David Popper

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Photo by E. Bieber, court photographer in Berlin. Owner Prof. L. Berlin . (~ 1904)
Wife 1872–1886: Sophie Menter (1875)
David Popper and Jenö Hubay at the academy in 1904
The Zellerhof , the house where David Popper died, in 2010 

David Popper (born June 18, 1843 in Prague ; died August 7, 1913 in Baden near Vienna ) was a Bohemian cellist and composer .

Life

David Popper was the son of a Prague synagogue cantor and grew up in Josefstadt . He received his training at the Prague Conservatory from the cellist Julius Goltermann .

In 1863 he became a member of the Princely Hechingen Chapel in Löwenberg in Silesia . Popper's name is inseparably linked to the Cello Concerto in A minor op. 33 by Robert Volkmann (1815–1883), with which he celebrated successes across Europe from 1864. In 1867 he made his debut in Vienna . In 1868 he began his service as principal cellist at the Vienna Court Opera , recommended there by Hans von Bülow . During these years he was also a member of the Hellmesberger Quartet . At the same time, his solo appearances throughout Europe increased to such an extent that in 1873 he was forced to give up his permanent position at the Court Opera. During this time Popper was already in contact with the most important composers of the era, such as Anton Bruckner (for whose Third Symphony he campaigned in the orchestra), Richard Wagner (who, however, no longer invited him after Popper had expressed benevolence about Brahms), Johannes Brahms (with whom he later also played music) and Franz Liszt . In 1882 he went on a concert tour to Spain and Portugal with the French violinist Émile Sauret .

In 1896 he settled in Budapest to teach at the later Franz Liszt Academy of Music . With Jenő Hubay , who taught violin at the Academy, he founded the Hubay Popper Quartet, with whom u. a. Johannes Brahms, Ernst Dohnányi , Jan Paderewski , Wilhelm Backhaus and Leopold Godowsky played. It was one of the leading quartet formations for 30 years. Victor von Herzfeld , violinist and composer, also came to Budapest in 1886, became a professor at the State Academy for Music and secondary of the Hubay Popper Quartet. Popper soon became one of the most sought-after educators in Europe, but did not give up his solo career.

Popper knew both the orchestral and solo repertoire of the time from his own concert experience, and the chamber music repertoire became more and more familiar to him, not least through his new job as cellist in the Hubay Popper Quartet. As a result, Popper became more and more aware of the fact that all of the common études and training materials for the violoncello no longer met the increasing demands made by the flood of new solo concerts, sonatas and virtuoso pieces. The introduction of the sting had made it possible for more and more virtuoso playing techniques to be used in the thumb position, and therefore the cello parts in orchestral and chamber music works became increasingly difficult.

In 1901, 1902 and 1905 the high school of violoncello playing was created in four volumes of ten etudes each, published by Friedrich Hofmeister. Dedicated to Alwin Schröder (1855–1928), well-known soloist of the time who campaigned for Popper's E minor concerto and the suite Im Walde , Bernhard Schmidt, Edouard Jacobs (1851–1925), professor at the Conservatoire in Brussels , and Ödön (Edmund) von Mihalovich (1842–1929), composer and director of the Franz Liszt Academy. This was followed in 1907 and 1908 by ten moderately difficult, major études op. 76 I and the 15 easy, melodic, harmonic and rhythmic études op. 76 II as a preliminary stage to the high school of cello playing .

To this day, the latter in particular has remained the standard work of teaching literature, thanks to the unprecedented consistency of reducing each individual etude to a few difficulties, which, however, are dealt with and practiced in all variants.

Popper was not only one of the most outstanding virtuosos of his time, but also enriched the cello literature significantly with a number of compositions , including four concertos, many etudes and a number of salon pieces .

As early as 1867, Popper was in Baden near Vienna as an instrumental accompanist for Carlotta Patti (1835–1889). Until 1913 he returned repeatedly to this city, with whose spa orchestra he was on good terms. Immediately before his death, Popper celebrated the award of the Hungarian court councilor with his family ; the symptoms of his heart attack - sudden breathlessness and weakness - were misinterpreted by those present as signs of joyful excitement.

The body of the deceased was willingly transferred to Dresden for cremation .

A large number of students, many of whom in turn became important teachers again, above all Arnold Földesy, Jenö Kerpely, Adolf Schiffer and Miklós Zsámboki, ensured that Popper's cellist legacy was carried on.

family

David Popper had been married to the pianist and Liszt student Sophie Menter (1846-1918) from 1872 . From this marriage came his daughter Celeste (born 1876). After the divorce in 1886, he married Olga Löbl, who was twenty-three years his junior. In 1887 his son Leó Popper was born, who died in 1911. Like many other family members, Olga Popper perished in the Nazi gas chambers.

Awards, honors

literature

Web links

Commons : David Popper  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Winton James Baltzell: Baltzell's dictionary of musicians : containing concise biographical sketches of musicians of the past and present with the pronunciation of foreign names. Oliver Ditson Company, Boston 1911.
  2. ↑ Local news. (...) David Popper died in Baden. In:  Badener Zeitung , August 9, 1913, p. 4 middle (online at ANNO ). Template: ANNO / Maintenance / bztas well as
    local news. (...) David Popper. In:  Badener Zeitung , August 13, 1913, p. 4, bottom right, and p. 5, top left. (Online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / Maintenance / bzt
  3. ↑ a b Daily news. (...) David Popper. In:  Pester Lloyd , Morgenblatt, August 9, 1913, p. 1, bottom left. (Online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / maintenance / pel
  4. ↑ a b feuilleton. David Popper. In:  Pester Lloyd , Morgenblatt, August 8, 1913, p. 1, bottom left. (Online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / maintenance / pel

Remarks

  1. ↑ Baden near Vienna, Kaiser-Franz-Ring 9; today, among other things, the registry office and the city library.
  2. ^ Cremation on August 11, 1913. - David Popper. In:  Pester Lloyd , Morgenblatt, August 10, 1913, p. 9, center left. (Online at ANNO ).Template: ANNO / maintenance / pel
personal data
SURNAME Popper, David
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bohemian cellist and composer
DATE OF BIRTH June 18, 1843
PLACE OF BIRTH Prague
DATE OF DEATH August 7, 1913
Place of death Baden near Vienna