krehahn , Adolf Huber and David Mannes, the husband of the pianist Clara Mannes . Halir was married to the singer Therese Zerbst (1859–1910) since 1888. The couple had two children: Walter (1889–1920) and Eva Therese (1894–1992). His grave is in the Wilmersdorf cemetery .

Works (selection)

  • Halir, Carl, Cadenz for the Violin Concerto v. Johannes Brahms, Op. 77. Mk 1. Berlin, Simrock

literature

Web links

Commons : Carl Halir  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files
personal data
SURNAME Halir, Carl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Halíř, Karl
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bohemian-German classical music violinist, conductor and music teacher
DATE OF BIRTH February 1, 1859
PLACE OF BIRTH Hohenelbe
DATE OF DEATH December 21, 1909
Place of death Berlin