Kneisel, Franz
Kneisel, Franz
Kneisel, Franz, German violinist and pedagogue; b. Bucharest (of German parents), Jan. 26, 1865; d. N.Y., March 26, 1926. He studied at the Bucharest Cons., graduating at the age of 14. In 1879 he went to Vienna, where he became a pupil of Grun and Hellmesberger at the Cons. He made his debut on Dec. 31, 1882, then was concertmaster of the Bilse Orch. in Berlin (1884-85). From 1885 to 1903 he was concertmaster of the Boston Sym. Orch. In 1886 he organized the celebrated Kneisel Quartet (with Emmanuel Fiedler as 2nd violin; Louis Svecenski, viola; Fritz Giese, cello), which gave performances of high quality in Boston, N.Y., and other American cities, and also in Europe, obtaining world fame before dissolving in 1917. He taught at N.Y.’s Inst. of Musical Art (from 1905). Kneisel was admirable in ensemble playing, and his service to the cause of chamber music in America was very great. He was made honorary Mus.Doc. by Yale Univ. (1911) and by Princeton Univ. (1915). He composed Grand Concert Étude for Violin, publ. Advanced Exercises for the violin (1900), and ed. a collection of violin pieces (3 vols., 1900).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire